Floor Statements

Mr. President, on the President's foreign trip, President Biden's first foreign trip has projected a welcome sight to the world: an American President embracing our allies and bringing them together to confront our common adversaries.

Already, the President's visit to G7 has yielded results: a commitment to counter China's rapacious economic policies and unwinding a longstanding dispute over tariffs and trade with the European Union.

Now after meeting with our allies at both the G7 and at the NATO summit in Brussels, the President will meet tomorrow with Vladimir Putin. From the occupation in Crimea to violating political human rights within its own borders, to interfering in democratic elections across the Western world, to imprisoning those who expose his brutal, undemocratic regime, Vladimir Putin has spent the past decade interfering and destabilizing the world order.

For 4 years, former President Trump turned a blind eye and gave Putin a free pass. In the history of our country, Americans had never seen a President of the United States support an adversary the way Trump supported President Putin on that stage in Helsinki nearly 3 years ago. We all remember President Trump standing next to Vladimir Putin and taking the word of a Russian intelligence officer over America's intelligence agencies.

Trump not only defended Putin repeatedly from accusations of election interference, he actually announced--if you believe this, stranger than fiction--that the United States and Russia would set up a joint cyber security unit. Even Senator Graham said that it wasn't ``the dumbest idea [he'd] ever heard, but it [was] . . . close.''

Now, President Biden must take the exact opposite approach. The United States must approach Vladimir Putin with a firm hand and demand accountability in a way that President Trump never did. I expect President Biden will do exactly that.

One issue I am particularly concerned about is cyber security and the rise of ransomware attacks on the critical infrastructure of the United States. Many of those cyber criminals, unsurprisingly, may be hiding out in Putin's Russia or potentially connected to Putin's intelligence agencies.

Here at home, I have called on Congress to significantly boost funding for our cyber fighting Agencies and asked our Senate committees to study if we need new legislation to help counter the threat of cyber attacks.

Abroad, President Biden has an opportunity to pressure Putin directly to put an end to Russian-supported cyber crime. I expect he will. The President has smartly made these issues a priority among our NATO allies, announcing a host of joint actions to combat cyber crime, harden our cyber security, and condemn Russian aggression in the cyber space. It is time to take the issue directly to Vladimir Putin himself.

For 4 years, former President Trump berated our allies while emboldening and sometimes embracing the world's dictators and autocrats, Vladimir Putin above all. Already, President Biden's first foreign trip is a welcome turn of the page in America's relationship with the world.

Mr. President, finally, on one final matter, QAnon, last December, I joined with Senator Heinrich and other Democrats to ask the FBI and DHS to provide a written assessment on the dangers posed by the online conspiracy group QAnon.

They recently responded to our request with a very sobering assessment. The threat of QAnon is likely to persist, and the current environment will likely continue to spur QAnon adherents to see violence as a legitimate course of action. The assessment also expresses that QAnon adherents and domestic violent extremists will likely shift from acting digitally to engaging in real world violence. That is a shot across our bow. That is a warning signal.

QAnon today is perhaps best known for the role it played in inspiring many of the rioters who assaulted the U.S. Capitol on January 6. According to the FBI's assessment, they arrested 20 self-identified adherents who participated in the insurrection. But even before the horrific events on January 6, QAnon supporters spread disinformation that amplified hatred and violence and threatened our democratic institutions.

The past 4 years have seen a notable increase in violent domestic terrorism, fed by a host of lies and conspiracies that flourished under the Trump era. This assessment by the FBI is a stark reminder that we have a lot of work to do to tamp down conspiracy theories and disinformation as well as monitoring and thwarting violent domestic extremists.

And to my Republican Senate colleagues, I would add that this report further strengthens the argument for an independent January 6 Commission.

I yield the floor.

We have two of our Members who couldn't be here because of serious illnesses in their families, and therefore we are going to delay the vote on Kiran Ahuja.

I ask unanimous consent that the cloture motion with respect to the nomination of Kiran Ahuja to be Director of the Office of Personnel Management be withdrawn.

We will return to that vote as soon as these Members can return.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, I now ask that the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 123.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 157.

Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Mr. President, finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, June 15, be waived.

The PRESIDING OFFICER without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 475 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 269, submitted earlier today.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, thank you. That was the Juneteenth resolution, which we will talk about more tomorrow.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.