1717 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-252-5733
ProtectDemocracyUSA@gmail.com
www.ProtectDemocracyUSA.com
September 30, 2019
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
United States Capitol
(Delivered via Email)
Re: Legislative Needs to Protect Democracy
Dear Congressperson,
As the attention of Congress and the public are focused on the House impeachment process, we ask all members of Congress not to lose sight of the critical importance for immediate legislative action to protect our democracy by securing our elections.
Protect Democracy USA is a business campaign calling on Congress and the President to protect our democracy from foreign and domestic interference that threatens our nation’s ideals of representative government resulting in loss of faith and participation in our democracy.
A healthy democracy is crucial to a sustainable free market in which entrepreneurs create businesses and jobs. Small businesses thrive in a capitalist economy where the exchange of goods and services is impacted by supply and demand not controlled by government. Government does set the rules in a free market that allow for fair competition while protecting our health and environment. Anything that threatens our democracy, a government by the people, threatens the free market that small businesses depend upon and cherish.
The Mueller, Senate Intelligence Committee and U.S. Intelligence Community Reports arrived at the same conclusion: American democracy has been attacked, is under attack and will continue to be under attack from foreign adversaries.
The Senate Intelligence Committee shows that in 2016 Russia targeted the election systems in every state in our union exploring for weaknesses to allow future manipulation of data that could wreak havoc on election day and instill a lack of public confidence in election results.
However, it is not just Russia that we need to be concerned about.
Mr. Mueller and researchers offer that other countries are actively developing the same election interference techniques that Russia has and is deploying against us. Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and even Venezuela are all threats.
This isn’t a partisan issue. Foreign nations have different American political favorites that they might want to help in an election. The issue is that our local, state and national elections are sacred to our democracy and should be protected from any foreign interference.
Congress must take immediate action to address this crisis and overcome obstacles to that action.
Unfortunately, the Senate’s recent action to add $250 million to its budget for the utilization by the states is both insufficient in dollars and requirements that the funds be used for election technology that truly secures the elections. Additionally, this funding is only one of numerous bi-partisan bills waiting to be passed by Congress.
With the 2020 elections only months away, the business community demands that our elections be protected, that our democracy be protected. We are calling on you to use your influence to achieve this objective.
That United States of America is under siege from foreign powers. You must act now before it is too late.
Protect our democracy.
Sincerely,
Frank Knapp Jr.
Campaign Coordinator
Protect Democracy USA