Thompson Statement on DHS Notifying States of Election Targeting
(WASHINGTON) – Today, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Ranking Member of the Committee on Homeland Security, released the following statement on the news that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has notified each state and territory whether or not their election systems were targeted during the 2016 election:
“Russia’s priority in undermining confidence in our democratic institutions was clear during last year election and will only growing stronger. To counter this, there must be a strong relationship between DHS and its partners at the State level with the aim of keeping our election systems–part of our critical infrastructure–secure. While this should have happened much sooner, I am glad that DHS finally notified each state whether or not they were targeted by Russia. I urge DHS to keep building trusted relationships with state governments to carry out its responsibility to help states secure their election systems. Congress must also continue to do its part to investigate what happened last year, work to prevent it in the future, and ensure DHS has the resources it needs to protect these systems.”
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