[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 62 (Tuesday, April 17, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2192-S2193]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RUSSIA AND SPECIAL COUNSEL LEGISLATION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on another issue, Russia and Mueller, 
yesterday it was reported that President Trump overruled the decision 
of his administration to implement new sanctions against Russia for its 
support of the brutal Assad regime in Syria in the wake of a chemical 
weapons attack that was devastating. Our hearts go out when we see 
pictures like this.
  It is only the latest action in a long pattern of behavior in which 
President Trump opts to treat Russia and President Putin with kid 
gloves. It took a very long time for President Trump to even utter a 
negative word about Mr. Putin, and his administration has time and 
again delayed the implementation of sanctions.
  Reports in the press said that President Trump was unhappy with his 
administration's decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats after British 
citizens were victims of a Russian-linked attack. The decision to expel 
those diplomats was correct, in my view, but apparently the President 
wasn't happy with the decision by his own appointed national security 
team.
  The White House shouldn't have to drag the President kicking and 
screaming to do the right thing when it comes to punishing Vladimir 
Putin and Russia. His refusal to stand up to the Kremlin is troubling, 
and it leaves many Americans wondering: Why and what does the President 
have to hide? That is what 90 percent of all Americans are asking 
themselves--Democrat, Republican, liberal, conservative. His actions 
with Putin have been so confounding and so contrary to American 
interests that there is virtually no rational explanation for them.
  At the same time, the President's rhetoric about the Russia probe 
should concern all of us. Should he seek to shut down or impede the 
investigation by firing the Deputy Attorney General or Special Counsel 
Mueller, interfering with the chain of command, or issuing pardons, we 
would--make no mistake about it--be in a full-fledged constitutional 
crisis.
  I urge my colleagues, all of my colleagues--Democrat, Republican, 
Independent--to support the bipartisan legislation in the Judiciary 
Committee that would protect the special counsel from a political 
firing. The rule of law is not a partisan issue. It is one of the most 
serious issues we face because that is what is at the core of being an 
American. That is why the whole world admires us. That is why so many 
families like mine have been able to climb the ladder, starting out in 
poverty as my grandparents did, to a decent life. We cannot let the 
rule of law become a partisan issue. Let us speak in one

[[Page S2193]]

loud, clear voice by passing this legislation through the Senate as 
soon as possible.
  Finally, as well, the contradictions, I might add, in the 
administration are enormous. Nikki Haley must be so embarrassed today. 
She forthrightly said that we are going to be tough on Russia and do 
additional sanctions one day, and then the President contradicted her 
the next. Do they talk to each other? Do they have a set plan? Or is it 
just up to the President's whim, day by day, moment by moment? When it 
comes to Russia, it is far too serious to rely on whim, changing 
attitudes, and maybe an 800-pound gorilla in the room. There is 
something the President is worried about.

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