[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 81 (Thursday, May 17, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H4141-H4142]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      UNDERMINING OF OUR DEMOCRACY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Suozzi) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, Russia has been working to undermine our 
democracy, as well as democracies throughout Europe, including Central 
and Eastern Europe.
  Unfortunately, too many Americans and elected officials have been 
distracted from Russia's secret operations because of the pitched, 
partisan battle regarding Putin's involvement in the 2016 Presidential 
race.
  The bottom line is this: Democrats and Republicans can't lose focus 
on Russia's worldwide treachery due to our hyperpartisanship here at 
home.
  Instead, Democrats and Republicans in Congress must work together to 
expose Russia's worldwide plan to subvert democracy. We must face the 
reality that Russia is a strategic competitor of the United States that 
is using nontraditional, nonmilitary weapons in a hybrid warfare to 
undermine democracies in countries that are ill-equipped to combat 
their malign efforts.
  Instead of focusing on Russia's activities during the 2016 election, 
I have introduced a bipartisan bill, the Russia Anti-Corruption Act, 
with 13 Republicans and 10 Democratic cosponsors, to expose and thwart 
Putin and his cronies' illicit activities in Eastern Europe and Europe 
as a whole.

  Whether bribing politicians, cyber attacks, manipulating social media 
networks, buying media outlets to promote propaganda, or purchasing 
power plants to control energy supplies to gain leverage over unstable 
governments, we must define, document, and

[[Page H4142]]

disrupt the corruption flowing from Moscow, which imperils the 
democratic foundations of our U.S. allies.
  Our legislation would establish within the State Department an office 
of anticorruption relating to illicit Russian financial activities in 
Europe which would analyze Russia's financial meddling in strategic 
European sectors, including real estate, energy, media, and 
infrastructure.
  The office will collaborate with the Treasury Department to train 
U.S. diplomats to work with foreign partners to uncover and prosecute 
illegal Russian financial activity. This office will also work with our 
NATO allies to elevate anticorruption operations as part of NATO's 
readiness action plan.
  Oligarchs connected to Vladimir Putin are malevolent allies in the 
Russian President's hybrid warfare scheme. They flood Europe with dirty 
money, bribing politicians and purchasing key assets to subvert 
democracy. The Panama Papers found a trail of $2 billion that leads 
back to the Russian President. Such money has gone to support fringe 
political parties in France, Germany, Austria, and elsewhere.
  Well-funded Russian media outlets also play a key role in this hybrid 
warfare. They spread lies and weaken faith in European governments. Our 
allies in Central and Eastern Europe have accused Russia of a campaign 
of bribery meant to undermine the transatlantic alliance.
  All of this, of course, complements Russia's more overt tactics, from 
its military aggression in the Ukraine to its campaign of 
assassinations on European soil. As Putin and his cronies work to 
discredit open societies, the dark and dangerous sphere of Moscow's 
influence grows and grows and grows. That is how democracies can die.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not about President Trump, and it is not about 
Democrats versus Republicans. Members of Congress must work together to 
find solutions to the very serious threats posed by Russia the world 
over.
  I now yield to my friend and colleague, Mr. French Hill, the original 
cosponsor of the Russia Anti-Corruption Act and a real leader on this 
critical issue.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from New York for yielding 
and compliment him for his leadership on this topic.
  Just like rebuilding our transatlantic relationship on NATO and our 
partners for military work and just like our work in exporting energy 
now, natural gas and oil, to Europe to offset the Russian dominance, 
this work, this political work, is essential. I thank my friend from 
New York, and I was proud to be an original cosponsor on this 
legislation.
  I want to tell you, on a recent visit in the last few months I had to 
Krakow, Poland, I was with the Kosciuszko Institute there in Krakow, 
which has studied Russian cyber attacks throughout Central Europe 
extensively.
  They were telling all of us that they are the front line of 
propaganda, cyber attack, testing and training for what we have seen in 
the United States and around the world.
  The institute cited Estonia in 2007, Georgia in 2008, the Ukraine in 
2011, and the 2013 Energetic Bear attack as well-known public examples 
of how Russia is using Central Europe to perfect their strategies 
before deploying to other Western countries, including what we 
witnessed here in the United States.
  By the Congress addressing and passing Mr. Suozzi's bill, we can help 
Europeans on the front lines of the fight against the Russian 
corruption, propaganda, and cyber intrusion machine.
  I thank my friend for the time he so generously gave to me.

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