[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 17, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4975-S4977]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President:
[[Page S4976]]
[Yesterday's summit] was one of the most disgraceful
performances by an American President in memory. The damage
inflicted by President Trump's naivety, egotism, false
equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to
calculate. . . . President Trump proved not only unable but
unwilling to stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be
speaking from the same script as the president made a
conscious choice to defend a tyrant against the fair
questions of a free press, and to grant Putin an
uncontested platform to spew propaganda and lies to the
world.
Coming close on the heels of President Trump's bombastic
and erratic conduct towards our closest friends and allies in
Brussels and Britain, today's press conference--
Yesterday's press conference, actually--
marks a recent low point in the history of the American
Presidency.
No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly
before a tyrant. Not only did President Trump fail to speak
the truth about an adversary; but speaking for America to the
world, our president failed to defend all that makes us who
we are--a republic of free people dedicated to the cause of
liberty at home and abroad. American presidents must be
champions of that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are
waiting and hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred
responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting . . .
in vain.
Those are very strong words. People would say: Well, Chuck Schumer is
the Democratic leader. Of course, he is going to criticize President
Trump. But those strong, biting, and effective words are not mine.
Those three paragraphs I quoted come from John McCain, who is probably
the leading Republican expert on military security, national security,
and foreign policy.
When Senator McCain said that, it should be a clarion call to every
Republican to not just speak up but to take action because the national
security of America is in danger.
I ask unanimous consent that Senator McCain's statement, in its
entirety, be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Senator John McCain Statement on President Trump's Meeting With
President Putin
``Today's press conference in Helsinki was one of the most
disgraceful performances by an American president in memory.
The damage inflicted by President Trump's naivete, egotism,
false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to
calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a
tragic mistake.
``President Trump proved not only unable, but unwilling to
stand up to Putin. He and Putin seemed to be speaking from
the same script as the president made a conscious choice to
defend a tyrant against the fair questions of a free press,
and to grant Putin an uncontested platform to spew propaganda
and lies to the world.
``It is tempting to describe the press conference as a
pathetic rout--as an illustration of the perils of under-
preparation and inexperience. But these were not the errant
tweets of a novice politician. These were the deliberate
choices of a president who seems determined to realize his
delusions of a warm relationship with Putin's regime without
any regard for the true nature of his rule, his violent
disregard for the sovereignty of his neighbors, his
complicity in the slaughter of the Syrian people, his
violation of international treaties, and his assault on
democratic institutions throughout the world.
``Coming close on the heels of President Trump's bombastic
and erratic conduct towards our closest friends and allies in
Brussels and Britain, today's press conference marks a recent
low point in the history of the American Presidency. That the
president was attended in Helsinki by a team of competent and
patriotic advisors makes his blunders and capitulations all
the more painful and inexplicable. ``No prior president has
ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant. Not only
did President Trump fail to speak the truth about an
adversary; but speaking for America to the world, our
president failed to defend all that makes us who we are--a
republic of free people dedicated to the cause of liberty at
home and abroad. American presidents must be the champions of
that cause if it is to succeed. Americans are waiting and
hoping for President Trump to embrace that sacred
responsibility. One can only hope they are not waiting
totally in vain.''
Mr. SCHUMER. It is still difficult to comprehend what transpired
yesterday in Helsinki. Because of his actions, it was one of the worst
days for any President of the United States in recent memory. On
foreign soil, President Trump said the United States was to blame for
the state of the relationship between Russia and America.
He trashed American intelligence and took the word of the KGB over
the word of the men and women of the CIA. Can you believe it? Can you
believe it? He said Russia's intelligence agency, which murders,
steals, lies, and cheats, is better than ours. There is no rational
explanation for an American President to do such a thing. It was the
act of a man who seems incapable of distinguishing between his own
narrow personal interests and the interests of America's national
security.
Can you imagine if President Kennedy believed Khrushchev when he said
there were no missiles in Cuba? Can you imagine if President Reagan
believed Gorbachev without verifying that the Soviet Union would reduce
its missile stockpile? We would be living in a much different world
than we are today. Thank God President Kennedy and President Reagan
showed strength in the face of tyrants--but President Trump shows
abject weakness and sycophancy.
