Boyle to Introduce Bill Banning ‘Cyber Security Unit’ with Russia
Bill comes as Trump trumpets then backs away from agreement with Putin

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Brendan Boyle announced Sunday he would introduce legislation to block President Donald Trump’s attempts to create a cybersecurity unit with Russia.
Boyle told NBC10 in Phildadelphia affiliate of his intentions after President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday morning that he had discussed forming a unit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in light of allegations that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
Boyle said his bill would “prohibit the United States from participating in any type joint working group with Russia on cybersecurity efforts.”
“Hiring Mr. Putin to protect our electoral process is like a group of homeowners hiring a security guard to protect them after that individual has broken into their homes,” Boyle said in the statement.
Trump touted the “impenetrable Cyber Security unit” as one of the accomplishments in his two-hour-plus conversation with Putin at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, last week. But he backed away from that hours later.
Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017
The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn’t mean I think it can happen. It can’t-but a ceasefire can,& did!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2017
This came after some Republican senators like Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse criticized the idea. Rubio compared it to partnering with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on “a chemical weapons unit.”
Putin is an enemy of free religion, speech, press and protest. He is now plotting future cyber attacks on America. He won’t become a friend. https://t.co/YU18LOjrJ6
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) July 10, 2017
This obviously should not happen–& obviously will not happen. Why the President of the United States would tweet it is inexplicably bizarre https://t.co/Y3YvnzRaku
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) July 10, 2017
Partnering with Putin on a “Cyber Security Unit” is akin to partnering with Assad on a “Chemical Weapons Unit”. 2/3
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 9, 2017