[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 210 (Wednesday, December 20, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6073-S6075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            U.S.-RUSSIAN FEDERATION SEAFOOD RECIPROCITY ACT

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I know this might be one of the last 
presiding duties of the year, so I appreciate the Presiding Officer 
taking the time on the floor before she gets to go home.
  I want to talk about two issues today here on the Senate floor. One 
is a really important one. It is a policy issue that we have to solve. 
What I am trying to do today is just make sure my colleagues--because a 
lot of them get kind of fed some misinformation on this issue and then 
the American people writ large--know what is going on so we can fix 
this issue. I am hoping the White House and the administration and the 
Treasury Department--that everybody is watching because this is an easy 
one.
  Imagine this, if someone came to you and said, ``All right. Let's 
see. Is there legislation that we could pass that would help end slave 
labor in China, with the Uighurs; help make sure we had a really strong 
environment for our oceans and our fisheries; help make sure we weren't 
funding the Russian war machine to go kill innocent civilians in 
Ukraine; help make sure we keep strong American coastal communities; 
and help promote the great American fishermen, who work so hard all 
over this great Nation?'' We have been doing it way before the founding 
of the Republic. If there is legislation that could do all of those 
things, wouldn't you want to support it--oh, by the way--and that could 
undermine our adversaries, the two big adversaries we have, Russia and 
China?
  Is there legislation pending in the U.S. Senate that could do all of 
these things? The answer is yes. Hell yes. I just want to make sure all 
of my colleagues know, because when I bring this to the floor when we 
come back in the new year, I just want to make sure everybody supports 
it because it is a no-brainer. It is a no-brainer.
  So what am I talking about? Well, it is my U.S.-Russian Federation 
Seafood Reciprocity Act. It has a bunch of cosponsors, Democrats and 
Republicans. Senator Cantwell is a big, big promoter of this, just for 
one example. But let me just give a little bit of background because 
people are saying, I am sure: Wait. You have a piece of legislation 
that can do all of that?
  Yes, I sure do. And why anyone would not support it--well, once they 
get educated, they will support it. So let's talk about it just very 
briefly.
  What is the background here? I am going to go way back, almost 10 
years. So the Russians invade Crimea. You have an aggressive dictator, 
Vladimir Putin, trying to invade everybody, right? We have to make sure 
he doesn't win in Ukraine. The Obama administration smacks them with 
sanctions, OK? I wasn't here then, but that is what happened. This was 
in 2014. But I supported that. Then the Russians retaliated.
  Now, one of the things they did when they retaliated was that they 
said: We are going to ban the importation of all American seafood into 
Russia. Now, Russia has a big seafood market, OK? So Russia said that 
no American seafood can come into Russia.
  By the way, my State is the superpower of seafood. The great State of 
Alaska is responsible for the harvesting of over two-thirds of all fish 
and seafood in America--two-thirds, 66 percent. We are the superpower 
of seafood. Now, there are a lot of other great States that export 
seafood. I am not sure the great State of Nevada does, but that is a 
whole other topic.
  So this is really important to my constituents. Tens of thousands of 
my great constituents are involved with this. So imagine that. Russia 
is still allowed to import in the United States almost duty-free, and 
we can't export one fish, OK? That has been the situation since 2014. 
Right there, that is just unfair, OK?

[[Page S6074]]

