July 29, 2019
The Honorable Lindsey Graham
290 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Tim Scott
104 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Re: Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections
Dear Senators Graham and Scott,
On behalf of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and our members and supporters, I write to ask your support for passing legislation to protect our democracy.
Last week’s public testimony at a House hearing by Robert Mueller has raised grave concerns about foreign interference—past, present and future—in our nation’s elections.
“They’re doing it as we sit here,” Mr. Mueller said of Russia’s interference in our country’s elections.
The recently released report from 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 has been clearly found to have attacked our democratic process.
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 nation’s have different American political favorites that they would 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.
It is clear that Congress must take immediate action to address this crisis. And it is also clear that the roadblock to Congress taking action is the U.S. Senate, more specifically Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
With the 2020 elections only months away, Senator McConnell’s refusal to allow election security legislation to be debated and voted upon is tantamount to turning over the keys to our democracy to foreign governments. There can be no justification for what some could call treasonous behavior.
As our state’s two U.S. Senators, we are calling on you to demand that our elections be protected, that our democracy be protected. We are calling on you to use your considerable influence to end Senator McConnell’s obstructionist efforts.
Gentlemen, both of you are proud supporters of the United States of America, a nation that is the envy of the world for our freedoms and democracy.
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.
President & CEO