Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I want to talk today about Russia. I want to talk about Vladimir Putin. I want to describe to this Chamber a bipartisan victory that together we won, and then I want to describe, tragically, how President Joe Biden is giving that victory away to Putin and Russia.

To understand this issue, we need to go back to the summer of 2019. In the summer of 2019, Russia was in the process of constructing a pipeline called the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline.

Behind me is a map demonstrating where the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline runs. It is a pipeline that was to run from Russia to Germany, going underneath the Baltic Sea.

In the summer of 2019, the pipeline was nearly complete. At various periods in time, it was 70 percent complete, 80 percent complete. There was widespread consensus that if this pipeline were completed, it would have devastating consequences. In a few minutes, I will discuss those consequences in greater detail. But in an effort to stop the devastating consequences, I worked on bipartisan legislation, along with Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat from New Hampshire, and we introduced bipartisan sanctions legislation designed to stop the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline.

That legislation, when we introduced it, was almost immediately subject to a Russian disinformation campaign. In Europe, the Russians were saying to anyone who would listen that the Cruz-Shaheen sanction legislation could never pass; that there was no way Congress would come together in a bipartisan manner to stop the Nord Stream 2; that it was hopeless; that no one needed to be concerned that this legislation could pass. They also made the argument as part of their disinformation campaign that the pipeline was nearly complete so that U.S. sanctions could not stop it. There was nothing that could be done to stop it.

Well, to the surprise of nobody who follows these issues, that Russian disinformation was precisely that--it was disinformation. It was lies.

In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Shaheen and I worked with our colleagues, and our legislation was initially voted out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 20 to 2--overwhelming bipartisan support.

At that point, Senator Shaheen and I began working to get it passed on the floor of the Senate. While we were doing so, the Russian disinformation continued: This cannot pass.

We endeavored to have our sanctions legislation attached to the National Defense Authorization Act, which was moving in the fall and winter of 2019. To do so was not easy. To do so, we needed to get the explicit signoff of the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We needed the explicit signoff of the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. We needed the explicit signoff of the chairman and the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. Then we needed the explicit signoff of Senator McConnell and Senator Schumer, the Republican and Democratic leader respectively. All eight of those Senators needed to agree with our legislation for this to proceed on the NDAA.

And then we had to do the exact same thing in the House of Representatives and get the chairman and ranking member on Foreign Relations, on Armed Services and on Banking, and we had to get the signoff of Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy.

To get the explicit support of all 16 of those congressional leaders--8 Republicans and 8 Democrats--in any world is not easy.

And I will say on my part and Senator Shaheen's part, we invested dozens, if not hundreds, of hours in terms of talking to our colleagues to build that bipartisan consensus, and we ended up getting that overwhelming support. In many ways, that support was miraculous.

Why is that?

Well, one of the reasons why Nord Stream 2 is particularly problematic is that Russia is building Nord Stream 2 in order to cut off Ukraine. There is currently a pipeline running through Ukraine and, through Nord Stream 2, Russia has the power to starve Ukraine.

Why is it miraculous in December of 2019 that we were able to pass this legislation?

Well, if you will recall what was happening in the House of Representatives in December of 2019, the House of Representatives was in the middle of impeaching President Donald Trump for alleged high crimes and misdemeanors concerning Ukraine.

If you will recall, from the trial we held on this Senate floor, central to the allegations that were raised by Democrats against President Trump was conduct concerning Ukraine.

It remains astonishing that right in the middle of a partisan gladiatorial battle concerning Ukraine, simultaneously we were able to get Republicans and Democrats to work hand-in-hand to agree with complete consensus that we were going to come together and stop the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. We were going to stop what Vladimir Putin was doing.

In December of 2019, our legislation passed. The Cruz-Shaheen sanctions legislation passed. Now, I will remind you what the Russian disinformation did when we first introduced it. They said it will never pass; and they said, even if it does pass, it is too late for it to have any effect.

Well, if my memory serves me correctly, President Trump signed the Cruz-Shaheen sanctions legislation at 7 p.m. on a Thursday. At 6:45 p.m. on a Thursday, 15 minutes before our sanctions legislation was signed into law, the company that was laying the pipeline in the Baltic Sea announced it had immediately halted laying the pipeline and it was lifting anchor and sailing away. It was an incredible bipartisan victory. The pipeline was stopped in its tracks.

