Bipartisan commission needed to get answers on Russian hacking

Our democracy was attacked during this presidential election campaign. The attack did not come from the tip of a sword or the dropping of a bomb. Instead, the attack was invisible, delivered electronically, and without attribution. 

A bedrock principle of our democratic system of government is free and fair elections without opacity or impugnable integrity – yet these underpinnings of America now are weakened by revelations of foreign meddling in our 2016 presidential election.

{mosads}Without doubt or debate, this election saw the deepest cybersecurity intrusions of any in U.S. history: 17 U.S. intelligence agencies say with high confidence that the Russian government was responsible for hacks into the servers or emails of the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta, and others.

The agencies also concluded that several states’ voter registration systems were scanned by Russian-owned servers, and private-sector research teams have revealed Russian efforts to push out fake campaign-related news.

We cannot turn a blind eye to foreign powers committing cybercrimes in order to influence our elections. To leave any stone unturned in investigating such interference is to normalize it, and to accept that we are not in control of our own government’s fate. We must defend the integrity of our representative democracy by finding out what exactly happened and determining how to prevent it from ever happening again.

To be clear: This is not about reversing the 2016 election’s result. Nor can we let this become the sort of partisan witch-hunt that has become too common on Capitol Hill, leading too many Americans to conclude Congress prefers partisan politics over pragmatic policy. This must be above politics – a concerted, deliberate, fact-based effort to shore up our national security and sovereignty in years to come.

That goal is best served by enacting the Protecting Our Democracy Act, H.R. 6447, which I and Rep. Elijah Cummings – ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform – introduced last week.

Our bill would create a 12-member, bipartisan, independent commission empowered to interview witnesses, obtain documents, issue subpoenas, and receive public testimony in examining the Russian government’s attempts to use electronic means to influence, interfere with, or sow distrust in this year’s U.S. elections. The commission — which also would examine similar efforts by any other foreign governments or entities — would issue a final report including recommendations for future security protections to Congress and the president. 

The commission members would be appointed by the four Republican and Democratic Senate and House leaders. Each would appoint three commission members, and the commission would then choose a chair and vice chair of different parties. 

But this commission would include neither members of Congress nor any federal employees. Rather, appointees would be prominent U.S. citizens with national recognition and significant depth of experience in governmental service, law enforcement, armed services, law, public administration, intelligence gathering, foreign affairs, cybersecurity, and federal elections.

I fully support parallel investigations by the House and Senate intelligence committees, but having this independent commission’s investigation simultaneously would lift the matter free of any perception of bias. If Americans are to have faith in the result – be it damning or be it exculpatory – it must come from a respected source that is as apolitical as possible, and that can only be achieved off Capitol Hill.

The President-elect’s baseless accusation that the intelligence community’s work is politically biased only underscores the need for an independent investigation into possible interference.

Rep. Cummings and I introduced this bill in the final days of the 114th Congress because we fervently believe there is no time to waste. We will reintroduce the bill when the 115th Congress convenes, and we will seek swift action on it.

It does not matter who you voted for; it does not matter who won. This is no time for sticking our fingers in our ears, scrunching our eyes shut, and ignoring a significant threat because of partisan concerns. We are all Americans, and we must ensure that our elections remain our own.

Americans of all political parties are rightfully worried and deserve answers. We owe this to our Founding Fathers who built our constitutional foundations; to all those who have fought and died to defend that framework; to all in the intelligence community who ever have strived to keep our nation safe; and most importantly, to each other.

Rep. Eric Swalwell represents California’s 15th District and is ranking member of the CIA Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Follow him on Twitter at @RepSwalwell.

The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.