[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 96 (Monday, June 11, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S3693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2696. Mr. MENENDEZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 2282 proposed by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr. 
McCain) to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for 
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of 
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, 
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the end of subtitle G of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1271. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO THE 
                   RUSSIAN FEDERATION REJOINING THE G7.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Group of Seven (G7) is a group of nations 
     consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the 
     United Kingdom, and the United States, and which is joined by 
     the European Union at annual G7 summits.
       (2) The G7 states said in May 2017 in Taormina, Italy, that 
     ``we are bound together by our shared values of freedom and 
     democracy, peace, security, the rule of law, and respect for 
     human rights. We are determined to coordinate our efforts in 
     promoting the rules-based international order and global 
     sustainable development.''
       (3) On March 24, 2014, the current group of G7 states 
     suspended the Russian Federation from what was then the Group 
     of Eight nations, in response to the Russian Federation's 
     illegal invasion and occupation of the Ukrainian territory of 
     Crimea.
       (4) The G7 states worked constructively toward the 
     imposition of sanctions by the European Union and the United 
     States, respectively, on the Russian Federation for its 
     aggression against Ukraine, including the illegal occupation 
     of Crimea and its violent aggression in the eastern part of 
     the country.
       (5) Two G7 member states, France and Germany, in close 
     consultation with the United States and other allies, helped 
     to negotiate the Minsk Agreements in September 2014 and 
     February 2015, and have worked within the Normandy Group 
     format to further implementation of these agreements by the 
     Russian Federation and Ukraine.
       (6) The Government of the Russian Federation has failed to 
     fulfill its obligations under the Minsk Agreements, including 
     with respect to a full ceasefire, the removal of heavy 
     weaponry, permitting the monitoring and verification of a 
     ceasefire regime, and ensuring access for humanitarian aid to 
     conflict-affected individuals.
       (7) The Government of the Russian Federation continues to 
     illegally occupy Crimea.
       (8) On June 9, 2018, the President of the United States 
     said, ``It would be an asset to have Russia back in. I think 
     it would be good for the world. I think it would be good for 
     Russia. I think it would be good for the United States. I 
     think it would be good for all of the countries of the 
     current G7. I think the G8 would be better.''.
       (9) The Government of the Russian Federation, since 2014, 
     has expanded its aggression and undermined democratic 
     institutions against the United States and other countries 
     around the world, through election interference, 
     cyberattacks, corrupt influence, disinformation, and other 
     forms of malign interference.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the Sense of Congress that 
     the President should--
       (1) welcome the steadfast commitment by G7 member states to 
     the values of democracy, human rights, and rule of law that 
     underpin the rules-based international order;
       (2) condemn the actions of the Government of the Russian 
     Federation that led to its suspension by G7 states from the 
     group in 2014, and which continue to the present day;
       (3) immediately retract his statement of June 9, 2018, in 
     which he called for the readmission of the Russian Federation 
     into the G7; and
       (4) clearly declare that the Russian Federation will not be 
     readmitted into the G7 until it immediately ceases efforts to 
     undermine the rules-based international order and ends its 
     illegal occupation of Crimea.
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