[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 123 (Tuesday, July 28, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4287-S4288]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Sanctions

  Mrs. BRITT. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, I stood alongside so many of 
my Senate colleagues from both sides of the aisle, in a press 
conference, to announce the Russia sanctions legislation. It was just 3 
days before that that this legislation and this cause lost its 
champion, Senator Lindsey Graham.
  Today, many of us attended his service at the National Cathedral, and 
in typical Lindsey fashion, he somehow orchestrated a vote on Ukraine's 
future--on peace through strength--on that very same day.
  While this sanctions bill quickly amassed bipartisan support across 
the Senate, it took more than a year of tireless work by one man and a 
few friends--Senator Dick Blumenthal, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, and 
Senator Roger Wicker--to finally get this to the floor.
  Even though Lindsey is not physically with us today, his presence can

[[Page S4288]]

certainly be felt in this Chamber. During his 33 years of public 
service, Lindsey achieved a great deal. He used his role on the Senate 
Appropriations Committee to make sure that South Carolina's hard-earned 
taxpayer dollars went back home. He was a fierce and outspoken advocate 
for the most vulnerable among us--the unborn. He led the fight to 
repeal section 230 because he believed in protecting the next 
generation online. He believed in blind justice, in defending the 
Constitution, and in confirming judges to the bench who would uphold 
the law. And he was an incredible colleague, mentor, and friend.
  This list of accomplishments, while it doesn't even span all of the 
things he did, is impressive, but it is this legislation--this 
legislation we are voting on today--that he told me would be the most 
consequential piece of legislation that he ever led and got to the 
President's desk. Now, that is saying something.
  It is an honor to now help champion one of his highest priorities, 
and not just for Lindsey, but importantly for the doctrine which he so 
deeply and passionately believed; that is, peace through strength.
  Today, we have an opportunity to advance this legislation at a 
critical juncture in the war, where Russia is the weakest that it has 
been since the start of the war more than 4 years ago. This legislation 
will give the President the tools and the economic firepower that he 
needs to sanction individuals who fund Russian war and its machine, to 
stop countries from purchasing Russian oil and gas that is Putin's 
financial lifeline, and it will also hold the regime in Tehran 
accountable for fueling 47 years of terrorism around the globe.
  There is no reason this legislation should not advance with 
overwhelming bipartisan support, and I hope that that is what we see 
here today.
  Ukraine and the world need this war of aggression to end.
  As I reflected today on Lindsey's service and his life and so many 
memories that I have of him, one thing came to mind. When we were 
leaving Normandy after being there for the 80th anniversary of D-day, 
he said to me: I want you to remember how important the decisions we, 
as political leaders, make because if we fail to do our job, young men 
and women are sent into harm's way. He said: There is no doubt the 
``greatest generation'' earned that title, and he said the decision 
that was in front of us right now--as he reflected on all of this--was 
that people miscalculated Hitler. He said many were doing the exact 
same thing to Putin, and he believed that that miscalculation would 
ultimately be an enormous mistake.
  So let's honor Lindsey's memory the best way we know how, by 
responding to Putin's war of aggression with a show of strength and 
vote today to hold the Kremlin accountable. It is time now to get the 
Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 to the 
President's desk. I hope my colleagues will join me in doing just that 
this evening.
  I yield the floor.