Trump-Putin Summit

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in the 3 days since the President returned from his humiliating display of obsequiousness in Helsinki, he has offered numerous explanations for his behavior.

First, he said the media was too focused on the negative and that his summit with Putin was a great success. Then, admitting there was, in fact, a problem, he attempted to walk back some of his comments, but even he couldn't commit to that and ad- libbed that other people could also have been responsible for interfering in the 2016 elections. A mere 24 hours later, the President was back to claiming it was not his fault and that the media was biased.

Then, astoundingly--the President not having learned his lesson--when he was asked yesterday whether Russia was still attacking our election system, the President replied ``no.'' This was, of course, followed by yet another implausible clarification when--surprise--his Press Secretary told reporters that was not what the President meant. Although, when you actually look at the tape, it is clear as a bell it is what the President meant. He was saying Russia was not still attacking our election system--once again, disbelieving all of the fine men and women who have reported this, who labor quietly, diligently in our intelligence agencies.

The constantly shifting, insincere, and thoroughly unconvincing explanations for the President's performance reveal that the President and his team do not understand the depth of President Trump's blunders with Putin. Frankly, any post hoc clarification cannot substitute for or repair the President's failure to confront Putin face-to-face. All of his walk backs, which then get undone, are done in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Where is this man who prides himself on being strong but is then afraid to say these things to Putin and has to wait until he is 6,000 miles away to say them? It is unbelievable.

One of the most stunning things about the summit was the President's openness to a request by President Putin to question former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul and other Americans. In Helsinki, the President described the request as part of an ``incredible offer.'' The President's spokeswoman was asked about it yesterday. She confirmed the President and his team would discuss it.

That President Trump would even consider handing over a former U.S. Ambassador to Putin and his cronies for interrogation is bewildering. No President should have the power to gift wrap American citizens, let alone former Ambassadors, to our known adversaries. How can President Trump and his team spend even a moment considering Putin's request? How can they equate the democracy and rule of law and system of open and fair prosecution we have in this country with what Putin does? It is just amazing.

Every day, this President demeans the United States. So many Americans are saying they are ashamed to have him as their leader when he behaves like this.

Certainly, if the President were to agree to such a request, Congress must do everything in its power to block it. There can be no room for debate, no room for discussion. We must be clear--and clear quickly. This morning, Senator Menendez, Senator Schatz, and I plan to offer a simple resolution that states: ``It is the sense of Congress that the United States should refuse to make available any current or former diplomat, civil servant, political appointee, law enforcement official, or member of the Armed Forces of the United States for questioning by the government of Vladimir Putin.'' This body must agree on the importance of protecting our Ambassadors. We should pass it today, not wait, not show any equivocation.

This incredible offer, as President Trump so casually and incorrectly called it, raises other serious questions. What else has President Trump agreed to behind closed doors? What else has he discussed with President Putin? President Trump and President Putin met for nearly 2 hours behind closed doors. No one else was present but a translator, and hardly anyone knows what was said.

Has Secretary Pompeo been briefed on that private, behind-closed- doors meeting? Nobody knows. He hasn't said so. Does our military know if President Trump made commitments about our nuclear arsenal? Nobody knows. Defense Secretary Mattis hasn't said whether he has been briefed. Do we know if President Trump made commitments about the security of Israel or Syria or North Korea or about any of the other issues the President said he discussed with Putin?

It is utterly amazing that no one knows what was said. This is a democracy. If our President makes agreements with one of our leading-- if not our leading--adversaries, his Cabinet has to know about it and so do the American people. These questions and more need a full and complete accounting before Congress, in an open setting, as soon as possible

That is why I have called on the Republican leadership to demand that Secretary of State Pompeo, Ambassador Huntsman, and, crucially, the translator who was present at the closed-door session be made to testify before the Senate. They should come immediately--now. What are our Republican friends waiting for?

The events of this week raise serious questions about the President's ability to responsibly and safely conduct this Nation's foreign policy, about his ability and willingness to defend the United States and her citizens, about his very ability to govern in so many areas.

Confronted with these grave questions, I believe the Senate must act to show our country's resolve to punish Putin for his interference and never allow such a thing to happen again and to ensure the President is doing what is necessary to stand up for American interests.

So I have proposed--and many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle have proposed--a bunch of things we can do right now to take action in the wake of President Trump's indefensible summit with President Putin. Democrats are not in the majority. We don't control the floor. We need our Republican colleagues, who control the Senate floor, to join us on these measures. The lack of action--action, not just words--by our Republican colleagues is stunning and deeply disappointing not just to Democrats but to all of the American people.

Since Monday, sadly, we haven't seen movement from our colleagues in the majority, just more slow-walking. I understand my friends, Senators Coons and Flake, are working on introducing a resolution to support the consensus of our intelligence agencies and to request congressional oversight. We are all for it. I hope it passes with the unanimous consent it deserves. My Republican friends can and must do more-- actions, not just resolutions and statements of disapproval. We shouldn't need this resolution. The things asked for in this resolution should have been happening already.

The burden of patriotism and of protecting America's security is on Leader McConnell's shoulders. I know he has a difficult situation. I know he has a President who can sometimes be vindictive. The bottom line is, our country's security, our country's direction, our country's honor demand it.

We need to bring Secretary of State Pompeo, Ambassador Huntsman, and the rest of President Trump's national security team from Helsinki, including the translator who was present in the one-on-one meeting with Putin, right here before the Congress, in open session, so we all will know what happened.

We need to pass legislation to protect Special Counsel Mueller. There is bipartisan legislation already that was passed out of the Judiciary Committee under Senator Grassley's leadership and support. It is on the floor. What is our Republican leader waiting for?

We need to see the President's tax returns, which has been the common practice of all Presidents in recent memory, but it is needed far more now because one of the most logical explanations of the President's obsequious and almost inexplicable actions toward President Putin is that Putin has something on him. Maybe it would be revealed in the tax returns, and if there is nothing there, the President should have no problem with releasing them.

We need to implement sanctions against Russia, not weaken them. We need to demand that Putin hand over the 12 Russians who have been indicted for election interference. We also need to harden our election infrastructure so that what happened in 2016 never happens again.

These are all commonsense measures, and most of them have bipartisan support already. They will accomplish for America what the President has been unwilling or unable to do. If my Republican colleagues refuse to pursue any--if not all--of these items, they are de facto consenting to the President's capitulation in Helsinki. They cannot stand by. The American people will not allow it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source