[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 122 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S5088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              S. Res. 584

  Madam President, before I yield to my good friend, the hard-working 
and very able ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I want 
to talk about our resolution which we are going to vote on. Lord knows 
what would happen if we couldn't have even gotten a vote on that.
  The idea that an American ambassador, who served us so well, should 
be brought before Putin and his minions to be questioned, when there is 
no charge against him, no issue against him--it is not like the 12 
Russians who are indicted for trying to interfere with our elections. 
It is not even an analogy. There is not an evenness. President Trump 
amazingly called this an ``incredible offer.'' Our President is saying 
that one of our Ambassadors being hauled before an authoritarian regime 
that twists the truth, that lies at will, that even seems to kill 
people they want to with poison in other countries is an incredible 
offer?
  Well, this resolution is a fine resolution. It will pass. It doesn't 
undo what just happened. It doesn't make up for the fact that our 
colleagues are afraid to take real action, even a resolution that 
posits action in terms of the major misdeeds at Helsinki. At the very 
least, we are protecting the integrity of the men and women who serve 
us, because if today it is the Ambassador, tomorrow it could be 
somebody in the military or somebody in the intelligence agencies or 
elsewhere.

  This resolution is very clear. What it says is, when President Trump 
called Putin's offer an ``incredible offer,'' he was incredibly wrong. 
No President can put one of our fine servants at risk who has worked 
hard, in this case, for the diplomatic corps. This resolution is a bare 
minimum of what we should be doing here. I am glad it will be on the 
floor, and I suspect it will pass--hopefully, unanimously.
  I yield to my colleague from New Jersey.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
  Mr. MENENDEZ. Madam President, I am very pleased to join with the 
distinguished Democratic leader in coauthoring this resolution.