[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 122 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5083-S5084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
S. Res. 582
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I rise to speak about a matter of
extraordinary importance to the future of American democracy and, in
fact, democracies all over the world. At the Helsinki summit on Monday,
President Trump embarrassed our country, undermined American values,
and openly sided with Russia's authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin,
against the U.S. intelligence community's unanimous assessment that
Russia interfered in the 2016 Presidential election.
Senator John McCain is right when he said: It was--
[It 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.
That is not Bernie Sanders talking. That is former Republican
Presidential candidate Senator John McCain.
On Tuesday, after a strong international backlash, Trump, in a
bizarre statement, claimed he misspoke and, of course, blamed the media
for reporting what he said, even then he could not help but suggest
that the electoral interference ``could be other people also'' and not
just Russia.
In an interview last night, Trump changed his answer yet again and
acknowledged, in the meekest way possible, that, yes, Russia meddled in
our election, and, as the leader of Russia, Vladimir Putin is
responsible.
This is a step forward, but it is not remotely sufficient. Who knows
what tweet the President will release tomorrow? He seems to come up
with a new response every few hours.
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Today, we face an unprecedented situation of a President who, for
whatever reason, refuses to acknowledge the full scope of the threat to
American democracy. Either he really doesn't understand what is
happening--and that is possible--or he is under Russian influence
because of compromising information that they may have on him or
because he is ultimately more sympathetic to Russia's authoritarian
oligarchic form of government than he is to American democracy.
Whatever the reason, Congress must act now. Democrats must act and
Republicans must act if we are serious about preserving American
democracy. We must demand--and I know this is a radical idea--that the
President of the United States represent the interests of the American
people and not Russia.
Let us be as clear as we can be. Russia has been interfering not only
in U.S. elections but in the elections of other democracies--the United
Kingdom, France, Germany.
I yield to the Democratic leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I want to thank my friend, the Senator
from Vermont, for this outstanding resolution. It is a resolution. I
don't see who can object to it. We ask for five things in this
resolution: that our government accept the assessment of our own
Intelligence Committees about Russia's interference; that we move
aggressively to protect our election systems; that the sanctions that
this body passed 98 to 2 finally be implemented by the Trump
administration; that there be no interference in Mr. Mueller's
investigation; and that there must be cooperation.
Who in America would object to that? Maybe a small group of hard-
right ideologues, but no one else.
Who in this body will object to it? This is an outstanding
resolution.
I know my friend from Vermont would agree with me. We need action in
addition to resolutions, but this is an excellent start. I urge all of
my colleagues to support this fullheartedly. Our country is at risk.
The Senator from Vermont is sounding a clarion call and saying in a
bipartisan way that we should strengthen our country, not weaken it, as
the President has done over the last week. I hope this will get
unanimous support from every Member of this body--whether they be
Democrat, Independent, or Republican; whether they be liberal,
moderate, or conservative. If you love America, if you care about our
security, support this resolution.
I thank my colleague for yielding.
Mr. SANDERS. I thank the Democratic leader for his strong efforts on
this enormously important issue. I want to reiterate that this really
is not a Democratic resolution. If there is any resolution that should
be bipartisan, this is it. My Republican colleagues believe in
democracy. I know that. We believe in democracy. Together, we and the
American people must make it clear that we will not allow Russia or any
other country on Earth to undermine our democracy.
Let's be very clear that Russia has not just been interfering in U.S.
elections but in elections of other democracies around the world--the
United Kingdom, France, and Germany, to name just a few countries.
Russia's goal is to advance its own interests by weakening the
transatlantic alliance of democracies that arose after World War II,
while also inflaming internal divisions in our country and in other
countries. We should also be clear that this interference is directed
from the very highest levels of the Russian Government. Last week,
Special Counsel Mueller announced a set of indictments of 12 members of
Russia's military intelligence service, the GRU. There can be no doubt
that given the nature of the Russian Government, Vladimir Putin was
directly involved in this effort.
But our concern is not only what has already happened; more
importantly, it is what could happen in the future. What happened in
2016 was an outrage, but we have to make sure it does not happen in
2018 and future elections.
Last week, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, a former
Republican U.S. Senator, raised the alarm on growing cyber attacks and
threats against the United States in a range of areas--a range of
areas, not just elections--including Federal, State, and local
government agencies, the military, business, and academia, saying that
the situation is at a ``critical point.'' Coats said Russia is ``the
most aggressive foreign actor, no question, and they continue their
efforts to undermine our democracy.'' Coats compared the warning signs
to those the United States faced ahead of the September 11 terrorist
attacks. This is a clear and present threat to our democratic system
and those of our allies.
Ultimately, of course we want a peaceful relationship with Russia. We
do not want a return to the Cold War, and we surely do not seek any
type of military conflict. But at the same time, we must be very clear
that we oppose what Putin is doing, both in terms of his foreign policy
and his domestic policy.
On foreign policy, we will not accept Russia interfering in the
elections of democratic countries, stoking political tensions by
promoting hatred and suspicion of immigrants and minorities, and trying
to undermine longstanding alliances between democratic allies.
In 2014, in violation of international law, Russia invaded
neighboring Ukraine and annexed the Crimea region.
Russia has assassinated political opponents abroad, most recently
through the use of poison in Salisbury, England. The British Government
concluded in that attack that it was most likely carried out by
Russia's military intelligence service.
Domestically, Putin has undermined democracy in Russia, crushing free
speech, jailing political opponents, harassing and assassinating
journalists who criticize him, and increasing persecution of ethnic and
religious minorities.
On Monday in Helsinki, President Trump had an opportunity to speak
out on all of these things and more, to confront Putin about these
destabilizing and inhumane policies. He chose not to.
Well, here is the main point: If for whatever reason the President of
the United States is not going to do what is right, Congress must do
it. Democrats must do it. Republicans must do it.
The Congress must make it clear--and this is the resolution I am
introducing and asking for unanimous consent--the Congress must make it
clear that we accept the assessment of our intelligence community with
regard to Russian election interfering in our country and in other
democracies. Does anybody doubt the truth of that?
The Congress must move aggressively to protect our election system
from interference by Russia or any foreign power. Does anybody deny the
importance of that?
The Congress must demand that the sanctions against Russia, as the
Democratic leader mentioned, which passed with 98 votes, be fully
implemented--98 votes on that issue.
The Congress must make it clear that we will not accept any
interference with the ongoing investigation of Special Counsel Mueller,
such as the offer of preemptive pardons or the firing of Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and that the President must cooperate
with this investigation. Time and again, I have heard Republicans,
including leaders, make it clear that there should not be an
interference in that investigation. There is nothing new here on that
point.
Finally--nothing new here, either--the Congress must make it clear to
President Trump that his job is to protect the values that millions of
Americans struggled, fought, and died to defend: justice, democracy,
and equality; that he is the President of the United States and his job
is to protect the interests of the American people, not Russia.
Tweets, comments, and press conferences--and I know many of my
Republican colleagues have been involved in those activities. They are
fine. They are constructive. But we need more from Republican Senators
now. It is time for the Senate to rein in the President's dangerous
behavior.
If their leadership--Senator McConnell--will not allow votes on this
extraordinarily important matter, then my Republican colleagues must
join with Democrats to make it happen, or all of their fine-sounding
words of concern will become meaningless.