S.Amdt. 2696

SA 2696. Mr. MENENDEZ submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 2282 proposed by Mr. Inhofe (for himself and Mr.
McCain) to the bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal
year 2019 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year,
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as
follows:

At the end of subtitle G of title XII, add the following:

SEC. 1271. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON CONDITIONS PRECEDENT TO THE
RUSSIAN FEDERATION REJOINING THE G7.

(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Group of Seven (G7) is a group of nations
consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
United Kingdom, and the United States, and which is joined by
the European Union at annual G7 summits.
(2) The G7 states said in May 2017 in Taormina, Italy, that
``we are bound together by our shared values of freedom and
democracy, peace, security, the rule of law, and respect for
human rights. We are determined to coordinate our efforts in
promoting the rules-based international order and global
sustainable development.''
(3) On March 24, 2014, the current group of G7 states
suspended the Russian Federation from what was then the Group
of Eight nations, in response to the Russian Federation's
illegal invasion and occupation of the Ukrainian territory of
Crimea.
(4) The G7 states worked constructively toward the
imposition of sanctions by the European Union and the United
States, respectively, on the Russian Federation for its
aggression against Ukraine, including the illegal occupation
of Crimea and its violent aggression in the eastern part of
the country.
(5) Two G7 member states, France and Germany, in close
consultation with the United States and other allies, helped
to negotiate the Minsk Agreements in September 2014 and
February 2015, and have worked within the Normandy Group
format to further implementation of these agreements by the
Russian Federation and Ukraine.
(6) The Government of the Russian Federation has failed to
fulfill its obligations under the Minsk Agreements, including
with respect to a full ceasefire, the removal of heavy
weaponry, permitting the monitoring and verification of a
ceasefire regime, and ensuring access for humanitarian aid to
conflict-affected individuals.
(7) The Government of the Russian Federation continues to
illegally occupy Crimea.
(8) On June 9, 2018, the President of the United States
said, ``It would be an asset to have Russia back in. I think
it would be good for the world. I think it would be good for
Russia. I think it would be good for the United States. I
think it would be good for all of the countries of the
current G7. I think the G8 would be better.''.
(9) The Government of the Russian Federation, since 2014,
has expanded its aggression and undermined democratic
institutions against the United States and other countries
around the world, through election interference,
cyberattacks, corrupt influence, disinformation, and other
forms of malign interference.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the Sense of Congress that
the President should--
(1) welcome the steadfast commitment by G7 member states to
the values of democracy, human rights, and rule of law that
underpin the rules-based international order;
(2) condemn the actions of the Government of the Russian
Federation that led to its suspension by G7 states from the
group in 2014, and which continue to the present day;
(3) immediately retract his statement of June 9, 2018, in
which he called for the readmission of the Russian Federation
into the G7; and
(4) clearly declare that the Russian Federation will not be
readmitted into the G7 until it immediately ceases efforts to
undermine the rules-based international order and ends its
illegal occupation of Crimea.
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