[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4890]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 CALLING FOR INDEPENDENT COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE RUSSIAN ATTACKS ON 
                             OUR DEMOCRACY

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, courageous Russians took 
to the streets to protest the repressive Russian Government led by 
Vladimir Putin. All of our major newspapers report the stories of these 
brave souls.
  Their protests were met by brutal tactics of Putin's Russia, which 
bludgeons opposition, and, even worse, in the case of Denis Voronenkov, 
a former Russian member of parliament, who, on March 23, had spoken 
against Putin and Kremlin policies and was shot in broad daylight 
outside a hotel.
  Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko pointed the finger at Russian 
authorities, calling the assassination an act of state terrorism. 
Political assassinations are not new to Russia. Violent tactics are 
what we have come to expect from Putin's Russia.
  As we follow the facts on the Trump administration's ties to Russia, 
I urge my colleagues to think of the violence and assault on our 
democratic values that happen daily at the hands of Putin's Russia.
  As we learned last week, this includes Russia's attacks on our 
democracy here at home. Congress must leave no stone unturned and get 
to the bottom of these shady connections through empowering an 
independent commission.
  America leads when it protects our basic values as the global 
champion for liberty and freedom throughout the world.

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