1 00:00:04,860 --> 00:00:06,660 Good morning, everyone. 2 00:00:06,660 --> 00:00:23,900 I'm Jackie Speer, a member of Congress from the 14th District in California, and I'm delighted to join you via this conference setting in a virtual manner for DEFCON's Voting Village again this year. 3 00:00:23,900 --> 00:00:30,500 I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am to this effort each year. 4 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:45,000 And a special shout out to Harry Hurstey and all of you who have weathered many storms to make sure that the DEFCON conference and the Voting Village could continue to move forward. 5 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:51,700 There is nothing more precious in our country than the right to vote. 6 00:00:51,700 --> 00:01:00,180 And to have it in any way manipulated is the grossest act of war. 7 00:01:00,180 --> 00:01:12,900 And we don't talk about that in terms of what Russia did in 2016, but it was for all intents and purposes an act of cyber warfare. 8 00:01:12,900 --> 00:01:18,060 So what you do is critical to maintaining our democracy. 9 00:01:18,060 --> 00:01:24,480 And I hope that all of you think of yourselves as patriots, because you are. 10 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:43,020 And it is pursuing this patriotic duty to make sure that the right to vote remains preeminent in this country and that it is free from manipulation is what is truly very, very important. 11 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:55,600 So the integrity of our election system has, I think for a number of years, been subject to the impacts of those who want to do damage to us. 12 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,300 And I have been concerned about it. 13 00:01:58,300 --> 00:01:59,440 I've worried about it. 14 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,060 I've spent time talking to Harry about it. 15 00:02:02,060 --> 00:02:13,980 I've actually co-sponsored conferences where DEFCON could come to the Capitol and make their case to the members and staff. 16 00:02:13,980 --> 00:02:20,900 And Harry has been one of the preeminent speakers on those occasions. 17 00:02:20,900 --> 00:02:43,980 And frankly, he scared the living daylights out of me the first time I talked to him, because it made me realize how pervious, how easy it is to have these machines be co-opted, because there isn't some national standard. 18 00:02:43,980 --> 00:02:56,400 We have always allowed states to develop their own systems, and so many counties have their own systems, and the number of machines and types of machines have varied. 19 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:01,780 One thing I think we've all come to realize is the importance of a paper trail. 20 00:03:01,780 --> 00:03:09,480 Without a paper trail, the ability to act with impunity is indeed very great. 21 00:03:09,820 --> 00:03:32,600 On the issue of threats to our elections, I'm a member of the House Intelligence Committee, so I've spent many years now observing this particular issue, and I spend many an hour hearing from experts on Russia and its tactics and its interests. 22 00:03:32,620 --> 00:03:48,420 During the Cold War, the Kremlin was very interested in self-content, disrupting our relations with European countries, discrediting opponents of the Soviet Union. 23 00:03:48,420 --> 00:03:53,680 And as I describe all of these things, it sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? 24 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,180 Because that is Vladimir Putin. 25 00:03:56,180 --> 00:03:58,320 He was a KGB operative. 26 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:04,060 He runs the Kremlin as if he is still the head of the KGB. 27 00:04:04,060 --> 00:04:14,000 And all of his colleagues, those closest to him, the oligarchs, all were from his early days in St. 28 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:17,120 Petersburg and in the KGB. 29 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:29,880 So much of that mentality continues to infiltrate the theories and objectives of Russia today. 30 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:42,940 So we have had some really remarkable things happen because of the digital connectivity that has grown over the last 20 or 30 years. 31 00:04:43,060 --> 00:04:47,340 Accessing government services, we do digitally now. 32 00:04:47,340 --> 00:04:58,340 Engaging in commerce is becoming more and more an e-commerce activity and not a retail brick-and-mortar store activity. 33 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:03,400 Advancing our education is done online in many respects today. 34 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:13,300 And in the midst of COVID, it's the only way that we are able to provide educational experiences for our young people. 35 00:05:13,460 --> 00:05:33,580 But with all of this greatness that has become associated with the connectivity that we have through cyber, also has come some really great challenges for our democracy and probably the greatest challenge in our history. 