Smith: Russia's Transgressions

Statement

Russia is no friend to the American people. Its transgressions are very real and so is the threat still posed by its nuclear weapons. Many of us remember the specter of nuclear war which inspired "duck and cover" exercises just as regularly as fire drills in our community schools.

Russia's conventional military strength pales in comparison to the United States, but its arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles did not vanish in 1991 with the end of the Cold War. I have personally visited our men and women in uniform who staff facilities in Nebraska's panhandle which house nuclear missiles and remind us of the ongoing nuclear threat from Russia.

President Trump and his predecessors were right to encourage dialogue and open communication between our countries. The danger of poor communication between nuclear powers was on full display in 1962 when the world stood on the brink of nuclear holocaust for 13 days as the United States and Soviet Union faced off during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Even still, there is no excuse for Russia's behavior which has been nothing short of abhorrent. From meddling in our elections at home to its blatant aggression in Eastern Europe and support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, Russia is no partner for peace.

In 2014, Putin staged a sham referendum in Crimea which he then used as justification to annex the former Soviet territory given its strategic importance as a base of operations in the Black Sea. Russia continues its campaign to undermine Ukraine's sovereignty by supporting separatists in its eastern regions who many believe are comprised in part by Russian soldiers out of uniform.

It has also become clear Russian operatives conducted a coordinated effort to delegitimize our 2016 elections through a sophisticated hacking operation and online propaganda disguised as American dissent. While these efforts and their connection to the Kremlin have been confirmed beyond reasonable doubt, I find it unsettling that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into potential collusion between President Trump and Russian hackers has turned into a self-perpetuating free-for-all with no end in sight.

This is not to say Mueller's investigations are without merit. To the contrary, his recent indictment of 12 Russian intelligence operatives for election meddling shows we may have only uncovered the beginning of Russia's treachery. However, shifting objectives have allowed the president's detractors to use the mere existence of Mueller's investigation to support unfounded assertions of Trump-Russia collusion despite the investigation not having produced one shred of information supporting such a claim.

For this reason, any such evidence of collusion should be made public, or Special Counsel Mueller's investigation into Trump-Russia collusion should be brought to a swift end. Any otherwise ongoing investigations into Russia's actions should be conducted separately and with vigor, unclouded by assertions of collusion. Russia must be held to account for its transgressions, which risk undermining our democratic institutions.

While I had hoped for a more assertive posture from President Trump at his July 16 summit with President Putin, I support his efforts to establish dialogue. Such a negative reaction from President Trump's detractors is ironic given many of them were supportive of President Obama's foreign policy which emboldened North Korea, left Iran virtually unconstrained, and allowed Russia to trample both Ukraine's sovereignty and our political system.

Just last year I joined a nearly unanimous majority to levy increased sanctions against Russia which, in addition to low oil prices, led its economy to contract over the past two years and severely limit its growth potential. However, sanctions without dialogue are only half the equation for changing Russia's behavior. President Trump must make clear to President Putin that his actions are unacceptable and the American people will not stand for further offenses.

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