Ranking Member Shaheen Speaks on Senate Floor in Support of Designating Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism

WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor in support of Senator Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) Designating the Russian Federation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act. The bill directs the Secretary of State to assess whether, based on Russia's deliberate targeting of civilians, systematic abductions of Ukrainian children and other acts, Russia should be designated a State Sponsor of Terrorism.

In her remarks, Ranking Member Shaheen warned that Russia's war in Ukraine is driven by Putin's refusal to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and sustained by China's support, while being carried out through terror against civilians. She detailed how Congress can raise the cost of that strategy by isolating the regime, cutting off its military supply chains and ensuring Russia-not Ukraine or U.S. taxpayers-pays for the destruction it has caused. She also highlighted additional bipartisan Foreign Relations Committee legislation to cut off China's support for Russia's war effort and to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund Ukraine's defense and recovery.

In her remarks, Ranking Member Shaheen warned that Russia's war in Ukraine is driven by Putin's refusal to respect Ukrainian sovereignty and sustained by China's support, while being carried out through terror against civilians. She detailed how Congress can raise the cost of that strategy by isolating the regime, cutting off its military supply chains and ensuring Russia-not Ukraine or U.S. taxpayers-pays for the destruction it has caused. She also highlighted additional bipartisan Foreign Relations Committee legislation to cut off China's support for Russia's war effort and to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund Ukraine's defense and recovery.

You can watch her remarks here.

Key Quotes:

• "The fact is, the only thing Vladimir Putin does understand is pressure. And the problem is we haven't put enough pressure on him in the United States and Europe. And if appeasement is what was going to end this war, then we've already done that. President Trump rolled out the red carpet in Alaska when he met with Putin. That got us nowhere."
  
  
• "These are not abstract issues. They describe how Russia is fighting this war, and Congress has the authority and the tools to raise the cost of that strategy, to make it harder on Vladimir Putin. And that's why we're here on the floor today, supporting the bill that would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Because what this bill does is it addresses the character of Russia's conduct in this war."
  
  
• "Taken together, these bills give Congress a clear way to raise the cost of Putin's strategy. They target the supply chains, the money and the conduct of the Russian state itself. They send a unified signal that escalation will be met with real costs. That is the message that Congress should be sending now to up the ante on the cost of this war for Vladimir Putin and Russia."

The Ranking Member's remarks, as delivered, are below.

Madam President, I'm pleased to join my colleagues Senator Blumenthal and Senator Graham who are right to highlight Russia's conduct in Ukraine and the need to hold Vladimir Putin's murderous regime accountable. And, I think our colleague from Kentucky couldn't be more wrong when he talks about this bill as continuing the war in Ukraine. The fact is, the only thing Vladimir Putin does understand is pressure. And the problem is we haven't put enough pressure on him in the United States and Europe. And if appeasement is what was going to end this war, then we've already done that. President Trump rolled out the red carpet in Alaska when he met with Putin. That got us nowhere. The only thing Vladimir Putin understands is pressure. And we need to do everything possible to add to the pressure on Putin and Russia so that he'll come to the table, so that he'll actually negotiate in good faith and end this war. Because as talks continue, we need to be clear about what's actually driving this war. And Senators Blumenthal and Graham talked about Putin's interest in totally eliminating Ukraine and absorbing the culture and absorbing the country into Russia. President Putin doesn't want peace on terms that respect Ukraine's sovereignty. Russia continues to strike civilian infrastructure, continues to kidnap thousands of abducted Ukrainian children. These are not the actions of a government that's negotiating in good faith.

And second, as has been said, Russia's not sustaining this war alone. Moscow relies on China for materials and technology to keep its war machine running, it relies on North Korea for people to fight this war.

And finally, Putin's strategy depends on exhausting Ukraine's ability to defend itself and rebuild.

These are not abstract problems, and as Senator Graham was going through the litany of Russia's encroachment into Ukraine, what he missed was in 2008, when Russia went into Georgia and took two provinces in Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. They are now basically Russian mandates within the bounds of Georgia.

So, these are not abstract issues. They describe how Russia is fighting this war, and Congress has the authority and the tools to raise the cost of that strategy, to make it harder on Vladimir Putin. And that's why we're here on the floor today, supporting the bill that would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Because what this bill does is it addresses the character of Russia's conduct in this war. And, as Senator Blumenthal said so eloquently, it speaks to the values that we have in the United States-that we've got to take on a country, a regime like Vladimir Putin's, that would steal children from another country. It reflects the use of terror as tool of state policy, that includes the abduction of Ukrainian children.

What this bill would do is to further isolate the Putin regime. It would make clear that his conduct carries real consequences, as far as we're concerned, in the United States.

But, fortunately, this isn't the only bill that Congress can pass to put pressure on Putin. In addition to this bill, the Foreign Relations Committee has passed two other pieces of legislation that would do exactly that. One is the STOP Russia and China Act, which is a bill that goes directly at the supply chain that Putin relies on to rebuild forces and prolong the fighting. It would block Chinese entities from supplying materials and technology to Russia's war effort, and without that support, Russia's ability to keep escalating is sharply reduced. Now, the other is the REPO Act. This bill addresses the costs of Russia's aggression. It would authorize the use of frozen Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine's defense and recovery. And it would ensure that Russia, not Ukraine or the United States taxpayers, would bear the responsibility for the destruction it's caused.

Taken together, these bills give Congress a clear way to raise the cost of Putin's strategy. They target the supply chains, the money and the conduct of the Russian state itself. They send a unified signal that escalation will be met with real costs. That is the message that Congress should be sending now to up the ante on the cost of this war for Vladimir Putin and Russia.

So, we are not going to stop with this UC request today. We are going to keep going, into January, until we see a real commitment on the part of Russia to go to the negotiating table.

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