PRESS RELEASE
Date: August 21, 2019
From: South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce
Subject: Business Campaign Launched to Protect Democracy
Contact: Frank Knapp, President/CEO, 803-252-5733 (w), 803-600-6874 (c),
fknapp@scsbc.org
Columbia, SC—The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC) today launched “Protect Democracy USA”, a campaign to raise the voice of businesses demanding that Congress and the President take immediate action to address foreign interference in the nation’s elections.
“While numerous voices have been raised on this issue, the small-business community has not been organized to demand that this crisis be addressed,” said Frank Knapp Jr., SCSBCC President and CEO, citing the Mueller and Senate Intelligence Committee reports about Russian interference in the 2016 election. “A healthy democracy is crucial to a sustainable free market in which entrepreneurs create businesses and jobs.”
Last month the SCSBCC sent letters to South Carolina Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott calling on them to use their influence to end Senator Mitch McConnell’s obstruction regarding bi-partisan bills to protect our democracy.
Non-business organizations have begun demanding Senate action on this crisis. Republicans for the Rule of Law has launched a $400,000 media campaign targeting Senator Graham and three other GOP Senators in an effort to have them push Senator McConnell to allow votes on important bills on election security.
“This Republican media campaign shows that the criticism of Senator McConnell is not partisan,” said Knapp. “It is patriotic call-to-arms that small businesses are now joining in a unified voice.”
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The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce is a statewide advocacy organization founded in 2000. With over 10,000 small business and entrepreneur supporters, it has successfully worked to make the state and federal governments more small business friendly in areas such as healthcare, taxation, regulation, worker training, energy/conservation, workers’ compensation and economic development.