Undermining of Our Democracy

Floor Speech

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Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, Russia has been working to undermine our democracy, as well as democracies throughout Europe, including Central and Eastern Europe.

Unfortunately, too many Americans and elected officials have been distracted from Russia's secret operations because of the pitched, partisan battle regarding Putin's involvement in the 2016 Presidential race.

The bottom line is this: Democrats and Republicans can't lose focus on Russia's worldwide treachery due to our hyperpartisanship here at home.

Instead, Democrats and Republicans in Congress must work together to expose Russia's worldwide plan to subvert democracy. We must face the reality that Russia is a strategic competitor of the United States that is using nontraditional, nonmilitary weapons in a hybrid warfare to undermine democracies in countries that are ill-equipped to combat their malign efforts.

Instead of focusing on Russia's activities during the 2016 election, I have introduced a bipartisan bill, the Russia Anti-Corruption Act, with 13 Republicans and 10 Democratic cosponsors, to expose and thwart Putin and his cronies' illicit activities in Eastern Europe and Europe as a whole.

Whether bribing politicians, cyber attacks, manipulating social media networks, buying media outlets to promote propaganda, or purchasing power plants to control energy supplies to gain leverage over unstable governments, we must define, document, and disrupt the corruption flowing from Moscow, which imperils the democratic foundations of our U.S. allies.

Our legislation would establish within the State Department an office of anticorruption relating to illicit Russian financial activities in Europe which would analyze Russia's financial meddling in strategic European sectors, including real estate, energy, media, and infrastructure.

The office will collaborate with the Treasury Department to train U.S. diplomats to work with foreign partners to uncover and prosecute illegal Russian financial activity. This office will also work with our NATO allies to elevate anticorruption operations as part of NATO's readiness action plan.

Oligarchs connected to Vladimir Putin are malevolent allies in the Russian President's hybrid warfare scheme. They flood Europe with dirty money, bribing politicians and purchasing key assets to subvert democracy. The Panama Papers found a trail of $2 billion that leads back to the Russian President. Such money has gone to support fringe political parties in France, Germany, Austria, and elsewhere.

Well-funded Russian media outlets also play a key role in this hybrid warfare. They spread lies and weaken faith in European governments. Our allies in Central and Eastern Europe have accused Russia of a campaign of bribery meant to undermine the transatlantic alliance.

All of this, of course, complements Russia's more overt tactics, from its military aggression in the Ukraine to its campaign of assassinations on European soil. As Putin and his cronies work to discredit open societies, the dark and dangerous sphere of Moscow's influence grows and grows and grows. That is how democracies can die.

Mr. Speaker, this is not about President Trump, and it is not about Democrats versus Republicans. Members of Congress must work together to find solutions to the very serious threats posed by Russia the world over.

I now yield to my friend and colleague, Mr. French Hill, the original cosponsor of the Russia Anti-Corruption Act and a real leader on this critical issue.

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