Rooney Leads Initiative to Protect U.S. Elections From Foreign Hacks

U.S. Representative Tom Rooney, a member of the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has joined the fight to protect the United States from foreign hacks by cosigning the “Secure Elections Act,” which gives state and local governments accessibility to grants so they can update their election systems and voting machines.

Commenting on the bill, Rooney explained that “Although the Russian government didn’t change the outcome of the 2016 election, they certainly interfered with the intention of sowing discord and undermining Americans’ faith in our democratic process. There’s no doubt in my mind they will continue to meddle in our elections this year and in the future.”

Rooney also added that “It’s critical that we provide our local and state election offices with the resources they need to harden their systems against cyberattacks. The funding provided by this bill will allow our communities to close vulnerabilities and prepare for the future, rather than sit around and wait for the next attack.”

U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy, another sponsor of the bill, also added that “Hostile foreign actors have attempted and will continue to attempt to undermine the fundamentals of our democracy by attacking our electoral process. It is our responsibility to take every precaution necessary to safeguard our elections and ensure no vote count is ever interfered with. By streamlining communication between the federal government and states and authorizing grants for state and local governments to modernize their election infrastructure, the Secure Elections Act will ensure states have the tools they need to protect our electoral process.”