[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 18, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H6471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SECURITY CLEARANCES FOR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Huffman) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. HUFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, this week's stunning betrayal by President 
Trump, choosing Russian President Vladimir Putin over our own 
intelligence agencies, begs questions that we should never have to ask 
about an American President: What does Putin have on President Trump? 
Is he literally being blackmailed? Do we have a Manchurian candidate as 
our President?
  It is difficult to imagine any other explanation for Trump's constant 
bowing and scraping at the feet of the Russian dictator or of his 
refusal to hold Putin accountable for his election interference, even 
after numerous indictments, including 12 Russian military officials, 
and even after the arrest of a Russian national who was caught trying 
to use the NRA as a tool to change U.S. policy toward Russia.
  And it is hard to find any other explanation for Trump's constantly 
calling Special Counsel Mueller's investigation a ``witch hunt,'' even 
after so many indictments and multiple guilty pleas.
  On Monday, our security interests of this country demanded that our 
President speak out and seek accountability from the foreign adversary 
who attacked it. But instead, the American people witnessed a 
Manchurian moment, exposing that President Trump is so deeply 
compromised on Russia that he is willing to alienate our European 
allies, to blame our country for the strains in the relationship with 
Russia, and to betray our intelligence and law enforcement communities 
by casting doubt on their conclusions and accepting Putin's self-
serving denials.
  And so the world wonders: What does Putin have over Trump? Now, it 
could be some compromising or embarrassing financial information, which 
would explain Trump's refusal to release his tax returns.
  Now, let's remember, candidate Donald Trump promised, if elected, 
promised unequivocally that he would publicly release his tax returns 
just like every other modern President. We are still waiting. But 
Trump's position has evolved to an outright refusal, making him the 
only President in modern history to refuse to share this information 
with the American people.
  Now, it could also be his nefarious dealings with Russia that Trump 
wants to keep secret. Now, we know Trump and his family and his 
campaign had a web of contacts with Russia going back several years. 
The degree of collusion in the 2016 election is still unknown, but we 
know that, at the very least, they explored receiving illegal foreign 
election assistance, and we know that assistance was actually provided 
by Russia.

  Or it could be more straightforward blackmail. We know about the 
reports that Russia had compromising information on Trump that includes 
not just financial entanglements, but a sex tape.
  Now, I am confident that whatever President Trump is hiding, Special 
Counsel Mueller's investigation will get to the bottom of it. And that 
is why I have joined my colleagues here on the floor to demand that the 
Mueller investigation be protected from political interference and that 
we let the special counsel's office do its job.
  But we should also think about how we got into this surreal situation 
in the first place. How did a Presidential candidate with such 
potentially disqualifying baggage slide through the process without a 
way for voters to know about it? There is a clear public interest in 
ensuring that Presidential candidates are not deeply compromised or 
vulnerable to blackmail.
  And that is why today I introduce the Protecting Access to Classified 
Information in Elections Act. It is a new bill designed to protect the 
national security of our country by allowing Presidential candidates to 
voluntarily undergo a national security clearance investigation well 
before the election. Candidates who are granted a security clearance 
would have the option of publicly disclosing that fact on a website 
maintained by the director of national intelligence.
  Current law doesn't work that way. Presidential candidates start 
getting classified briefings before they take office, but it is based 
on an informal grant of access by the sitting President, and voters may 
assume that candidates have security clearances, but they don't 
actually have to get one and not all of them do.
  By providing an early security clearance process, candidates can 
provide a real assurance to the American people that there is nothing 
in their background, such as financial or personal vulnerabilities, 
that should prevent them from receiving our Nation's top secret 
information. And if a candidate chooses not to seek that security 
clearance, voters can consider that fact, too, when they cast their 
vote.
  An early security clearance would also virtually rule out the 
possibility that a Presidential candidate is vulnerable to foreign 
coercion, compromise, or manipulation, because among the things 
scrutinized by background investigators are tax returns and financial 
dealings. Investigators would learn if an applicant has been accused of 
sexual misconduct.
  So, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support to this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President of the United States.

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