[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 15, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Russia

  Mr. President, on Russia, on the same day Russian aircraft 
intercepted and forced down a U.S. surveillance drone in the Black Sea, 
it was troubling to hear some on the hard right not condemn Putin so 
much as excuse him--the hard right, excusing Putin, not even daring to 
condemn him.
  One Republican Governor, in particular, said yesterday that defending 
Ukraine and opposing Putin is not of vital national interest. He called 
Putin's illegal and unprovoked invasion of another sovereign democracy 
a ``territorial dispute.'' He basically thinks the United States is 
wrong to support Ukraine as they fight and die to protect their 
democracy, and he is certainly not alone in thinking that on the hard 
right.
  I have to wonder what he would have thought if he was around in the 
1930s. We know what happened then, when many refused to stand up to 
aggression--a world war resulted.
  Sadly, these remarks are not unique within the GOP. For years, an 
isolationist fever has been surging within the hard right, propagated 
night after night on networks like FOX News. The hard right's 
isolationism is dangerous. It is un-American, undemocratic, and it is 
woefully blind to the lessons of history.
  It is ironic that many on the hard right, which historically opposed 
communism and authoritarianism, now openly flirt with autocrats like 
Putin.
  These MAGA isolationists are making America less safe. They are 
making our troops less safe, and they are severely undermining American 
leadership on the world stage. This desire to excuse and validate 
Putin's goals is one of the many terrible legacies of Donald Trump, and 
it is as good a reason as any why he and those who think like him 
should never ever come near the Oval Office ever again.