Political Quotes

“Now, Madam President, as President Biden begins the most important foreign trip of his Presidency, the best thing the Senate can do this week is pass permanent normal trade relation legislation so we can land another devastating blow on Putin's economy. In a few moments, I will ask the Senate for consent to do just that. Last week, the House passed legislation revoking Russia's normal trade relations with the United States by 424 to 8--424 to 8. The vast majority of House Republicans backed it, including Leader McCarthy and the Republican leadership. Here in the Senate, my friend, the senior Senator from Idaho, sincerely believes that we should amend the bill by including an oil ban. I don't believe we should do that. As I said earlier today, there are four reasons why we should move forward quickly on PNTR and then have a separate discussion on the oil ban. First, President Biden has already implemented a ban on Russian oil and gas, so passing something the President has already done is not even remotely as urgent as passing the PNTR first, especially because the President is leaving today and meeting with our European allies. What could be better than a united Senate putting further sanctions on Russia as the President meets with our European allies, where he has done a very good job of bringing them together? Second, there is still some disagreement, including with the administration, about how to best draft an oil ban proposal.…”