Cruz this subcommittee hearing is called to order. Welcome to the witnesses who are here. The First Amendments first for a reason. It guarantees not only the freedom of speech, but the right of the people peaceably to assemble. Peaceably matters a great deal in that protection. Without our First Amendment rights, rights that protect the countless ways in which people can peaceably express their social and political views, democracy wouldnt work. The right of the people peaceably to assemble and to demand changes to petition their government for grievances is in the very best tradition of america. No history of the United States, no recounting of the unending struggle to live up to our founding promises would be complete without recognition of the peaceful movements that have pushed this nation forward. Abolitionists to the suffragettes, to the countless brave and heroic souls who marched in support of the civil rights movement, peaceable assemblies have moved mountains in this country
Census, no president has ever tried to manipulate the census count in this way. In fact, just two years ago, the Census Bureau reaffirmed its commitment to do the exact opposite of what the president is now trying to do. The bureau committed to counting every person, regardless of citizenship or legal status, under the rules of congress set in the census act of 1790. The president s decision to release this illegal memo, now appears designed to inflict maximum damage to the accuracy of the ongoing 2020 census. In just two weeks, the Census Bureau will start visiting the homes of millions of people who have not, yet, responded to the census. The president s latest attack on immigrants could sow fear and confusion in communities across the country. And could lead many people to decide not to participate. This will hurt communities that are already undercounted, underrepresented, and underfunded. Addressing the chaos caused by the president s memo will drain valuable resources from the Ce
Remotely. R by webex, appearing members are in person, let me remind everyone that pursuant to the house attending physician and guidance come all individuals attending this hearing in person must wear a face mask. I am dropping mine only to speak. Members who were not wearing a face mask will not be recognized. Let me also make a few reminders to those members appearing in person. You will only see members and witnesses appearing remotely on the monitor in front of you when they are speaking in what is actives webex speaker view. A timer is directly in front of you. Remotely,s appearing let me remind everybody that first, you will be able to siege person speaking during the hearing whether they are in person or remote as long as you have your webex set to active speaker view. If you have any questions, Contact Committee staff. They will try to be helpful. A timer thatve should be visible on your screen when you are in the active speaker with thumbnail view. Members who wish to pen the
Event today starting with the panel that you see before you which are going to focus on safeguarding Election Security to the integrity of the e Electoral Systems and process. We have a second panel that will begin at 3 15 on the problems of tackling disinformation, the implications for the Election Campaign that were in the midst of for the election in 2020. Werere delighted to be able to start off today with keynote remarks from someone whos on die front line of this, a great thlleague of mine, chris krebs, who is thee director for Cyber Security and infrastructure security of the department of ry Homeland Security. He has a whole agency he directs that is completely devoted to the subject of todays panel, and were really grateful as chris iss coming right from thei frontlines of dealing with these issues that hes got some time o to spend with us today. Chris is going to give us an overview of what the government is trying to do to tackle this issue head on. And then were going to go
Of the museum at the corner of third and Chestnut Street in old city philadelphia. Philadelphia was the headquarters of the revolution. This is where delegates came. This is where the protest against british oppression first mounted. This is where the declaration of independence was written. So this really is the most central element of the American Revolution, the birth of our nation, which is why this museum is located here. Just down the street from me is the first bank of the states. Alexander hamiltons branch bank when he launched our nations banking system. It is also the first building constructed by the United States of america. So we, truly, are where the nation began, and it is the right place to tell the entire story of the American Revolution. It is our mission in this museum. Behind me, you see cannons from the era. These are part of the city of philadelphias collection. Every one of these canons is old enough that it could have been used to fight the revolution. Behind me