Disapproval of President's Proposal Relating to Application of Certain Sanctions
Floor Speech
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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, I would just say to my colleague and neighbor, Mr. McCaul, I hope that means that every Republican, none of whom are on the floor here with him to explain their position on this, will join us on this important vote, because this sanctions law against Russians was enacted over President Trump's objection. The purpose was to deter Russian aggression against us and our allies, not to yield the right-of-way.
But now the administration is lifting sanctions on a thug who is linked at the hip to Vladimir Putin and who only engages in more wrongdoing.
Let's not aid this one-way gift to Putin, a gift that was deliberately slipped under the Christmas tree at the Kremlin on the eve of congressional departure so we could have as little oversight as possible.
Secretary Mnuchin suggested he was open to meaningful additional time for us to review this, but he has gone radio silent. He calculated that there were enough House enablers to rubber-stamp this sordid deal.
We sought a classified intelligence assessment of whether sanctioned Putin buddy, Oleg Deripaska, would continue to control the world's largest aluminum company after these sanctions were lifted.
Leaders on both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Senate Special Committee on Intelligence have expressed their national security concerns about this deal, but Trump wants to us to rely on tweets, not intelligence; on fantasy, not reality. If only he were as eager to reopen this government for American businesses and American citizens as he is to reopen this sanctioned Russian company.
Trump provides sanction relief for a sham deal whereby this one thug transfers his shares to his personal foundation, a kind of Trump foundation-type-group, his ex-wife, and a sanctioned Russian bank.
Treasury refuses to identify for us any of these new, so-called ``independent'' directors. But what we do know is that the chair of one of these companies is someone who is under investigation by the British Parliament and who cannot see classified information, and the chair of another one is a cheerleader for the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea and their war with Ukraine.
All of this misconduct is happening against the backdrop of a President who has increasingly become a loud megaphone for Russian propaganda and attacking our most trusted allies, turning Syria over to Putin, suggesting we withdraw from NATO, praising the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan with a distorted history. Each day of chaos is another day when Vladimir Putin's investment in the election of Donald Trump pays him bigger dividends in driving to undermine Western democracy and our way of life.
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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, let us send a strong, bipartisan message, not just to the White House, but to the Kremlin, by rejecting this favoritism toward Putin.
Let's vote today as Members of the United States Congress, not the Russian Duma.
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