Let me explain to the President why he is being so strongly
criticized when he embraced Putin's strong and powerful denial. The
reason, President Trump, that you are being so criticized when you
accept Putin's word is, Putin is a trained liar. He lies brazenly,
shamelessly, and repeatedly about big things and small.
Putin lied about the presence of Russian troops in Crimea. He lied
about the Malaysian airplane being shot down by a Russian rocket. He
lied about Russian athletes doping at the Olympics. He lied about
Russian behavior in eastern Ukraine. He lied about Assad's use of
chemical weapons. He lied about interference in the Brexit vote. Just
last week, he lied about the Kremlin's involvement in a recent nerve
agent attack in the United Kingdom.
Yet when President Putin gives President Trump a ``strong and
powerful denial'' that he didn't meddle in our elections, President
Trump immediately accepts Putin's word over the considered judgment of
America's dedicated intelligence professionals. It is almost as if
Donald Trump is embracing Putin's needs. I am ashamed of it, and every
American should be. No previous President would be that naive or that
weak. No serious leader would allow themselves to be taken in so
easily.
The only person with cause to celebrate is Vladimir Putin. Putin got
to stand on the stage with an American President who refused to hold
him accountable for anything. He watched President Trump careen through
Europe, carrying out Putin's dream agenda--torching old alliances,
interfering in the domestic affairs of the United Kingdom, weakening
NATO and American power in the region. Putin skated through a bilateral
summit and press conference without facing any consequences for
deliberately meddling in our elections. Putin could not have scripted a
better result.
I am from Brooklyn. If we learned anything, we learned one thing
there: When there is a bully around, as Putin is, you show strength.
President Trump showed abject weakness. Do you know what that means?
The bully will continue to take advantage of it. If Donald Trump was
such an easy mark in Helsinki, President Putin will realize he is an
easy mark elsewhere.
The behavior of the President is just inexplicable. Everyone in the
United States is scratching their heads. There seems to be no rational
explanation for President Trump's behavior, and so millions of
Americans are left wondering if Putin indeed has something over the
President. That is the most logical explanation of the President's
bizarre and weak behavior so deleterious to American interests.
If there is another credible explanation for why President Trump
behaved the way he did, it would behoove the President to let the
American people in on it; otherwise, so many Americans are going to
continue to wonder, does President Putin have something over President
Trump that makes the President behave in such a way that hurts our
country so?
We know the President doesn't like to prepare much, but even the most
basic preparation would lead a President away from the erratic behavior
we saw yesterday. The truth is, the summit yesterday was like an x-ray
machine, revealing that ``America First'' is really just ``Trump
First,'' no matter what it means for the country he is sworn to defend
from enemies foreign and domestic.
[[Page S4977]]
So the question looms: What will the Senate do in response? What will
my Republican colleagues do in response? A few of them have echoed
Senator McCain's sentiments, and they deserve recognition for that, but
those Senators who are not John McCain, who are here in the Senate
wielding an immense power to shape events, I say to them, words are not
enough. Our response to the debasement of American interests before a
foreign adversary demands a response, not just in word but in deed. Our
Republican colleagues cannot just talk the talk--some of them have done
that, most haven't--but, as a body, they need to walk the walk. The
American people are demanding it.
Our country needs to see Republicans in the Senate and the Republican
Party stand up and show through action that unlike our President, they
will not tolerate Russian aggression or accept Putin's lies. They need
to act in the spirit of Ronald Reagan, not in the spirit of Donald
Trump. Too often, when the President goes off the reservation, the
Republican Party has lightly rebuked his behavior and waited for
everyone to move on. Given the crisis, given Trump's horrible actions,
that is not good enough. Our Republican colleagues cannot just go tsk-
tsk. They must act if they want to help America.
Yesterday, I outlined four things we could do immediately in response
to the President's disastrous summit. Let me repeat them and add a
fifth.
First, ratchet up sanctions on Russia, not water them down. The
sanctions we passed 98 to 2 have not even been fully implemented. Some
in the House now want to reduce those sanctions. We need to strengthen
them.
