[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 104 (Tuesday, June 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4523-S4524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the President's foreign trip, 
President Biden's first foreign trip has projected a welcome sight to 
the world: an American President embracing our allies and bringing them 
together to confront our common adversaries.
  Already, the President's visit to G7 has yielded results: a 
commitment to counter China's rapacious economic policies and unwinding 
a longstanding dispute over tariffs and trade with the European Union.
  Now after meeting with our allies at both the G7 and at the NATO 
summit in Brussels, the President will meet tomorrow with Vladimir 
Putin. From the occupation in Crimea to violating political human 
rights within its own borders, to interfering in democratic elections 
across the Western world, to imprisoning those who expose his brutal, 
undemocratic regime, Vladimir Putin has spent the past decade 
interfering and destabilizing the world order.

[[Page S4524]]

  For 4 years, former President Trump turned a blind eye and gave Putin 
a free pass. In the history of our country, Americans had never seen a 
President of the United States support an adversary the way Trump 
supported President Putin on that stage in Helsinki nearly 3 years ago. 
We all remember President Trump standing next to Vladimir Putin and 
taking the word of a Russian intelligence officer over America's 
intelligence agencies.
  Trump not only defended Putin repeatedly from accusations of election 
interference, he actually announced--if you believe this, stranger than 
fiction--that the United States and Russia would set up a joint cyber 
security unit. Even Senator Graham said that it wasn't ``the dumbest 
idea [he'd] ever heard, but it [was] . . . close.''
  Now, President Biden must take the exact opposite approach. The 
United States must approach Vladimir Putin with a firm hand and demand 
accountability in a way that President Trump never did. I expect 
President Biden will do exactly that.
  One issue I am particularly concerned about is cyber security and the 
rise of ransomware attacks on the critical infrastructure of the United 
States. Many of those cyber criminals, unsurprisingly, may be hiding 
out in Putin's Russia or potentially connected to Putin's intelligence 
agencies.
  Here at home, I have called on Congress to significantly boost 
funding for our cyber fighting Agencies and asked our Senate committees 
to study if we need new legislation to help counter the threat of cyber 
attacks.
  Abroad, President Biden has an opportunity to pressure Putin directly 
to put an end to Russian-supported cyber crime. I expect he will. The 
President has smartly made these issues a priority among our NATO 
allies, announcing a host of joint actions to combat cyber crime, 
harden our cyber security, and condemn Russian aggression in the cyber 
space. It is time to take the issue directly to Vladimir Putin himself.
  For 4 years, former President Trump berated our allies while 
emboldening and sometimes embracing the world's dictators and 
autocrats, Vladimir Putin above all. Already, President Biden's first 
foreign trip is a welcome turn of the page in America's relationship 
with the world.

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