[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 122 (Thursday, July 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5098-S5099]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
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EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE AGAINST THE MAKING AVAILABLE OF
CURRENT AND FORMER DIPLOMATS, OFFICIALS, AND MEMBERS OF THE ARMED
FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES FOR QUESTIONING BY THE GOVERNMENT OF
VLADIMIR PUTIN
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
resume legislative session to consider the following resolution, which
the clerk will report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 584) expressing the sense of the
Senate against the making available of current and former
diplomats, officials, and members of the Armed Forces of the
United States for questioning by the government of Vladimir
Putin.
Thereupon, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I am hopeful that we will come together
on this resolution, which I introduced with the Senator from New Jersey
and the Senator from Hawaii, that it is neither the policy nor the
practice of the United States to submit our citizens, let alone our
Ambassadors, to the interrogation of a foreign adversary.
Let this resolution be a warning to the administration that Congress
will not allow this to happen. I call on President Trump to say once
and for
[[Page S5099]]
all--not through his spokespeople--that the lopsided, disgraceful trade
he called an incredible offer is now off the table. There should be no
equivocation on the matter.
One more point. I am so disappointed in the failure of the
resolutions earlier today. We had a real chance for bipartisanship. The
resolutions were modest and mild, and they were just resolutions, but
we couldn't even come to agreement on those. Our Republican colleagues,
given the crisis we have in foreign policy, have to step up to the
plate and join us not just in resolutions but in bipartisan action that
is so important.
I was told that one of the reasons the resolution was objected to was
because we couldn't--they didn't even want us to get the notes, let
alone hear from the translator of this 2-hour, mysterious meeting where
nobody seems to know what happened. The American people should know
what happened. The Senate should know what happened. Our leaders in the
State Department and Defense Department should know what happened. Our
colleagues on the other side of the aisle seem to be too afraid to let
us bring that up. That is so wrong for the security of America.
I am hopeful--there are bipartisan efforts going on today--that we
cannot do what we did earlier and block the resolution by the Senator
from Vermont and the bipartisan resolution from the Senators from
Arizona and Delaware but move together in real action to undo the
damage--try to undo the damage that the President has done to this
country this week.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the resolution.
Mr. SCHUMER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the
Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain) and the Senator from Alabama (Mr.
Shelby).
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 162 Leg.]
YEAS--98
Alexander
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Boozman
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Donnelly
Duckworth
Durbin
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Gardner
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Harris
Hassan
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Jones
Kaine
Kennedy
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Lee
Manchin
Markey
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Paul
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Reed
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Scott
Shaheen
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NOT VOTING--2
McCain
Shelby
The resolution (S. Res. 584) was agreed to.
(The resolution is printed in today's Record under ``Submitted
Resolutions.'')
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