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Floor Speech

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Mr. YOUNG. Mr. President, Russia has been condemned for years, but what it has not yet faced is a cost high enough to change its course.

Senator Lindsey Graham understood that. The bill he left us, his final legislative legacy, does not stop at symbolic penalties or mere gestures. It is a strategy. It is a strategy to impose real costs on those sustaining Russia's war machine.

Lindsey, who was a friend of mine, understood what it would take. Not another statement of outrage, but a serious plan, a plan to make continuing this war more costly than ending it.

And it starts with an uncomfortable truth: We cannot choke off the war chest while Russia's largest customers keep replenishing it, even as those same governments insist they want the war to end.

The United States, however, has leverage--enormous leverage. Access to our market carries enormous weight. Our allies know this, our adversaries know it, and the governments buying Russian energy certainly know it.

But we should remember that tariff threats of this magnitude do not stop at the doors of a Foreign Ministry. They have real-world consequences. They can reach factory floors, farms, small businesses, and family budgets here at home.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't act. We should act. But if Americans might absorb some of these costs, they deserve a policy that is transparent, disciplined, and tied to well-defined objectives.

That is why Congress has a responsibility--a responsibility to ensure that these authorities remain focused on their intended purpose, with clear standards governing when additional pressure is warranted and when demonstrated progress should be recognized.

The bipartisan support for this legislation sends a clear and a very important message: The pressure authorized here is directed at the countries financing Russia's war and must remain tied to that mission-- full stop.

The goal--and the result Congress should demand--is a race to the bottom among Russia's largest energy buyers, with each country competing to cut its purchases faster than the others.

But a race only works when every participant knows the rules, when every participant understands the objective, and trusts that meaningful action will be recognized.

If countries buy more Russian energy, if they conceal transactions, or if they help Moscow evade sanctions--well, the President has every right to increase pressure, and he will have my encouragement.

At the same time, if countries cut those purchases, stop enabling Russia, and demonstrate the change with real evidence, our policy should respond accordingly--that is how leverage produces action instead of simply imposing costs.

And as this legislation moves forward through the process, I look forward to working with Chairman Crapo and the administration to keep these tariff authorities focused on the threats Congress intends to confront--the very threats Lindsey Graham worked so hard to confront.

This bill presents a simple proposition: Countries may finance Russia's war or they may enjoy the benefits of access to the U.S. market, but they shouldn't expect to do both without consequences.

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