Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I applaud the bipartisan work that my Senate colleagues have put into legislation to impose sanctions on Russia. Russia's interference in the 2016 election represents an assault on our democracy that, until this point, has gone largely unanswered by the Administration and Congress. Russia has also conducted cyber attacks on allies and illegally invaded and violated the sovereignty of Ukraine and Georgia. I know that my colleagues take this issue very seriously, and I support the bipartisan compromise, which will maintain existing sanctions on Russia for its cyber and military intrusions in Ukraine and require additional mandatory sanctions on Russia's energy sector, those providing arms to Syrian troops, corrupt Russian oligarchs and their networks, and human rights abusers. We cannot allow Russia's hostile actions toward Western democracies to go unchecked. This legislation sends an important message to Russia and the world that the United States stands strongly against Russia's anti-democratic actions. At the same time, the original version of the legislation would have had unintended consequences for our nation's civil and commercial space sectors. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, and commercial space missions are critical to space exploration, weather data, and sending U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station, as well as supplying them with cargo and instruments for scientific research.…”