[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4658]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  RUSSIA AND TRUMP, SUBTLE ENTRAPMENT

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, years from now, history books could well 
describe entrapment of a United States President by a foreign 
adversary. Allow me to update my colleagues on the Trump 
administration's foreign policy.
  Recently, the State Department avoided committing Secretary Rex 
Tillerson to a NATO meeting next month with our tried and true allies 
in Europe. Yet, the administration has no problem flying Secretary 
Tillerson to Moscow to meet with Putin in April. This is no April 
Fools' joke. Since when is the Kremlin more important than our NATO 
partners? Never.
  Several reports now say Trump's former campaign chair, Paul Manafort, 
secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance Putin's interests 
and undermine anti-Russian opposition across Europe. This contradicts 
assertions by the Trump administration and Manafort that he never 
worked for Russian interests. Congress needs to get to the bottom of 
these shady connections, and Paul Manafort should testify to the House 
Intelligence Committee, under oath.
  Russia has consistently and unabashedly attempted to disrupt 
Democratic elections and promote propaganda in order to strengthen its 
own strategic interests.
  The Trump administration is pushing our Nation to the verge of a 
national security crisis. How much leverage does Putin have over Trump 
and his associates? Our great Nation can't be their collateral damage.

                          ____________________