US House Approves Bill to Form Panel to Counter Alleged Russian Meddling

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The bill, supported by House-majority Republicans and minority Democrats, was approved Wednesday night on a voice vote, 390 to 30. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill by December 31.

Text of the bill, which also sets funding levels for other US intelligence priorities, calls for establishing a panel that would attempt to curtail Russian efforts to "exert covert influence over peoples and governments" while "countering active measures by Russia to exert covert influence, including exposing falsehoods, agents of influence, corruption, human rights abuses, terrorism and assassinations carried out by the security services or political elites of the Russian Federation or their proxies."

In a related matter Wednesday, the six Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee sent a two-paragraph letter urging President Barack Obama to seek to declassify information about alleged Russian intrusion in the US presidential election.

"We believe there is additional information concerning the Russian government and the U.S. election that should be declassified and released to the public," the senators wrote. "We are conveying specifics through classified channels."

Russia has denied frequent claims by US intelligence agencies that it has tried to meddle in the US political system, with President Vladimir Putin calling the allegations an attempt to distract American voters from domestic issues.