June 21, 2017

Castro Statement on U.S. Election Security Standards

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement after this morning’s open hearing with former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson:
 
“In today’s hearing, I asked former Secretary Johnson about the security protecting the United States’ voting systems. He said that no minimum cybersecurity standards exist. Without requiring a consistent baseline of protections across all states, we put the integrity of our democracy at risk. We have to remedy this vulnerability for future elections. As leaders from the Intelligence Community have repeatedly stated, the Russians can and will interfere in our democratic processes again. We must take every precaution to safeguard voter databases, physical voting infrastructure, and political institutions to prevent more extensive attacks from succeeding in the future.”
 
Video of Congressman Castro’s questioning during today’s hearing is available here: LINK

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