What happened next was absolutely nothing. For a year, the pipeline lay dormant. The talking points from Vladimir Putin--and now, sadly, adopted by Joe Biden and his administration--is the pipeline is 90 percent complete or the pipeline is 95 percent complete. But it is not rocket science that a 90-percent complete pipeline is zero-percent complete. Until you build both ends of the pipeline, it ain't nothing but a hunk of metal at the bottom of the ocean. Nothing is traveling through it until the pipeline is complete and online.

For a year, the pipeline lay dormant. Then in the year 2020, Senator Shaheen and I joined together again in a second round of bipartisan legislation, a second round of sanctions. We had stopped the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline in its tracks. For a year, Putin was stopped altogether.

And we came together for a second piece of legislation--the second version of Cruz-Shaheen--and just like the first sanctions, we passed it through both Houses of Congress and it was signed into law with overwhelming bipartisan support--nearly unanimous support of all 535 Members of Congress.

So we now had two major pieces of sanctions legislation on the books. Those sanctions had been working for a year and the pipeline was stopped.

Then in November of 2020 was the Presidential election. And in the wake of the Presidential election, Joe Biden and his transition team almost immediately began telegraphing weakness to Russia. Members of Joe Biden's foreign policy advisory team in the German newspapers expressed openness to Nord Stream 2 being built, expressed a willingness to try to circumvent the sanctions that had been working and had worked for over a year. Within days of Joe Biden and his team expressing weakness to Putin, Russia and Putin heard and they began the process of getting ready to return to building the pipeline.

(Thereupon, Ms. STABENOW assumed the Chair.)

Russia did return to building the pipeline. Do you know what day? January 24, 2021. Four days after Joe Biden was sworn into office, Putin said: We are safe. We are free. Our man Joe is in the White House.

And we know that the administration is not going to follow U.S. law anymore. And so on January 24, the Russians returned to building the pipeline.

Now, for 2 years, this body had been united, Republicans and Democrats, that we were going to stop this pipeline; but Joe Biden and his administration decided instead to waive the sanctions, decided instead to give Vladimir Putin what amounts to a multibillion-dollar gift--and not just a gift one time. If this pipeline is allowed to go online, it will put billions of dollars in Putin's pockets every year, year after year after year.

What are the consequences of Nord Stream 2?

No. 1, Russia gets richer; Russia gets stronger; Russia gets billions of dollars that it can use to build its military, to threaten its neighbors, to threaten our allies, to endanger the lives of Americans and our friends.

No. 2, Europe is hurt. Our friends and allies in Europe are made even more dependent on Russian energy.

Our former colleague in this body, Senator John McCain--may he rest in peace--had a phrase for Russia that was memorable, that I have used many times. He referred to Russia as ``a gas station with a country attached.''

That is Putin's plan. It is very simple. Putin is a petrol tyrant. He is a tyrant, he is a bully, he is a KGB thug, and all his aggression is funded by selling oil and gas.

Together, Republicans and Democrats in Congress had taken billions out of Putin's pockets; and, sadly, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris decided the world would be a better place if instead Putin had billions more not just this year or next year, but for decades to come.

When Putin is dead and buried and the next dictator is ruling over Russia, that next dictator will be reaping the benefits of this pipeline. Indeed, as a result of Joe Biden's decision, many are referring to this pipeline as the Biden-Putin pipeline for a very simple reason: It is Putin who is building it; it is Putin who is profiting by it.

And the only reason Putin is allowed to do so is because President Joe Biden has given a multibillion-dollar gift that strengthens Russia and it weakens Europe.

It makes Europe subject to energy blackmail. Putin has demonstrated a willingness and, indeed, a history of using energy blackmail, of using those who are dependent on natural gas to coerce them to do what he wants. In the dead of winter, when people are at risk of freezing to death, Putin has threatened to--and has, in fact--cut off gas to endanger the lives of innocent civilians in order to coerce governments to bend to his will.

As a result of Joe Biden's surrender to Vladimir Putin, Putin will have the continued ability to exercise economic blackmail against Europe.

But not only that. Europe has energy needs. Those energy needs could be readily satisfied by American energy. Europe has expressed a willingness and, in some instances, an eagerness to import American energy.

But Joe Biden has decided that American jobs are unimportant. On his first day in office, Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline, killing 11,000 jobs in the United States, including 8,000 union jobs--8,000 high-paying union jobs that, with a stroke of a pen, Joe Biden eliminated.

