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Allred Fights to Strengthen Corruption Laws and Protect Elections from Foreign Interference

October 23, 2019

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Colin Allred (TX-32), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, today helped lead the call for passage of the Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act. Allred cosponsored the bill and it is expected to pass the House today.

Allred released the following statement after speaking a press conference earlier today:

"The threat of foreign interference is very real and we must act to protect American elections. In 2018, we saw this in our own community in North Texas.

"Hundreds of thousands of dollars in foreign-affiliated money flooded the North Texas airwaves and mailboxes through a dark money Super PAC. This led to recent federal indictments in the Southern District of New York, but the damage had already been done to our democracy.

"This common-sense legislation requires campaigns to report offers of foreign assistance to the FBI and strengthens laws to prevent foreign money in U.S. elections. American elections should be decided by Americans. I urge my colleagues to work with us, and pass this bill into law."


***Watch or download Allred remarks at the press conference HERE.***

The SHIELD Act protects our elections by:

  • Creating a duty to report illicit offers of campaign assistance from foreign governments and their agents.
  • Improving transparency of online political advertisements.
  • Closing loopholes that allow foreign nationals and foreign governments to spend in U.S. elections.
  • Restricting the exchange of campaign information between candidates and foreign governments and their agents.
  • Prohibiting deceptive practices about voting procedures.

Read more about the bill here.