Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6930, the Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, as amended. Mr. Speaker, we have long known the Russian oligarch class is an important pillar of President Putin's brutal and corrupt regime. These Russian oligarchs have been able to enrich themselves and use their wealth to consolidate power within their country and increase their influence abroad. As President Putin continues in his unjustified and premeditated full-scale invasion into Ukraine, the United States must do all that it can to identify and sanction his cronies bankrolling this brutality. The Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act, as amended, takes an important step in this direction. The bill expresses the sense of Congress that the President should confiscate property subject to U.S. jurisdiction worth over $2 million belonging to Russian energy companies or Russian oligarchs whose wealth is derived from corruption or by support of President Putin. It expresses the sense that such property should be held, used, administered, liquidated, or sold, and that any funds gained from such sale should be used to benefit the Ukrainian people. Furthermore, this legislation would also create an interagency working group to determine the proper constitutional mechanisms through which this could be achieved. The luxury villas and fancy yachts and private airplanes of Putin and his cronies are tainted with the blood of the Ukrainian people.…”