[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S2659]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             MUELLER REPORT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I have just listened to my friend the 
majority leader engage in an astounding bit of whitewash--not 
unexpected but entirely unconvincing.
  Yes, the Mueller investigation took 2 years, and, yes, it produced a 
stunning document in the end--not only a damning appraisal of our 
election security and just how willing a major Presidential campaign 
was to accept and amplify the disinformation of a foreign adversary but 
also a thorough examination of the behavior of a lawless President, who 
at least on 11 occasions, according to the report, may have obstructed 
a Federal investigation.
  So while my friend the majority leader wants to say ``case closed''--
I don't blame them--375 former Federal prosecutors looked at the 
Mueller report and said publicly that the conduct of the President 
amounts to felony obstruction of justice. In any other case, were he 
not President, those prosecutors would have recommended bringing 
charges.
  Our leader saying ``Let's move on'' is sort of like Richard Nixon 
saying ``Let's move on'' at the height of the investigation of his 
wrongdoing. Of course he wants to move on. He wants to cover it up. He 
wants silence on one of the most serious issues we face--whether a 
foreign power can manipulate our elections, the wellspring of our 
democracy.
  If the leader is sincere, then put election security on the floor. 
Let's debate it. Put sanctions on Russia on the floor. Let's debate it. 
He doesn't want to move on; he wants to run away from these awful facts 
that relate to the wellspring of our democracy--foreign interference in 
our election and a President who is lawless. That is what he wants to 
push under the rug.
  Of course, he would say this is all done. It is not done. If Russia 
interferes in 2020, it is not done. If this President or future 
Presidents believe that they can avoid the law and even break the law--
at least according to 375 prosecutors--it is not done. This is very 
serious stuff.
  The leader bemoans ``breathless conspiracy theorizing.'' For a 
moment, I thought he was referring to the President and to those House 
and Senate Republicans who for 2 years intentionally sought to undercut 
Mueller's investigation by peddling farfetched conspiracy theories 
about deep state ``coups,'' unmasking scandals, and uranium purchases 
to muddy the waters. I guess he meant something about Democrats. But I 
don't remember the Republican leader bemoaning those breathless 
conspiracies; nor do I remember the Republican leader or the Republican 
Senators having such a distaste for congressional oversight during the 
Obama administration. On things far less serious, they were relentless 
in wanting investigations. Now they say ``never mind'' when the 
wellspring of our democracy is at stake, there is foreign interference 
in our elections, and a President who just disobeys the law. The leader 
sure acted differently a few years back.
  What I remember is that from the very beginning, the Republican 
leader has not taken the threat of Russia's election interference as 
seriously as he should. In the run-up to the 2016 election, when the 
Obama administration sought to warn State election officials about 
foreign meddling and designate election systems as ``critical 
infrastructure,'' Leader McConnell reportedly delayed for weeks, 
``watered down'' the letter from congressional leaders, and pushed back 
against the designation. Yes, I would have swept this under the rug if 
I had done that. I wouldn't want to keep talking about it.
  Despite 2 years in charge of the Senate since the 2016 election, 
Leader McConnell has pursued additional election security only after 
being prodded by Democrats, and it has been half-baked at that.
  Leader McConnell thwarted the Rules Committee from marking up the 
bipartisan legislation designed to enhance election security.
  At the beginning of the year, 42 Republicans, including Leader 
McConnell, essentially voted in favor of the administration's proposal 
to weaken sanctions against Russia.
  In the last round of negotiations, Senate Republicans blocked our 
attempt to fund additional efforts to make our election safe in 2020.
  Now, despite a preponderance of testimony from our intelligence 
officials--not politicians; intelligence officials who are in charge of 
our security and well-being--they testified that foreign powers are 
ramping up to interfere in our next election. The Senate has done 
nothing to grapple with the problem, even as minimal of a request as I 
made to the leader: an all-Senators' classified briefing from our 
defense and intelligence leaders so that the Senate understands what we 
need to do to protect American in 2020 and beyond. I have been asking 
for 2 weeks, and we still haven't gotten action.
  Let's bring the bipartisan Secure Elections Act to the floor and 
debate and amend. Let's strengthen sanctions against Putin and any 
other adversary who would dare to interfere with the sanctity of our 
elections.
  Regardless of what you believe about the President's conduct, we 
should all--every single Democrat and every single Republican--be 
working to ensure that what happened in 2016 never happens again. We 
can debate how much of an effect it had, but we sure don't want it to 
be worse--whatever it was--in 2020 than it was in 2016. And the leader 
sits on his hands, does nothing, creates a legislative graveyard for 
these and every other issue, and then says: Let's move on. No way. No 
way. We can do both. We can make our elections more secure. We can 
examine what happened so we can make them more secure and do other 
issues. So far, Leader McConnell is doing neither.
  What we have here is very simple. What we have here is a concerted 
effort to circle the wagons to protect the President from 
accountability, to whitewash his reprehensible conduct by simply 
declaring it irrelevant. In that effort, the leader and Senate 
Republicans are falling down drastically on their constitutional duty 
to provide oversight and, I fear, to defend the national interest as 
well.

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