Tom Malinowski

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1456) to amend the Peace Corps Act to reauthorize the Peace Corps, better support current and returned volunteers, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 1456, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act, and I thank Mr. Garamendi for authoring this important bill.

This week marks 61 years in which President Kennedy signed the bill creating the Peace Corps into law, with the mission of promoting world peace and friendship. The Peace Corps has fulfilled this vision and has evolved into a vital diplomatic tool for U.S. foreign policy.

Since 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served as Peace Corps volunteers in 143 countries, conducting people-to-people diplomacy and development in partnership with communities in some of the poorest countries of the world.

Volunteers work in sectors that include education, agriculture, environment, health, youth, and community economic development. From incorporating agroforestry technologies in Zambia's farming system, to promoting volunteerism in Georgia, there is no doubt about the profound impact that the Peace Corps has had on the world's developing nations.

In addition to changing lives of people all over the world, the Peace Corps has also shaped the next generation of American and foreign leaders and changemakers, by fostering cross-cultural immersion and collaboration.

After 61 years of success, we think it is time to further strengthen the Peace Corps' global mission by providing additional resources to better the agency and to support its volunteers. Congress last authorized the Peace Corps in 1999. For this reason, the bill is timely, provides a much-needed update to benefits for volunteers that include readjustment allowance, re-enrollment priority, transition assistance, health insurance, noncompetitive eligibility for Federal employment, and updated workers' compensation.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Meeks and Ranking Member McCaul for moving this legislation forward in a bipartisan way. The bill will enhance the ability of the Peace Corps to make strong and strategic investments to meet the challenges of today and continue to be a transformative force for years to come.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all Members to vote in support of this critical legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garamendi).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1456, the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act, as amended, would significantly upgrade the Peace Corps and better support Americans who are ready to serve their Nation and make the world a better place.

I thank Mr. Garamendi for his service to the Peace Corps in Ethiopia and for this bill. It is clear from Mr. Garamendi and from many other Americans--we all know how their Peace Corps service has transformed their lives and the lives of those with whom they volunteered.

All of this has contributed to a stronger American image abroad, reaffirming our conviction in the enduring value of the Peace Corps. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me and support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 8453) to provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to foreign persons undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement or threatening the security of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 8453, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8453, the Upholding the Dayton Peace Agreement Through Sanctions Act. I thank Representatives Wild and Wagner for their dedicated efforts to introduce and move this important bill.

Memories and horrific consequences of the Balkan wars of the 1990s are with us all, those of us who experienced that war in the region and those of us who worked on the ending of that war. I was one of those people.

I was at the Dayton peace conference in 1995 as a young State Department staffer and remember how close we came to failure and the extraordinarily positive consequences of success: ending a war that claimed 200,000 lives, reaffirming the centrality and importance of American leadership in Europe and the importance of the NATO alliance, and keeping the peace in the transatlantic community.

The fragile peace that we ushered in with the Dayton Accords was meant to leave the threats of ethnic nationalism and demagoguery in the past and to create a framework, as imperfect as it was, for cooperation and, ultimately, the integration of those countries into European institutions.

Well, some of those young countries have done as we hoped. They successfully moved toward and integrated into the European Union and NATO. Some have struggled on that path but are still striving for a democratic and prosperous future.

Some of the problems that they still experience are internal of their own making, but others are coming from outside actors, particularly Russia and China, who see an interest and an opportunity to keep these countries in chaos and limbo.

In 2 weeks, the people of Bosnia will head to the polls in decisive elections that will determine their country's fate. However, in the lead-up to and following the elections, there will be temptations to break away from the Dayton Accords and the spirit of peace and partnership that they represent. The citizens of Bosnia deserve better from their leadership.

This legislation, which the House Committee on Foreign Affairs marked up in July, is designed to hold the bad actors holding Bosnia back accountable and to prevent others from hurting that country's chances to enjoy a free and democratic future.

As we are learning from Putin's cruel and unjustified war on the people and the very idea of Ukraine, peace and democracy are not guaranteed but must be fostered and protected always.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 8453, Upholding the Dayton Peace Agreement Through Sanctions Act, will help prevent malevolent actors from undermining peace and stability in Bosnia, to protect that country's free and democratic future from efforts to unravel the Dayton Accords.

The progress made since the devastating Balkan wars of the 1990s must be preserved. Efforts to provoke tensions must not and will not be tolerated by the United States. Russia's war of choice in Ukraine has showed us the consequences of a land war in Europe in the 21st century. We cannot allow anything remotely similar to happen in the Balkans, and I am confident that Congress and the administration will work together to prevent that.