Second, and very importantly--probably most importantly--our
Republican colleagues need to join us in demanding testimony from the
President's national security team that was in Helsinki, and we need to
do that immediately. We need hearings as soon as possible to assess
what President Trump might have committed to President Putin in secret.
President Trump's public statements were alarming enough. The Senate
needs to know what happened behind closed doors. Does anyone believe he
was tougher on Putin in secret? You can't assume anything but that as
weak as he was in public before President Putin, he was even worse in
private. Why else did he not want anyone in the room?
President Trump and President Putin met one-on-one behind closed
doors for nearly 2 hours. Where are the notes from the meeting? What
did the President agree to? Was Secretary Pompeo briefed afterward on
what happened? Were any other members of the President's team briefed?
The American people need to know what is happening. The American people
deserve to know what is happening. It is our security at risk.
I am calling on Leader McConnell and his leadership team to
immediately request a hearing with Secretary of State Pompeo and the
rest of the President's national security team from Helsinki so we can
find out what the heck happened there--the explanation for what
happened openly, and even more importantly, what happened in that
meeting behind closed doors.
Third, our Republican friends must end the attacks on the Department
of Justice, the FBI, and the special counsel. Those have mainly
emanated from a small group in the House.
Given the indictments, given the indictment yesterday, not from
Mueller but from mainline Justice, we have to let this investigation go
forward. President Trump's actions yesterday lead many more Americans
to suspect that something was amiss; that there may have been
collusion. What else would explain President Trump's actions and
protestations in a foreign country?
We need to end these attacks and let the investigation proceed
unimpeded and encourage the President to sit down for an interview with
Mueller.
Fourth, the President must insist on the extradition of the 12
Russians recently indicted for election interference. In one of the
more bizarre of many bizarre incidents yesterday, Putin suggested that
Americans come and interview the Russians in Russia or actually watch
as Russian agents interview the Russians in Russia. Is Russia known for
a free and open judicial system? Is Russia known for the rule of law?
Of course not. It was an absurd suggestion. Any other President would
have rejected it out of hand.
We need to bring them here, and the President, to represent the honor
and the strength of the United States--something he has failed to do
thus far--needs to demand it.
Finally, election security. Our elections are at risk. We have now
had indictments of Russians interfering in the 2016 elections. Everyone
in America, except Donald Trump, admits that happened--Democrats and
Republicans, Speaker Ryan, Leader McConnell--that Russia tried to
interfere and interfere, most everyone believes, on President Trump's
behalf. Why? Well, we heard Putin's explanation.
We can't have that happen again. We must move election security
legislation immediately.
To its credit, in a bipartisan way, this Chamber and the other put
$380 million in the last omnibus for election security, but there is
very fine legislation. One is sponsored by Senator Klobuchar, and she
has worked with some of the Republicans on that. Another is sponsored
by Senator Chris Van Hollen. I believe Senator Rubio is a cosponsor of
that. We need to move that legislation--hopefully, with bipartisan
support--quickly.
These are five simple things we can do together, Democrats and
Republicans.
Now, yesterday, I saw my good friend--I see him sitting here--Senator
Cornyn say that we have done most of these things already. I wish it
were so. It isn't. We haven't done any of it. Leader McConnell has not
called for hearings to bring Secretary Pompeo and others here. We have
not increased sanctions, which we should do. In fact, there is a move
in the House to decrease them. We have not asked the President to
demand extradition of the Russians. We have not urged some Republicans,
particularly in the House, to stop interfering with the Mueller
investigation. We haven't done any of the four items I mentioned
yesterday or the fifth I mentioned today. I hope Senator Cornyn and
others will lead the charge and help us get those done, in a bipartisan
way, for the sake of this wonderful and great country.
The bottom line is that we need to act. A few statements will not
change President Trump's behavior and will not stop President Putin
from continuing to make a mess of our alliances around the world and
our elections here in America. Action is required. The eyes of America
are on the Republicans in the Senate to join us in the actions I have
outlined or other actions they might feel appropriate.
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