Floor Statements

I announce that the Senator from California (Ms. Harris), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from California (Ms. Harris) and the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from California (Ms. Harris) and the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth),

the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Illinois (Ms. Duckworth), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues for supporting the Defending Elections against Trolls from Enemy Regimes Act, aka the DETER Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation I introduced with the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham, Senator Blumenthal, and Senator Grassley.

This legislation would prevent foreign regimes from exploiting U.S. immigration laws to undermine U.S. elections. Specifically, it would make ``improper interference in U.S. elections'' a violation of immigration law.

Given the ongoing threat to the United States in terms of the integrity of our electoral process from Russian interference, we need to ensure that we are denying--and, if necessary, revoking--any visas to foreign nationals who seek to improperly interfere in our elections.

One of the most important takeaways from the Mueller report is that Russia successfully attacked America in 2016 by doing everything it could to undermine our election process.

Page 1 of the Mueller report says: ``The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion.''

The report detailed numerous examples of Russian interference, including an ``intelligence-gathering mission'' that employees of the Internet Research Agency--also known as the IRA--took in June of 2014. The IRA was the Russian troll farm that waged information warfare against the 2016 election with stolen identities, fake social media accounts, fake campaign events, and even attacking the voter list for the State of Illinois.

The report and the earlier indictment of several IRA employees noted that two of the Russians arrived in the United States for a 3-week trip ``for the purpose of collecting intelligence to inform [IRA's] operations.''

The DETER Act would respond to threats like this, barring foreign actors from traveling to our country to interfere in our elections. I thank my colleagues for supporting this important legislation which was approved on Monday night. I hope the U.S. House of Representatives will quickly pass it and send it to the President's desk for his signature.

This should be the first of many steps Congress takes to deter and punish future election interference by the Russians or by any foreign power.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker), the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.