And at the exact same time that Biden is shutting down jobs and a pipeline in America, he is green lighting and giving Putin a gift of a pipeline between Russia and Germany, producing jobs in Russia, producing billions of dollars in Russia, and taking away jobs in America.

This pipeline is a disaster. As the afternoon goes on, I will elaborate on different aspects on which it is harmful and on the steps we can and should be taking to stop it.

But at this point, Senator Barrasso is here and has some thoughts he wishes to express, and so I will yield the floor to Senator Barrasso for his remarks.

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Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I thank the Senator from Wyoming for his powerful remarks, and I thank each of the Senators who have worked with me, both Republicans and Democrats, in our successful effort for over a year to stop the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline--successful, right until Joe Biden became President.

I want to talk now about the precise dangers that are posed by the completion of Nord Stream 2. Many agree it would be a catastrophe for the security of the United States and for our European allies.

Nord Stream 2, if it goes online, would double the gas flowing from Russia to Germany while circumventing American allies that Putin targets militarily, diplomatically, and commercially. As a result, if Nord Stream 2 goes online, it will expose Ukraine and Poland to deep, long-term dangers, and it will leave them vulnerable the next time Russia targets them for aggression.

Right now, one-third of Russian gas exports to Europe travel through Ukraine. That provides Ukraine a curious kind of protection because Putin knows that he can't endanger that energy infrastructure without endangering his economic line to the world.

With Nord Stream 2, Putin and Russia are given, by Joe Biden and by Kamala Harris, effectively open season on Ukraine. And when a year from now we see Russian tanks in Ukraine, we will remember this moment that it was Joe Biden's surrender to Putin on Nord Stream 2 that enabled Russia to carry out that aggression.

If Nord Stream 2 goes online, it will enrich Putin with billions of dollars to direct toward his malign activities. And, by the way, if you don't want to take my word for it, here is what the Polish Prime Minister said about Nord Stream 2; that Nord Stream 2 ``strengthens Russia's power, helps President Putin to build a military power, [and] helps to intimidate other nations.''

In addition, if Nord Stream 2 goes online, it will solidify Russian energy dominance at the expense of European energy diversification. If Nord Stream 2 goes online, it will deepen the corruption that tragically is endemic across Russia's energy sector, and it will export more of that corruption to Europe.

But I want to talk a bit more about the crushing, overarching danger of Russia using Nord Stream 2 for blackmail and for coercion. Putin uses energy as a weapon. We have seen that pattern over and over again. He uses energy for blackmail and coercion. He turns it off or on to punish resistance to his expansionism.

This is a real, acute, and proven threat. Russia turned off the gas to Europe in the winter months of 2006 and again in 2009 because of political disputes. The Kremlin company that owns and would run Nord Stream 2, Gazprom, has repeatedly cut off gas to Ukraine during political crises. It is open blackmail, and because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Putin will have more power to blackmail our friends in Europe.

And it is not only me; it is not only Republicans; and, indeed, it is not only Republicans and Democrats in Congress who understand the magnitude of this threat. Our European allies understand fully just how disastrous Nord Stream 2 would be.

Ukrainian President Zelensky has said that it is flatout ``wrong'' ``not to notice that'' Nord Stream 2 ``is a dangerous weapon'' not only for Europe, ``not only for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe.''

I want you to pause and reflect. President Zelensky of Ukraine said this pipeline is a dangerous weapon directed at Ukraine and the whole of Europe. Why is it being built? Because Joe Biden decided to give it as a gift to Vladimir Putin.

In a meeting with the Biden administration, the Polish Deputy Foreign Minister said:

Poland considers this project to be detrimental to the security of not only Ukraine, not only Central Europe, but also to the security of the whole of Europe, making the EU dependent on Russian gas.

If we give a damn about our friends in Poland, if we give a damn about our friends in Ukraine, if we give a damn about our friends in Europe, don't allow Joe Biden to allow Vladimir Putin to point this weapon at the heart of Europe.

In a joint statement signed by representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Poland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom, here is what the Estonian Foreign Affairs Committee stated: ``Countering malign Russian aggression is in the vital national security interest of the whole of NATO, the EU and our partners in Central and Eastern Europe,'' and that ``Nord Stream 2 is a geopolitical project geared towards expanding Russia's influence on Europe, through energy dominance.''