36 00:05:33,580 --> 00:05:45,940 Countries like Russia and China and even Iran now is looking at opportunities to do us harm on one level or another. 37 00:05:45,940 --> 00:05:54,040 So it's very important that we recognize that we have work to do in this field. 38 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:59,400 No longer are our adversaries separated from us by oceans. 39 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:05,180 In fact, they're at our doorstep virtually every day because they can. 40 00:06:05,180 --> 00:06:21,800 And because we have not developed a robust level of cyber hygiene that is important on every level of government and commerce as well. 41 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:27,360 We do know that Russia has been very successful. 42 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:44,780 The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence found in their report that in 2016, all 50 states, I repeat that, all 50 states were targeted by the Russian interests in 2016. 43 00:06:44,780 --> 00:07:00,820 And for example, in Illinois, Russian cyber actors gained enough access to the voter files in Illinois that they could delete or change voter data. 44 00:07:00,820 --> 00:07:09,120 So, I mean, you can imagine what they can do if they were able to do that in 2016. 45 00:07:09,180 --> 00:07:24,640 I'm certain that they have improved their skills and it's incumbent on us in each of our states to make sure that our systems are not going to be subject to those kinds of intrusions moving forward. 46 00:07:24,940 --> 00:07:53,840 In March of this year, social media companies in conjunction with Grafika were able to identify a Russian internet research agency activity where they had taken it one step further, gotten that much smarter, and were using legitimate third parties in Ghana and Nigeria to be able to move their messages forward. 47 00:07:53,840 --> 00:08:13,440 So, that particular operation used authentic and fake accounts to post almost exclusively on racial issues in the United States, promoting Black empowerment and often displaying anger towards white Americans. 48 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:24,660 Their interest is to create chaos to divide our country and, unfortunately, much like the President does in many of his press conferences. 49 00:08:25,460 --> 00:08:48,860 And we all should be concerned about the fact that the President of the United States has not found it appropriate to call out Russia for putting bounties, if in fact we can believe what has been reported in the New York Times and other news outlets, putting bounties on U.S. 50 00:08:48,860 --> 00:09:19,440 service members by paying Taliban, by believing Russia, by believing Putin in terms of his calling out and saying, no, we didn't do anything, when all the evidence is so strong and all of our intelligence agencies with high confidence were able to say that Russia intended to and did succeed in intervening in our elections. 51 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:51,020 You know, I'm always reminded of the experience of Paul Manafort and his sidekick Rick Gates who met with Konstantin Kalimnik in a cigar private club in New York City, in which Paul Manafort turned over to Konstantin Kalimnik, a known intelligence officer within Russia, 52 00:09:51,020 --> 00:09:55,540 turned over campaign polling data. 53 00:09:56,180 --> 00:09:58,680 And that should have been it. 54 00:09:58,680 --> 00:10:12,660 That should have been enough for all of us to realize that there was an effort to coordinate the campaign of then-candidate Trump and the Russian interference. 55 00:10:12,660 --> 00:10:28,260 So I think it's very important for us to recognize that Moscow hasn't gone away, that they intend to sharpen their skills and do whatever they can during this particular election. 56 00:10:28,780 --> 00:10:30,960 So, mail-in voting. 57 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:40,460 The president, unfortunately, continues to undermine mail-in voting, which has been with us for a very long time. 58 00:10:40,980 --> 00:10:47,880 He is attempting also to suggest that we should postpone the election. 59 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:52,780 Again, another way to distract from what's really important right now. 60 00:10:52,780 --> 00:10:59,540 There's no ability, no power by the president of the United States to postpone an election. 61 00:10:59,540 --> 00:11:01,280 It's in the Constitution. 62 00:11:01,380 --> 00:11:02,960 It's by statute. 63 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:05,920 And the House and Senate would have to act to do that. 64 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:12,220 And there's no interest in either the House nor the Senate to postpone the election. 65 00:11:12,220 --> 00:11:26,980 And it's important to remember that in our history, not during the Civil War, not during two world wars, not during the Great Depression, not during the pandemic in 1918, did we postpone the election. 