Rep. TJ Cox Votes to Pass SHIELD Act to Protect the Integrity of U.S. Elections

Statement

On Wednesday evening, Rep. TJ Cox (CA-21) voted to pass H.R. 4617, the Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act. This strong, commonsense legislation takes decisive and bipartisan steps to fight foreign interference in our elections by strengthening reporting requirements, closing loopholes and deterring foreign activity in U.S. elections. Its passage builds on the bold action House Democrats took to close dangerous gaps in our voting security by passing H.R. 1, the For The People Act, and H.R. 2722, the Securing America's Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, earlier this year.

"The Central Valley sent me to Congress to defend the Constitution and protect the integrity of our elections," said Rep. TJ Cox. "The SHIELD Act is one more step that we must take in order to fight back against ongoing attacks on U.S. elections. We know our election system is under assault from actors deploying misinformation and hacking our voting systems. It will take real cooperation to repel these attacks, which is why I was extremely disappointed every single one of my colleagues from the other side of the aisle decided to do nothing, instead of joining us in defending our electoral system."

BACKGROUND: The SHIELD Act takes critical steps to protect our elections and our democracy:

Creates a duty to report illicit offers of campaign assistance from foreign governments and their agents.
Helps prevent foreign interference in future elections by improving transparency of online political advertisements.
Closes loopholes that allow foreign nationals and foreign governments to spend in U.S. elections.
Restricts exchange of campaign information between candidates and foreign governments and their agents.
Prohibits deceptive practices about voting procedures

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