A question for every Member of this Senate to decide: Do we care about endangering the national security, about threatening, about making our European friends subject to blackmail? Do we care about what Estonia has told us, about what Latvia has told us, about what Lithuania has told us? Do we care about the Czech Republic? Do we care about Ireland? Do we care about Poland? Do we care about Ukraine? Do we care about the United Kingdom?

Well, our actions can decide that. Unfortunately, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have decided that our European allies, their security is not of sufficient concern to them. And, instead, they have actively given this pipeline to Vladimir Putin.

My Democratic colleagues and, indeed, the vast majority of American lawmakers, also understand the precise danger of blackmail and coercion posed by Nord Stream 2.

In 2018, Senator Coons, my Democratic colleague from Delaware, said quite plainly that ``we have to work with Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian energy exports and in particular to convince it to discontinue the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany.'' Senator Coons continued: ``As long as Russia dominates the provision of energy to Europe it will continue to hold a veto over many European policies and [it] will be in a position to weaken and marginalize countries like Poland and Ukraine.''

Senator Coons was right in 2018, and what he said is right today.

Joe Biden is committing a generational political blunder, a catastrophic mistake that hurts American national security and that hurts European security.

Congress has repeatedly passed sanctions targeting Nord Stream 2, targeting Russia's corrupt energy market more broadly. Those sanctions, especially CAATSA and PEESA--and I am going to discuss in greater detail, later today, the specific sanctions legislation that is on U.S. books that Joe Biden is ignoring, that he is flouting, that he is disregarding, that he is refusing to enforce. Those sanctions impose mandatory sanctions. This body, Congress as a whole, Democrats and Republicans, past administrations--everyone has worked together not just to counter Russia but, specifically, to prevent Putin from being able to leverage energy as a geopolitical weapon.

The Biden administration, however, tells us they have a better solution, a better solution than both Houses of Congress, a better solution than following U.S. law. Instead of imposing sanctions to stop the pipeline, they tell us they have worked out a deal with Germany that they promise will prevent Putin from being able to use energy as a weapon. It is the best of both worlds, they say. They don't have to use sanctions, and they still solve the problem of Russian energy blackmail.

President Biden said: ``Chancellor Merkel and I are absolutely united in our conviction that Russia must not be allowed to use energy as a weapon to coerce or threaten its neighbors.''

Those are nice sentiments, if they weren't accompanied with Joe Biden giving a multibillion-dollar generational gift to Putin to do exactly what President Biden just said he didn't want Putin to do.

Here is how an official from the Biden State Department described the deal: ``There's a clear commitment on the part of the United States and Germany in this statement that should Russia attempt to use energy as a weapon''--and, as an aside, they have done so over and over and over and over again in the past--``should Russia attempt to use energy as a weapon . . . Germany will take action at the national level and press for effective measures at the European level, including sanctions to limit Russian export capabilities to Europe in the energy sector, and that includes gas and/or other economically relevant sectors.''

So understand what they are saying. If and when Russia does what they have done in the past over and over again, if they do--one of the reasons they want Nord Stream 2 is to exercise economic blackmail. If and when they do that, Germany is going to send a really stern letter to the European Union.

One of my favorite movies that Heidi and I have watched many times is a movie called ``Team America.'' It is a comedy. It is done by the creators of the movie ``South Park.'' It is a movie that involves puppets. I will give a warning: It is a movie with an enormous amount of profanity in it. It is also one of the most sidesplittingly funny movies ever made.

In ``Team America,'' they talk about Hans Blix and the tool of sending a stern letter to the United Nations. The movie ``Team America'' understandably ridicules that as being utterly ineffective. In the case of that movie, it was North Korea. But in the case of Putin, I assure you, Vladimir Putin has not lost 1 minute of sleep worrying about Germany's letter to the European Union.

Once Nord Stream 2 goes online, it will become a dominant source of energy for Europe. Putin knows this. Merkel knows this. Biden knows this.

Turning off Nord Stream 2, which Germany has suggested: Oh, once we are addicted to the crack, we will just turn it off when we don't want it anymore--that would be suicidal, which Putin knows, and he is counting on it.

It is as empty and hollow a threat as has ever been uttered on the international stage. And, even worse, we already know that it is a hollow threat because Putin has already, in just the last few days, crossed the line into using energy as a weapon.

So we don't have to go back to 2006. We don't have to go back to 2009. Let's go back to last week.