66 00:11:26,980 --> 00:11:31,080 We are not going to postpone the election this year. 67 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,940 So, our efforts to expand 68 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:50,380 the opportunity that both the president and the first lady, Melania Trump, have voted absentee in previous years. 69 00:11:50,380 --> 00:11:54,600 And if it's good enough for them, it should be good enough for every other American as well. 70 00:11:54,600 --> 00:12:03,320 A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that two-thirds of Americans support absentee voting. 71 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,440 And they think it should be available to any voter. 72 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:15,300 And that you should not be required to have a doctor's order or request in order to have that. 73 00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:24,780 So, it is certainly our intention to make sure that vote by mail is protected during this presidential election. 74 00:12:24,780 --> 00:12:27,280 There's also been arguments about voter fraud. 75 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:37,160 You may remember that the president created, back in 2017 and 2018, a commission to look at voter fraud. 76 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:43,120 And then, all of a sudden, he disbanded it without much fanfare. 77 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:55,940 But he disbanded it in part because they did not find any voter fraud of any degree that would have impacted any of our elections. 78 00:12:55,940 --> 00:13:04,480 So, I think as we defend the right for every American to vote, we've got to make sure there's proper funding. 79 00:13:04,480 --> 00:13:12,660 And the CARES Act provided about $400 million to the states to prepare for the election cycle this year. 80 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:21,080 And the HEROES Act, which has been passed by the House but not yet by the Senate, actually provides for $3.6 billion. 81 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:27,580 And has provisions to make sure that early voting will be able to continue. 82 00:13:27,580 --> 00:13:35,700 And that we have early voting that is available 15 days before the election. 83 00:13:35,700 --> 00:13:41,120 That there should be no excuse needed for vote by mail. 84 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:50,080 And that we should start scanning ballots early so that there won't be the kind of wait come election day. 85 00:13:50,080 --> 00:14:00,660 So, having said all of that, let me just say also that John Lewis provided us with some great messaging. 86 00:14:01,220 --> 00:14:06,560 He said it's important to get into good trouble, necessary trouble. 87 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:13,300 And I think of all of you in this program as being part of making good trouble. 88 00:14:13,300 --> 00:14:26,180 To make sure that we have a heightened understanding of how pervious so many of our systems can be to those that want to do harm to our country. 89 00:14:26,180 --> 00:14:33,260 And sometimes, as John Lewis also said, the only way is to get in the way. 90 00:14:33,260 --> 00:14:44,320 And I think it's important for us to get in the way of any efforts by Russia or China or Iran or any other country that wants to do us harm. 91 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:56,060 That we make sure that they cannot get in our way of retaining this democracy and protecting it for all future generations. 92 00:14:56,060 --> 00:15:00,100 So again, thank you so much for the opportunity to be with you. 93 00:15:00,100 --> 00:15:03,160 Remember that you are true patriots. 94 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:10,980 You are a new generation of founding fathers and mothers who realize how important the vote is. 95 00:15:10,980 --> 00:15:19,540 And who recognize that we have an obligation to police our own internet. 96 00:15:19,540 --> 00:15:28,560 To make sure that hostile and hate speech and misogynistic speech is not tolerated. 97 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:47,820 And that candidates who are running are not treated in a manner of disrespect that creates an environment where there is a suppression of vote because of the hate speech or the misogynistic speech. 98 00:15:47,820 --> 00:15:53,440 So I hope all of you have a phenomenal conference. 99 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,900 I hope you will provide us in Congress more guidance. 100 00:15:57,900 --> 00:16:08,080 We are always open to your insights and recognize full well that you have much to offer all of us in the country. 101 00:16:08,420 --> 00:16:16,080 So bless you all and congratulations again for yet another DEF CON that will enlighten all of us. 102 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:17,540 Thank you. 103 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:25,860 Okay, that's great. 104 00:16:25,860 --> 00:16:28,260 Thank you so much, Congresswoman. 105 00:16:28,260 --> 00:16:35,480 I'll take it from here and we'll get that uploaded and I'll send the link to your staff. 106 00:16:35,540 --> 00:16:37,000 Thank you so much.