I once again thank my colleagues, Representatives Wild and Wagner, for introducing H.R. 8453, and I hope my colleagues will join us in supporting this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6846) to require a review of sanctions with respect to Russian kleptocrats and human rights abusers, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H.R. 6846, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6846, the Corruption, Overthrowing Rule of Law, and Ruining Ukraine: Putin's Trifecta Act, or better known as the CORRUPT Act. You can imagine we worked hard on that acronym.

I first thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for the bipartisan effort. Representatives Curtis, Kinzinger, Salazar, Fitzpatrick, and Joe Wilson, on the Republican side, led this bill with me when Putin's invasion kicked off.

And despite what the news often says, behind the curtains I have seen tremendous bipartisan unity over the last 6 months to ensure that Ukraine's brave people have all of the military hardware and economic support that they need.

I will start by reminding us why we are advancing the CORRUPT Act today. We are passing this bill today because of the death and destruction in Ukraine.

Right here, you see a picture from the village of Bucha. When Bucha was liberated, Ukrainians found mass graves with hundreds, including many civilians with hands tied behind their

backs. The Associated Press says more than 1,300 bodies have been found in just this one location. And sadly, as the Ukrainian military advances and retakes more of its sovereign territory from the Russian invaders, more such evidence of massacres is coming to light.

We are here because this is a moral outrage, because this is evil. We are also here because we understand that the people of Ukraine are not just fighting for their country; they are fighting for ours. They are not just fighting for their freedom and security; they are fighting for ours.

They are fighting for the idea that in the 21st century, no country can change borders with tanks. No leader can seek power through murder. These are principles that protect everybody in the world, including the people of the United States.

And with this bill, we are sending another clear bipartisan signal that Congress supports President Biden's unprecedented sanctions against Putin's regime; and that we will continue to push for targeted sanctions against key enablers of Putin's repression until Ukraine is free.

Now, we have before us a list of nearly 200 key cronies of Putin. Identified by brave Russian democracy activists, these are the people who keep Putin in power and continue to fuel the war in Ukraine. They must not continue to profit from investments, accounts, condos, properties, planes, yachts held in the West.

But I also want to use this opportunity to make an important point; that Putin's senseless invasion started with his cruel repression inside Russia. The first victims of Putin were in Russia, brave Russians who stood up for democracy and freedom in their country.

Right here, you see a picture of a dear friend of mine, Vladimir Kara-Murza, a brave Russian hero. Putin tried to poison him twice, and he survived, miraculously. Putin now holds him in Russia's new gulags. Why? Because he openly calls for democracy and freedom in Russia.

So you don't get to the war crimes in Bucha without this. So this is why the U.S. Congress is going to continue pushing for targeted sanctions against those corrupt cronies of Putin propping up his repression and fueling the horrific war in Ukraine; because it is the same people responsible for both of these crimes; because we believe it is what is best for the Ukrainian people and the Russian people and for the United States.

I would like to use Vladimir Kara-Murza's own words to make that point. He said that the Magnitsky Act, the bill that we passed years ago to facilitate the sanctions against corrupt and repressive cronies of the Putin regime:

The Magnitsky Act is the most pro-Russian law ever to have

been passed by a foreign parliament. Nothing can send a chill

down the backs of Putin's autocratic enablers like the

realization that not even the Kremlin, with all of its

patronage, all of its oil money, will be able to guarantee

their ill-gotten gains.

Finally, as we continue to freeze the assets of corrupt Russian officials and leaders, we must also face the fact that many of their condominiums, and villas, and investment accounts, and trusts remain hidden right here in the United States because of loopholes in our own laws.

So I am going to continue to push with the same congressional leaders who have supported the CORRUPT Act, the bill we are passing today, Representatives Maria Salazar, Joe Wilson, Steve Cohen, Abigail Spanberger, Richard Hudson, to include the House-passed ENABLERS Act in this year's NDAA, the national defense bill.

It will make sure that Putin's cronies, the ones who we are sanctioning today in the CORRUPT Act, as well as Venezuelan kleptocrats, and Chinese Communist Party officials repressing their people, that these dictators and their enablers can no longer hide their money and earn interest here in New Jersey, in Florida, and across America.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 6846, with this bill, the CORRUPT Act, we stand in bipartisan solidarity with the Ukrainian people and with the many people in Russia who oppose this war, who believe that Putin's regime is as destructive to their country as it is to the rest of the world.

We are saying, with passing this bill, that the United States is absolutely committed to tracking down the dirty money that props up Putin's repression, his brutal criminal war in Ukraine. Hopefully, as we scour the world to seize the yachts and the property and the bank accounts of these people, we will be able to put the proceeds of that wealth to good use to help rebuild the country that Putin is destroying.

Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.