[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 122 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5084-S5085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                 Unanimous Consent Request--S. Res. 582

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, as in legislative 
session, the

[[Page S5085]]

Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 582, submitted 
earlier today. I further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, Trump derangement syndrome has officially 
come to the Senate. The hatred for the President is so intense that 
partisans would rather risk war than give diplomacy a chance. Does 
anybody remember that Ronald Reagan sat down with Gorbachev and that we 
lessened the nuclear tensions? We need to still have those openings.
  Nobody is excusing Russia's meddling in our elections. Absolutely we 
should protect the integrity of our elections. But simply bringing the 
hatred of the President to the Senate floor in order to say ``We are 
done with diplomacy. We are going to add more and more sanctions''--you 
know what. I would rather that we still have open channels of 
discussion with the Russians. At the height of the Cold War, Kennedy 
had a direct line to Khrushchev, and it may have prevented the end of 
the world.
  Should we be so crazy about partisanship that we now say ``We don't 
want to talk to the Russians. We are not going to have relations with 
the Russians''? We should stand firm and say ``Stay the hell out of our 
elections,'' but we should not stick our head in the ground and say we 
are not going to talk to them.
  I would like to see the Russians leave Ukraine. I think we could do 
it through diplomacy. We are not going to have it if we don't talk to 
them.
  I would like to see the Russians help more with North Korea, with 
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We are not going to have it 
if we just simply heap more sanctions on and say that we are not going 
to talk to the Russians and that anybody who talks to the Russians is 
committing treason.
  For goodness' sake, we have the former head of the CIA, John Brennan, 
gallivanting across TV--now being paid for his opinion--to call the 
President treasonous. This has to stop. This is crazy hatred of the 
President. Crazy partisanship is driving this.
  For goodness' sake, we don't excuse Russia's behavior in our 
election, but we don't have to have war. We can still have engagement. 
We have engaged Russia throughout 70 years, while also acknowledging 
the imperfections of their system, the parts of their system we 
vehemently disagree with--the lack of freedom, the lack of human 
rights. Yet we had open channels of negotiation, open channels of 
communication.
  I could not object more strongly to this.
  Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, the Senator from Kentucky just told us 
that he wants dialogue with Russia, he wants diplomacy with Russia, and 
that he thinks it is important that we communicate with Russia. I 
agree. Who disagrees with that? There is not one word in this 
resolution that suggests that the United States of America should not 
aggressively engage in diplomacy with Russia to ease the tensions that 
exist between the two countries. What the Senator said is totally 
irrelevant to what is in this resolution.
  What this resolution says is that we are going to tell Russia: Stop 
interfering in our elections.
  What this resolution is about is telling Russia to stop interfering 
with the elections in democratic countries all over the world.
  What this resolution is about is saying that we should implement the 
sanctions overwhelmingly voted for by Congress.
  What this resolution is about is that we will not accept interference 
with the ongoing investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
  What this resolution says is that the President must cooperate with 
the investigation of Mr. Mueller.
  That is what this resolution is about. It has nothing to do with 
ending diplomacy with Russia at all. That is inaccurate.
  I would hope that, if not today, in the very near future, Republicans 
will join Democrats and do the right thing in our effort to preserve 
American democracy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.