[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 122 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5080-S5082]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in the 3 days since the President 
returned from his humiliating display of obsequiousness in Helsinki, he 
has offered numerous explanations for his behavior.
  First, he said the media was too focused on the negative and that his 
summit with Putin was a great success. Then, admitting there was, in 
fact, a problem, he attempted to walk

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back some of his comments, but even he couldn't commit to that and ad-
libbed that other people could also have been responsible for 
interfering in the 2016 elections. A mere 24 hours later, the President 
was back to claiming it was not his fault and that the media was 
biased.
  Then, astoundingly--the President not having learned his lesson--when 
he was asked yesterday whether Russia was still attacking our election 
system, the President replied ``no.'' This was, of course, followed by 
yet another implausible clarification when--surprise--his Press 
Secretary told reporters that was not what the President meant. 
Although, when you actually look at the tape, it is clear as a bell it 
is what the President meant. He was saying Russia was not still 
attacking our election system--once again, disbelieving all of the fine 
men and women who have reported this, who labor quietly, diligently in 
our intelligence agencies.
  The constantly shifting, insincere, and thoroughly unconvincing 
explanations for the President's performance reveal that the President 
and his team do not understand the depth of President Trump's blunders 
with Putin. Frankly, any post hoc clarification cannot substitute for 
or repair the President's failure to confront Putin face-to-face. All 
of his walk backs, which then get undone, are done in the wrong place 
at the wrong time.
  Where is this man who prides himself on being strong but is then 
afraid to say these things to Putin and has to wait until he is 6,000 
miles away to say them? It is unbelievable.
  One of the most stunning things about the summit was the President's 
openness to a request by President Putin to question former U.S. 
Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul and other Americans. In Helsinki, 
the President described the request as part of an ``incredible offer.'' 
The President's spokeswoman was asked about it yesterday. She confirmed 
the President and his team would discuss it.
  That President Trump would even consider handing over a former U.S. 
Ambassador to Putin and his cronies for interrogation is bewildering. 
No President should have the power to gift wrap American citizens, let 
alone former Ambassadors, to our known adversaries. How can President 
Trump and his team spend even a moment considering Putin's request? How 
can they equate the democracy and rule of law and system of open and 
fair prosecution we have in this country with what Putin does? It is 
just amazing.
  Every day, this President demeans the United States. So many 
Americans are saying they are ashamed to have him as their leader when 
he behaves like this.
  Certainly, if the President were to agree to such a request, Congress 
must do everything in its power to block it. There can be no room for 
debate, no room for discussion. We must be clear--and clear quickly. 
This morning, Senator Menendez, Senator Schatz, and I plan to offer a 
simple resolution that states: ``It is the sense of Congress that the 
United States should refuse to make available any current or former 
diplomat, civil servant, political appointee, law enforcement official, 
or member of the Armed Forces of the United States for questioning by 
the government of Vladimir Putin.'' This body must agree on the 
importance of protecting our Ambassadors. We should pass it today, not 
wait, not show any equivocation.
  This incredible offer, as President Trump so casually and incorrectly 
called it, raises other serious questions. What else has President 
Trump agreed to behind closed doors? What else has he discussed with 
President Putin? President Trump and President Putin met for nearly 2 
hours behind closed doors. No one else was present but a translator, 
and hardly anyone knows what was said.
  Has Secretary Pompeo been briefed on that private, behind-closed-
doors meeting? Nobody knows. He hasn't said so. Does our military know 
if President Trump made commitments about our nuclear arsenal? Nobody 
knows. Defense Secretary Mattis hasn't said whether he has been 
briefed. Do we know if President Trump made commitments about the 
security of Israel or Syria or North Korea or about any of the other 
issues the President said he discussed with Putin?
  It is utterly amazing that no one knows what was said. This is a 
democracy. If our President makes agreements with one of our leading--
if not our leading--adversaries, his Cabinet has to know about it and 
so do the American people. These questions and more need a full and 
complete accounting before Congress, in an open setting, as soon as 
possible
  That is why I have called on the Republican leadership to demand that 
Secretary of State Pompeo, Ambassador Huntsman, and, crucially, the 
translator who was present at the closed-door session be made to 
testify before the Senate. They should come immediately--now. What are 
our Republican friends waiting for?
  The events of this week raise serious questions about the President's 
ability to responsibly and safely conduct this Nation's foreign policy, 
about his ability and willingness to defend the United States and her 
citizens, about his very ability to govern in so many areas.
  Confronted with these grave questions, I believe the Senate must act 
to show our country's resolve to punish Putin for his interference and 
never allow such a thing to happen again and to ensure the President is 
doing what is necessary to stand up for American interests.
  So I have proposed--and many of my colleagues on this side of the 
aisle have proposed--a bunch of things we can do right now to take 
action in the wake of President Trump's indefensible summit with 
President Putin. Democrats are not in the majority. We don't control 
the floor. We need our Republican colleagues, who control the Senate 
floor, to join us on these measures. The lack of action--action, not 
just words--by our Republican colleagues is stunning and deeply 
disappointing not just to Democrats but to all of the American people.
  Since Monday, sadly, we haven't seen movement from our colleagues in 
the majority, just more slow-walking. I understand my friends, Senators 
Coons and Flake, are working on introducing a resolution to support the 
consensus of our intelligence agencies and to request congressional 
oversight. We are all for it. I hope it passes with the unanimous 
consent it deserves. My Republican friends can and must do more--
actions, not just resolutions and statements of disapproval. We 
shouldn't need this resolution. The things asked for in this resolution 
should have been happening already.
  The burden of patriotism and of protecting America's security is on 
Leader McConnell's shoulders. I know he has a difficult situation. I 
know he has a President who can sometimes be vindictive. The bottom 
line is, our country's security, our country's direction, our country's 
honor demand it.
  We need to bring Secretary of State Pompeo, Ambassador Huntsman, and 
the rest of President Trump's national security team from Helsinki, 
including the translator who was present in the one-on-one meeting with 
Putin, right here before the Congress, in open session, so we all will 
know what happened.
  We need to pass legislation to protect Special Counsel Mueller. There 
is bipartisan legislation already that was passed out of the Judiciary 
Committee under Senator Grassley's leadership and support. It is on the 
floor. What is our Republican leader waiting for?
  We need to see the President's tax returns, which has been the common 
practice of all Presidents in recent memory, but it is needed far more 
now because one of the most logical explanations of the President's 
obsequious and almost inexplicable actions toward President Putin is 
that Putin has something on him. Maybe it would be revealed in the tax 
returns, and if there is nothing there, the President should have no 
problem with releasing them.
  We need to implement sanctions against Russia, not weaken them. We 
need to demand that Putin hand over the 12 Russians who have been 
indicted for election interference. We also need to harden our election 
infrastructure so that what happened in 2016 never happens again.
  These are all commonsense measures, and most of them have bipartisan 
support already. They will accomplish for America what the President 
has been unwilling or unable to do. If my Republican colleagues refuse 
to pursue any--if not all--of these items, they are de

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facto consenting to the President's capitulation in Helsinki. They 
cannot stand by. The American people will not allow it.

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