House panel OKs bill requiring campaigns to report foreign offers of assistance

Sweeping election security legislation pending on Capitol Hill has cleared a key hurdle as members of Congress look to prevent foreign interference in the 2020 presidential race.

The House Administration Committee on Wednesday voted 6-1 to advance the Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act, or SHIELD Act, bringing the bill closer to being considered by the full House.

Led by Rep. Zoe Lofgren, California Democrat, the proposal contains several provisions offered in response to the well-documented involvement by Russians in the 2016 U.S. elections.

“The SHIELD Act closes gaps in the law that allow foreign nationals and foreign governments to launder money into our elections,” Ms. Lofgren, the chair of the House committee, said during a markup hearing for the bill. “It promotes full transparency of the sources behind online advertising campaigns, and it codifies a basic norm that political committees should report offers of illicit campaign assistance from foreign governments to the FBI and to the [Federal Election Commission], rather than welcome interference from foreign governments.”

The U.S. government has determined that Russians interfered in the 2016 elections in part to help elect President Trump over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies have repeatedly warned that the 2020 race similarly risks coming under attack.

Russians meddled in the 2016 race by hacking computer systems, stealing and then circulating emails taken from Democrats and the Clinton campaign and spreading politically charged misinformation and propaganda on social media, according to U.S. agencies. Moscow has denied responsibility.

Although a probe of the 2016 race conducted by the Department of Justice failed to find any evidence of collusion between Russians and the Trump campaign, investigators uncovered scores of interactions between both sides that raised suspicions.

Mr. Trump has since acknowledged that he would be willing to accept election assistance from a foreign government in the future and is currently facing impeachment proceedings due to admittedly asking Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, a Democrat vying to run against Mr. Trump in 2020.

“We should all be able to agree that we need to protect our democracy, and with a sense of urgency,” Ms. Lofgren said. “This should not a partisan opinion. Nothing less than our national security is at stake.”

Rep. Rodney Davis of Illinois, the House committee’s ranking Republican, was the only member to vote against the bill. He accused Democratic colleagues of having “rushed” the legislation without holding any hearings or seeking bipartisan input.

“I believe the SHIELD Act will have many unintended but severe consequences on the American people and a chilling effect on free speech,” said Mr. Davis, who indicated he was particularly opposed to language in the bill that would make political ads subject to heightened new disclosure rules.

The SHIELD Act currently has garnered 101 co-sponsors, all Democrats, since being introduced by Ms. Lofgren this month. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, previously said that he expects the full House to vote on the bill during the week of Oct. 21.