; Whereas Italian officials confirmed that a sustained attack against its foreign ministry’s computer and IT systems in 2016 was likely conducted by hackers associated with Russia; Whereas the Russian government troll army used social media to disseminate misleading or false news coverage produced by Russian Government English-language news outlets RT and Sputnik to support the Exit campaign during the United Kingdom’s referendum on leaving the European Union; Whereas Norwegian officials reported in February 2017 that nine personal civil servant email accounts had been targeted by hackers in spear-phishing attacks believed to be connected to Russian intelligence; Whereas in January 2017 the head of France’s National Agency for the Security of Information Systems warned that the 2017 French Presidential elections were at risk of being influenced by hacking, leaks of information, and other foreign interference strategies; and Whereas Albania, Armenia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Lichtenstein, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom have federal or local elections scheduled in 2017, including Presidential elections in France, Germany, Serbia, and Slovenia: Now, therefore, be it