In just the last week, it has become clear that Putin has been turning down gas exports to Europe to coerce our allies into dropping opposition to Nord Stream 2.

The blackmail is open, and it is brazen. Russian and Gazprom officials have said: If Germany and the EU approve Nord Stream 2 coming online, then the Russians will turn exports back up.

On Friday, more than 40 Members of the European Parliament called for an investigation of the coercion, saying Gazprom was driving up prices to ``pressure'' the European Union into speeding Nord Stream 2 activation.

So I want you to pause and reflect. The Biden administration's claim to prevent Nord Stream 2 being used as a weapon for energy blackmail is, if Russia ever does it, Germany will stand up to them.

Russia is doing it right now--not in 2006--well, yes, they did in 2006. Not in 2009--well, yes, they did in 2009. Today, last week--and they are not hiding it. They are saying: We are going to cut off your energy until you approve Nord Stream 2.

How exactly is the Biden administration claiming they are going to prevent the malign use of this pipeline? They are literally surrendering to blackmail right now for no reason.

You know, sadly, the reason--over the past 9 months, I have had conversations with just about every senior Biden State Department nominee, in my office, over and over and over again, about Nord Stream 2. Almost to a person, the nominees agree: Nord Stream 2 would be terrible. It would be disastrous. It would be bad for America. It would be bad for Europe. It would be good for Russia.

They all agree with that. By the way, Tony Blinken, the Secretary of State, said so vociferously in his confirmation hearing, and he said so even more vociferously sitting on the couch in my office. They all admit this.

So why, then, would Biden have committed this disastrous mistake? Sadly, I think there are two reasons. One, the Biden team entered office with an almost pathological revulsion to anything the previous administration did. If the Trump administration did it, it must be wrong and must be reversed.

Now, listen. None of us in this Chamber are naive. We understand politics. We understand that when one party takes over from the other party, they often reverse policy decisions. That is not unusual.

Obama reversed decisions of the Bush administration. Trump reversed decisions of the Obama administration. And there are a whole lot of decisions of the Trump administration that, sadly, from my perspective, Biden is reversing. As a general matter, that is why we have elections, and there are differences between the policy positions between the two parties.

But the Biden team is further than that. It is almost a pathological ``if Trump did it, it must be bad.'' Never mind that the Trump administration did this only after the Congress came together in an extraordinary moment of bipartisan unity and passed this as mandatory legislation.

In my office, over and over again, with just about every senior Biden State Department nominee, I asked them: Please don't turn one of the biggest foreign policy victories of the last several years into one of the biggest foreign policy defeats of the last several years.

The reports came out, actually, that State tried to honor its commitment; that State--the Department of State--in the interagency process, argued for ``let's follow the law; let's impose the sanctions.'' And what public reports have suggested is that the Biden White House--the political operatives in the Biden White House-- overruled State.

So even though State knew that the right policy was ``shut down the Putin pipeline'' and the wrong policy was ``turn it into the Biden- Putin pipeline,'' the Biden White House desperately wanted to stamp their imprimatur on this, because if it was done under President Trump, they were going to reverse it.

The second reason is that the Biden foreign policy team, for whatever reason, has a deep and abiding interest in giving to Germany whatever it is they want.

Now, look, Germany is an important friend and ally. We work together closely with Germany on economic matters, on diplomatic matters. We have long and positive relationships with our friend and ally Germany. It doesn't mean we agree with everything the Germans do, any more than we agree with everything any other ally of ours does.

Indeed, I will point out, in the past week, the Biden administration precipitated the French withdrawing their Ambassador from America--an extraordinary moment, which, I will point out, at least illustrates that we have a history of having disagreements, and sometimes serious disagreements, with our friends and allies.

But one friend of mine has a phrase--he puts it--that the Biden foreign policy establishment, they sleep with votive candles of Angela Merkel under their beds; that they view Chancellor Merkel as someone who must be surrendered to, acquiesced to no matter what. Never mind that Chancellor Merkel has an extremely limited tenure in office. She is on her way out. Never mind that the next successor government in Germany may well decide that they don't even want Nord Stream 2. This Biden foreign policy team, perhaps as a farewell gift to Angela Merkel, has decided that President Biden should surrender to Putin. That makes no sense. That is dangerous. It is harmful to Europe, it is harmful to Germany, it is harmful to America, and it helps Russia.

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