  So I tried to work with the Obama administration, with the Trump 
administration, and with the Biden administration to fix this--unfair.
  By the way, the Russian seafood guys were eating into our fishermen's 
market in our own home, in our own U.S. market--not fair.
  By the way, American fishermen--Alaskan fishermen--have the highest 
standards by far in the world on the environment, on sustainable 
fisheries, on the management of fisheries and our oceans--this is 
something Senator Whitehouse and I have passed legislation on--and on 
workers' rights, OK? They are the highest in the world. It is not even 
close. So the highest standards on the planet are right in America, are 
right in Alaska. Russia and China--I am going to get to them--have the 
lowest in the world, OK? So keep that in mind as we talk about this 
issue.
  So then it literally takes a war to fix this. Russia brutally invades 
Ukraine. The Biden administration is putting together a sanctions 
package.
  I call the White House and say: Hey, look, how about including in 
your sanctions package a way to fix this unfair trade situation where 
Russia won't allow us to import one fish, and they can export into the 
United States all they want. No way.
  So, to his credit, President Biden said--or his team: Hey, I agree 
with Senator Sullivan. Let's smack them with sanctions on fish.
  So the Biden initial Executive order hitting Russia after they 
invaded Ukraine said Russia can't import in the United States. Great. I 
have been working on that for 10 years, and it is only fair.
  So what happens? Hmm--these sneaky authoritarians--by the way, the 
Russian seafood industry is controlled by oligarchs who are literally 
taking a lot of that money and funding it for the Putin war machine. So 
remember that, my colleagues who might want to object to this later. 
Money is going to fund the Putin war machine from fisheries, OK? That 
is a fact.
  So, anyway, the little, sneaky authoritarian regimes--Putin and Xi 
Jinping--are working together, and they are like: Hey, let's avoid 
those American sanctions. We will take the Russian seafood caught by 
Russian fishermen in Russian waters, and we will send it to China, and 
we will have slave labor in China transform it, and then we will send 
it to the United States. We will sneak around those sanctions--a big 
loophole--using slave labor.

  So that is what they are doing right now. They are doing it every day 
by the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not in the billions. They 
are avoiding these sanctions by saying: Let's take the Russians' 
seafood, with the worst environmental standards in the world, and we 
will send it to China. We will use slave labor by the Uighurs to 
transform it, and we will call it Chinese fish. Then we will send it 
into the American market.
  That is happening right now--right now. So my legislation is simple. 
It closes the loophole.
  By the way, it is a really good idea because word is getting out that 
the Chinese fishing industry is a disaster. They take these big fleets. 
They go all over the world. They ravage the high seas. They ravage 
fisheries wherever they go. They are like--what is a good analogy? I 
don't know--rats in the water, right? They destroy the high seas 
fisheries. They go off the coasts of smaller countries in South America 
and Africa that don't have coast guards and can't enforce anything. 
They are literally like the abuser of the ocean and the world--China, 
OK?
  Then they use slave labor. How do I know? Because there has been 
article after article just in the last several weeks.
  POLITICO did a great article that I would like to submit for the 
Record after my remarks. This one is called--it is in POLITICO 
Magazine--``How Uyghur Forced Labor Makes Seafood That Ends Up in 
[American] School Lunches.''
  This article can be found online at https://www.politico.com/news/
magazine/2023/11/21/chinese-forced-labor-seafood-00126642.
  Madam President, the New Yorker has done great work on this. One was 
titled ``The Crimes Behind the Seafood You Eat,'' from the New Yorker: 
``Americans know little about how their seafood is sourced. Much of it 
comes from a vast fleet of Chinese ships. On board, human-rights abuses 
are rampant.''
  This article can be found online at https://www.newyorker.com/
magazine/2023/10/16/the-crimes-behind-the-seafood-you-eat.
  Madam President, then there is another one from the New Yorker: ``The 
Uyghurs Forced to Process the World's Fish,'' OK? Slave labor.
  You know the Chinese--they try to dominate everything. They are 
trying to dominate the fishing industry at the expense of my 
fishermen--unfair practices.
  ``The Uyghurs Forced to Process the World's Fish.'' This is from the 
New Yorker in October of this year. The subheading is ``China forces 
minorities from Xinjiang [Province] to work in industries around the 
country. As it turns out, this includes handling much of the seafood 
sent to America and Europe.''
  This article can be found online at https://www.newyorker.com/news/
news-desk/the-uyghurs-forced-to-process-the-worlds-fish.
  Madam President, this is what is going on.
  Now, look, there are always a few companies out there, including in 
our great Nation--and I am not besmirching them or anything, but you 
know, they kind of whine. And, remember, this happened at the beginning 
of the Ukraine war. You might remember that a lot of us, Democrats and 
Republicans, were like: Hey, let's make sure we stop the Russian war 
machine because right now America is importing a lot of Russian oil, 
OK? And the Europeans and the Germans in particular were saying: And we 
are importing a lot of Russian gas. So some of us were like: Well, hey, 
we are going to cut that off. Let's cut that off. Let's nail them.
  You might remember, at the beginning of the war, people were saying--
even in this country--and the Biden administration folks: Well, we 
can't really cut off Russian oil. You know, that will hurt the American 
economy. What about those importers of Russian oil in America? Those 
refineries that use Russian oil? What about those guys?
  With the Germans, it was the same thing: Well, we can't really cut 
off the importation of Russian gas because, well, shoot, we use it.
  Now, not a lot of people were buying those arguments. I certainly 
wasn't. The way we got around those arguments was: Well, wait a minute. 
We know that it is going to be a little painful, but here is an idea. 
Let's not import Russian oil. Let's use American oil. Let's use more 
oil from Alaska. We have way higher environmental standards and way 
higher worker standards. And you Germans, don't import Russian gas. 
Don't fund the Putin war machine. We will send you LNG from America.
  So the Germans, the Biden administration, and everyone was like: That 
is a good idea.
  So what did we do? We cut off Russian oil. In Europe, they cut off 
Russian gas. That is hurting those guys. That is good.
  And what did we do? We said: Let's fill it up with American oil and 
gas.
  So why am I using that as an analogy? Because we have a couple of 
companies--look, I get it, but, as I said when I debated it with 
Senator Markey a couple of months ago, it is not a good business model, 
America and American fish importers. Trust me. It is not a good 
business model to be using slave-labor Uighur seafood from China. At a 
certain point, Captain D's--you are one of the companies--it is going 
to catch up with you. It is going to catch up with you. It is not a 
good business model to be helping fund the Putin war machine.
  I know there are a few companies out there saying: Oh, we don't like 
the Sullivan bill. Shoot.
  Really? So what is the answer? It is the same answer: We have great 
American fishermen who can make sure you guys--Captain D's or whoever 
else, I guess some in Virginia--you get fish. Don't worry. By the way, 
it is a much higher standard.
  I just learned today that a lot of the Russian fish sent to China 
gets injected with 40 percent phosphates and water to plump it up, to 
make it look more plump. That is disgusting. Then it gets sent to 
America, maybe to Captain D's.

