Expressing the Sense of the Senate That It is the Policy of the United States to Commemorate the Armenian Genocide
Floor Speech
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Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I thank my colleague and friend, the Senator from New Jersey, for his powerful remarks, and I rise today and celebrate a bipartisan achievement--an achievement of the Senate; an achievement for truth; an achievement for speaking the truth to darkness, for speaking the truth to evil, for speaking the truth to murder, for speaking the truth to genocide.
This journey has been a long journey. Senator Menendez has been fighting this fight a long time. I have been proud to stand by his side. This is the third week in a row we have come to the Senate floor seeking to pass this resolution. I am grateful that today we have succeeded.
The Menendez-Cruz resolution affirms U.S. recognition of the Armenian genocide. It has been far too long in coming. From 1915 to 1923, the Ottoman Empire carried out a forced deportation of nearly 2 million Armenians, of whom 1.5 million were killed. It was an atrocious genocide. That it happened is a fact and undeniable reality.
In fact, the very word ``genocide'' literally means the killing of an entire people, and it was coined by Raphael Lemkin to describe the horrific nature of the Ottoman Empire's calculated extermination of the Armenians. It is why we have the horrid word ``genocide'' in our English language.
Over 100 years ago, the world remained silent as the Armenian people suffered and were murdered. Even today, many people are unaware of what happened. But we must never be silent in response to atrocity. We have a responsibility to stand up and speak the truth. With this resolution, the United States is now saying it is the policy of the United States of America to commemorate the Armenian genocide through official recognition and remembrance.
We have a moral duty to acknowledge what happened to the 1.5 million innocent souls who were murdered. It is the right thing to do. I am grateful that, today, we have seen every Republican and every Democrat come together in support of the bipartisan Menendez-Cruz resolution. This is a moment of truth that was far too long coming. National Defense Authorization Act
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Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I rise today to celebrate yet another major bipartisan victory that is included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act that the House has passed and the Senate is preparing to pass.
As it so happens, today is the 1-year anniversary--1 year to the very day that the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to condemn the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany. By a vote of 433 to 105, the Members of the European Parliament called for the project to be cancelled because ``It is a political project that poses a threat to European energy security and the efforts to diversify energy supply.''
In the coming days, the U.S. Congress will answer the call to stop this profoundly dangerous project. The House has acted, and the Senate will act very soon.
As part of the National Defense Authorization Act, sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are included. The Cruz-Shaheen legislation-- legislation I introduced, bipartisan legislation--Senator Shaheen and I and the Foreign Relations Committee brought our legislation to a vote. We won an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote--a vote of 20 to 2--out of the Foreign Relations Committee.
In the past weeks and months, there have been extended negotiations to include this legislation, these sanctions, in the National Defense Authorization Act. We have negotiated with Republicans and Democrats-- Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Armed Forces, on the Foreign Relations Committee, on the Banking Committee, in leadership, and also Republicans and Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee, Foreign Relations Committee, Banking Committee, and leadership--and we have achieved a remarkable consensus.
Part of the reason we were able to achieve this bipartisan victory is that the sanctions are narrowly targeted, precisely targeted. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a pipeline from Russia to Germany to carry natural gas that, if completed, would generate billions of dollars for Putin and billions of dollars that would fund Russian military aggression.
Not only that, if completed, this pipeline would make Europe even more dependent on Russian energy and even more vulnerable to Russian blackmail. Putin has demonstrated that he is more than willing to cut off the gas in the dead of winter as economic blackmail against his neighbors.
This pipeline is being built this very moment. It is near completion. The legislation we are passing is designed to operate like a scalpel, specifically directed to the ships that lay in the deep sea pipeline needed to complete Nord Stream 2.
There are only five companies on the face of the Earth with the technological capability to delay the deep sea pipeline. Russia does not have one of those companies.
The Russian Government lacks the expertise to lay this pipeline. As a result, Russia has contracted with the Swiss company, Allseas. Right now, as we speak, Allseas has a ship called the Pioneering Spirit that is laying this pipeline.
The legislation that has passed the House and that is about to pass the Senate imposes crippling sanctions on any company laying this pipeline. It is designed to operate like a scalpel so it doesn't impact anyone else, but if this legislation operates as Congress intends, as both Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and House intend, then it will halt construction of this pipeline overnight.
The best estimates we have are that, if uninterrupted, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline would be completed by the end of January. That means the window to stop the pipeline is vanishingly small.
When the Senate passes the National Defense Authorization Act, which will be any day now, and the President signs it, which will be shortly thereafter, two things need to happen immediately.
No. 1, the Treasury Department and the administration need to immediately begin working on implementing these sanctions. I am confident the administration will follow the directives of President Trump. He has said that Nord Stream 2 is harmful to the national security interests of the United States of America, and it is harmful to Europe.
No. 2, there will be a decision made by the CEO and corporate leadership of Allseas. The instant this bill is signed into law--and we are only days away from that--if Allseas continues with construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, even for a single day after this law is signed, then Allseas risks crippling sanctions that could devastate the company.
The purpose of this legislation is not to see those sanctions implemented on Allseas; the purpose of this legislation is to stop construction. The only responsible and rational decision for the corporate leadership of Allseas to make is to stop construction.
My understanding is their contract with the Russians has an explicit escape path in case sanctions were passed. So the day this is signed, Allseas shareholders are at profound risk if Allseas corporate leadership does anything other than cease construction and stop the pipeline.
If and when that happens, that will be an incredible victory. It will be an incredible victory for Europe, an incredible victory for Ukraine, an incredible victory for energy security, and an incredible victory for jobs in the United States of America.
It is far better for Europe to be relying on energy from the United States than to be fueling Putin and Russia and dependent on Russia and subject to economic blackmail. That is why, as I noted, the European Parliament voted by a vote of 433 to 105 to condemn Nord Stream 2.
Passing these Nord Stream 2 sanctions are an incredible victory for the United States and national security, but it is also an incredible loss for Vladimir Putin and Russia.
I commend my Democratic cosponsor Senator Shaheen. I commend the cosponsors that this legislation has had, both Republicans and Democrats in a bipartisan way, and I commend the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House for coming together. At a time when so many other issues divide us, we have united in defense of America, in defense of Europe, and in opposition to Russia's military aggression. Passing Nord Stream 2 sanctions is a big, big deal, and I commend the U.S. Congress for acting swiftly in the rapidly closing window we have to stop this project.
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