start	end	text
4860	10340	Good morning, everyone. I'm Jackie Speer, a member of Congress from the 14th District
10340	20080	in California, and I'm delighted to join you via this conference setting in a virtual manner
20080	27320	for DEFCON's Voting Village again this year. I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am
27320	34860	to this effort each year. And a special shout out to Harry Hurstey and all of you who have
34860	43220	weathered many storms to make sure that the DEFCON conference and the Voting Village could
43220	50380	continue to move forward. There is nothing more precious in our country than the right
50380	61340	to vote. And to have it in any way manipulated is the grossest act of war. And we don't talk
61340	69180	about that in terms of what Russia did in 2016, but it was for all intents and purposes
70100	78280	an act of cyber warfare. So what you do is critical to maintaining our democracy. And
78280	85740	I hope that all of you think of yourselves as patriots, because you are. And it is pursuing
85740	93080	this patriotic duty to make sure that the right to vote remains preeminent in this country
93080	104220	and that it is free from manipulation is what is truly very, very important. So the integrity
104220	112280	of our election system has, I think for a number of years, been subject to the impacts
112280	118900	of those who want to do damage to us. And I have been concerned about it. I've worried
118900	125980	about it. I've spent time talking to Harry about it. I've actually co-sponsored conferences
126690	133980	where DEFCON could come to the Capitol and make their case to the members and staff.
133980	142160	And Harry has been one of the preeminent speakers on those occasions. And frankly, he scared
142160	147480	the living daylights out of me the first time I talked to him, because it made me realize
147480	161860	how pervious, how easy it is to have these machines be co-opted, because there isn't
162060	169320	some national standard. We have always allowed states to develop their own systems, and so
169320	175020	many counties have their own systems, and the number of machines and types of machines
175020	180820	have varied. One thing I think we've all come to realize is the importance of a paper
180820	189480	trail. Without a paper trail, the ability to act with impunity is indeed very great.
189820	198580	On the issue of threats to our elections, I'm a member of the House Intelligence Committee,
198580	206160	so I've spent many years now observing this particular issue, and I spend many an hour
206160	214560	hearing from experts on Russia and its tactics and its interests. During the Cold War, the
214560	223980	Kremlin was very interested in self-content, disrupting our relations with European countries,
223980	232160	discrediting opponents of the Soviet Union. And as I describe all of these things, it
232160	238320	sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Because that is Vladimir Putin. He was a KGB operative.
238320	247180	He runs the Kremlin as if he is still the head of the KGB. And all of his colleagues,
247180	254400	those closest to him, the oligarchs, all were from his early days in St. Petersburg
255180	267040	and in the KGB. So much of that mentality continues to infiltrate the theories and objectives
267040	277960	of Russia today. So we have had some really remarkable things happen because of the digital
277960	285300	connectivity that has grown over the last 20 or 30 years. Accessing government services,
285300	293900	we do digitally now. Engaging in commerce is becoming more and more an e-commerce activity
293900	302040	and not a retail brick-and-mortar store activity. Advancing our education is done online in
302040	309120	many respects today. And in the midst of COVID, it's the only way that we are able to provide
309120	316720	educational experiences for our young people. But with all of this greatness that has become
316720	325900	associated with the connectivity that we have through cyber, also has come some really
325900	334160	great challenges for our democracy and probably the greatest challenge in our history. Countries
334160	343700	like Russia and China and even Iran now is looking at opportunities to do us harm on
343700	353100	one level or another. So it's very important that we recognize that we have work to do
353100	360000	in this field. No longer are our adversaries separated from us by oceans. In fact, they're
360000	369080	at our doorstep virtually every day because they can. And because we have not developed
369740	380620	a robust level of cyber hygiene that is important on every level of government and commerce as
380620	389360	well. We do know that Russia has been very successful. The Senate Select Committee on
389360	398300	Intelligence found in their report that in 2016, all 50 states, I repeat that, all 50 states
398300	408080	were targeted by the Russian interests in 2016. And for example, in Illinois, Russian cyber
408080	418720	actors gained enough access to the voter files in Illinois that they could delete or change
418720	429120	voter data. So, I mean, you can imagine what they can do if they were able to do that in 2016.
429180	434900	I'm certain that they have improved their skills and it's incumbent on us in each of our states
434900	443260	to make sure that our systems are not going to be subject to those kinds of intrusions moving
443260	452880	forward. In March of this year, social media companies in conjunction with Grafika were able to
452880	460800	identify a Russian internet research agency activity where they had taken it one step further,
460800	470200	gotten that much smarter, and were using legitimate third parties in Ghana and Nigeria to be able
470200	480040	to move their messages forward. So, that particular operation used authentic and fake accounts
480040	488240	to post almost exclusively on racial issues in the United States, promoting Black empowerment
488240	496540	and often displaying anger towards white Americans. Their interest is to create chaos to divide
496540	504660	our country and, unfortunately, much like the President does in many of his press conferences.