[[Page S6075]]

  So my point here is, we are not out to hurt you. We can say: Use 
American producers. Use great American fishermen from all over, not 
just Alaska--Maine, you know, Virginia, California, Oregon, Washington 
State. Use them. Don't block this legislation. Don't be a Putin lackey. 
Don't help fund the war machine. Don't help Xi Jinping's forced slave 
labor with the Uighurs. Buy American, for goodness' sake. Stand with 
American fishermen.
  So, when we come back, I am going to work this hard, and for all of 
you--and there are not many but a few importers. I hope the NFI is not 
doing this either. I hear they are, which would be really bad because 
they are supposed to promote the exporters too. That is the National 
Fisheries Institute. But what you need to do is not block this. This is 
a freight train, right, and it is going to pass. You want to get out of 
the way, and you want to help.
  Stand with American fishermen. Let us in Alaska supply your company. 
Don't rely on slave-labor China fish. Don't rely on authoritarian 
aggression, Putin-backed seafood from Russia with low environmental 
standards.
  By the way, they are flooding the markets globally because they are 
worried, and they are hurting fishermen in America, for sure. My 
fishermen and my fishing communities in my State are really hurting 
right now. This can help them.
  So we have been working on this hard. A lot of my Republican and 
Democratic colleagues are 100 percent with me. Like I said, there are a 
few importers who are kind of working the halls here, and my answer is: 
Come on. Be patriotic. Stand with America. Stand with American 
fishermen.
  Let's do legislation that can--what did I say at the beginning of my 
remarks? Now do you understand?--help defeat slave labor, help the 
environment, help strong American fishermen, help workers' rights, and 
go after Russian and Chinese abuses in the seafood industry.
  It is all over the place. It is only going to grow more widespread in 
terms of the knowledge. The American people say: Wait a minute. Do I 
want to eat fish that is slave-labor fish, Putin-oligarch fish? No. I 
want to buy fish--by the way, the highest standard in the world, by 
far. We don't inject 40 percent phosphates into this fish and make it 
disgusting. I want to stand with American fishermen and buy seafood 
from Americans.
  So that is what we are going to do. We are going to close that 
loophole. It is a big issue. Thanks for listening. But I sure hope when 
we get back that my colleagues will fully support it. I think 99.9 
percent of them already do. That is the right answer. It is the right 
thing for our country and the right thing for America's fishermen.

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