On the recordJune 16, 2015
I want to thank the gentlemen from Ohio, Alabama, and New York for their amendment, which I am proud to support. This amendment requires the Director of National Intelligence to provide an assessment on funding of political parties and NGOs in the former Soviet states and countries in Europe by the Russian Federation and its security and intelligence services. Over the past few years, we have witnessed a number of highly visible, aggressive actions by Russia, particularly in Ukraine; but Moscow's efforts to destabilize its neighbors are also subtler and more nefarious. Russia is sponsoring and funding political parties to groom the next generation of puppets which they can control from Moscow. We must better understand what they are doing, even if what they are doing is very deep behind the scenes; so long as sources and methods are properly protected, I support this effort. Again, I want to thank my colleagues for their work, and I urge support of the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.