505460	513020	And we all should be concerned about the fact that the President of the United States has not found
513020	521960	it appropriate to call out Russia for putting bounties, if in fact we can believe what has been
521960	529660	reported in the New York Times and other news outlets, putting bounties on U.S. service members
529660	541180	by paying Taliban, by believing Russia, by believing Putin in terms of his calling out and saying,
541180	549060	no, we didn't do anything, when all the evidence is so strong and all of our intelligence agencies
549060	559440	with high confidence were able to say that Russia intended to and did succeed in intervening in our elections.
559440	572400	You know, I'm always reminded of the experience of Paul Manafort and his sidekick Rick Gates
572400	584020	who met with Konstantin Kalimnik in a cigar private club in New York City, in which Paul Manafort turned over
584020	595540	to Konstantin Kalimnik, a known intelligence officer within Russia, turned over campaign polling data.
596180	603940	And that should have been it. That should have been enough for all of us to realize that there was an effort
603940	612660	to coordinate the campaign of then-candidate Trump and the Russian interference.
612660	623160	So I think it's very important for us to recognize that Moscow hasn't gone away, that they intend to sharpen their skills
623160	628260	and do whatever they can during this particular election.
628780	640460	So, mail-in voting. The president, unfortunately, continues to undermine mail-in voting, which has been with us for a very long time.
640980	647880	He is attempting also to suggest that we should postpone the election.
647880	652780	Again, another way to distract from what's really important right now.
652780	659540	There's no ability, no power by the president of the United States to postpone an election.
659540	665920	It's in the Constitution. It's by statute. And the House and Senate would have to act to do that.
665920	672220	And there's no interest in either the House nor the Senate to postpone the election.
672220	678720	And it's important to remember that in our history, not during the Civil War, not during two world wars,
678720	686980	not during the Great Depression, not during the pandemic in 1918, did we postpone the election.
686980	691080	We are not going to postpone the election this year.
691080	710380	So, our efforts to expand the opportunity that both the president and the first lady, Melania Trump, have voted absentee in previous years.
710380	714600	And if it's good enough for them, it should be good enough for every other American as well.
714600	723320	A recent poll by the Pew Research Center found that two-thirds of Americans support absentee voting.
723320	726440	And they think it should be available to any voter.
726500	735300	And that you should not be required to have a doctor's order or request in order to have that.
735300	744780	So, it is certainly our intention to make sure that vote by mail is protected during this presidential election.
744780	747280	There's also been arguments about voter fraud.
747280	757160	You may remember that the president created, back in 2017 and 2018, a commission to look at voter fraud.
757160	763120	And then, all of a sudden, he disbanded it without much fanfare.
763120	775940	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.
775940	784480	So, I think as we defend the right for every American to vote, we've got to make sure there's proper funding.
784480	792660	And the CARES Act provided about $400 million to the states to prepare for the election cycle this year.
792720	801080	And the HEROES Act, which has been passed by the House but not yet by the Senate, actually provides for $3.6 billion.
801080	807580	And has provisions to make sure that early voting will be able to continue.
807580	815700	And that we have early voting that is available 15 days before the election.
815700	821120	That there should be no excuse needed for vote by mail.
821120	830080	And that we should start scanning ballots early so that there won't be the kind of wait come election day.
830080	840660	So, having said all of that, let me just say also that John Lewis provided us with some great messaging.
841220	846560	He said it's important to get into good trouble, necessary trouble.
846560	853300	And I think of all of you in this program as being part of making good trouble.
853300	866180	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.
866180	873260	And sometimes, as John Lewis also said, the only way is to get in the way.
873260	884320	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.
884320	896060	That we make sure that they cannot get in our way of retaining this democracy and protecting it for all future generations.
896060	900100	So again, thank you so much for the opportunity to be with you.
900100	910980	Remember that you are true patriots. You are a new generation of founding fathers and mothers who realize how important the vote is.
910980	919540	And who recognize that we have an obligation to police our own internet.
919540	928560	To make sure that hostile and hate speech and misogynistic speech is not tolerated.
928560	947820	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.
947820	957900	So I hope all of you have a phenomenal conference. I hope you will provide us in Congress more guidance.
957900	968080	We are always open to your insights and recognize full well that you have much to offer all of us in the country.
968420	976080	So bless you all and congratulations again for yet another DEF CON that will enlighten all of us.
976080	977540	Thank you.
984440	988260	Okay, that's great. Thank you so much, Congresswoman.
988260	995480	I'll take it from here and we'll get that uploaded and I'll send the link to your staff.
995540	997000	Thank you so much.