Graham Delivers Floor Remarks on Bill Designating Russia a State Sponsor of Terrorism

[00:00:00] the senator from South Carolina. [00:00:01] >> Thank you, Mr. President. I will be [00:00:03] asking unanimous consent request here in [00:00:06] a second, but my colleagues uh on the [00:00:11] Democratic side uh a lot of people in [00:00:14] the country are wondering, can we ever [00:00:17] do anything together? We've done some [00:00:20] things together, but nothing more [00:00:22] uniting the Senate since I've been here [00:00:25] than the response we've achieved on the [00:00:28] both sides of the aisle regarding [00:00:30] Putin's barbaric invasion of Ukraine. We [00:00:34] have 85 co-sponsors [00:00:36] giving President Trump the ability to [00:00:38] tariff countries that buy cheap Russian [00:00:41] oil to keep Putin in the fight. Uh [00:00:44] that's a major accomplishment. And we [00:00:46] also have a bill making Russia state [00:00:48] sponsored terrorism under US law that I [00:00:52] believe passed through the foreign [00:00:53] relations committee uh without [00:00:56] unanimously. [00:00:57] Now what does this bill do? It [00:01:00] designates Russia state sponsor of [00:01:02] terrorism [00:01:04] based on the fact that Putin's Russia [00:01:07] has kidnapped, for lack of a better [00:01:10] word, almost 20,000 Ukrainian children [00:01:14] in the occupied territories controlled [00:01:17] by Russia and Ukraine. We had a hearing [00:01:20] last week about this. It was amazing [00:01:24] what we learned that some of these [00:01:26] Ukrainian children are being taken from [00:01:29] their families in Ukraine and wind up in [00:01:31] North Korea. I couldn't believe it. 200 [00:01:34] different camps that these kids are [00:01:37] being put in to make them Russian. This [00:01:40] is one of the greatest outrages of the [00:01:43] 21st century or any other century. [00:01:46] And we had compelling testimony from the [00:01:48] Ukrainian ambassadors and ambassador and [00:01:53] NOS's that follow this detailing the [00:01:57] brutality [00:01:58] of Russia's effort to separate Ukrainian [00:02:01] children from their families and turn [00:02:05] them into pawns of Putin. Some of these [00:02:08] kids have been taken as young young [00:02:11] children, teenagers are now in the fight [00:02:14] for Russia. [00:02:15] The videos are just break your heart. [00:02:19] Now, how does the bill work? Within 60 [00:02:22] days of passage, [00:02:25] um if Russia has not come up with a plan [00:02:28] to return the kidnapped children, [00:02:31] there's no process of reintegration. [00:02:35] If the Russian government is still [00:02:36] attacking civilian infrastructure, [00:02:40] then Russia will be designated state [00:02:42] sponsor of terrorism. And when you look [00:02:45] at international terrorism activities, [00:02:48] they include kidnapping under section [00:02:52] 2331 [00:02:54] I of Title 18. So this legislation [00:02:58] is designed to label Russia a state [00:03:00] sponsor of terrorism for the kidnapping, [00:03:05] we estimate up to almost 20,000, [00:03:08] probably more Ukrainian children in the [00:03:11] occupied territories. [00:03:14] If this doesn't make you a terrorist [00:03:16] state, what would for us to turn our [00:03:20] back on this problem? I think would be [00:03:23] the worst possible signal we could send [00:03:26] in terms of world order. I am confident [00:03:29] that if we get a vote on this bill, it [00:03:32] will pass overwhelmingly because most [00:03:35] senators want to be on record of saying [00:03:39] I did something necessary in the face of [00:03:42] brutality. The one thing I've learned in [00:03:45] my time here, [00:03:47] if you appease aggression, you get more [00:03:50] of it. If you're silent in the face of [00:03:52] evil, it will grow. [00:03:54] So to my Democratic colleagues, Senator [00:03:56] Shaheen and Blumenthal and so many [00:03:59] others, you've been great to work with. [00:04:02] We have tremendous wide and deep [00:04:04] bipartisan support for this. And I'm [00:04:07] hoping that the negotiations in Berlin [00:04:09] will bear fruit, that we can end this [00:04:12] bloodbath in a way to prevent a third [00:04:14] invasion, an honorable and just outcome. [00:04:17] I don't think Ukraine can evict every [00:04:19] Russian soldier. But having said that, [00:04:21] you don't want to reward Putin for this [00:04:23] invasion. you'll just get more of it. We [00:04:26] have to prevent what happened in 2014 [00:04:27] and 2022 this time around. But one of [00:04:30] the tools in our toolbox is to label [00:04:34] Russia state sponsor of terrorism for [00:04:36] kidnapping these children. It would make [00:04:38] the Russian economy radioactive. There [00:04:40] are only four nations that are [00:04:43] designated state sponsor of terrorism [00:04:44] under US law. This would be number five. [00:04:48] It's a welldeserved label based on the [00:04:50] conduct of Putin regarding Ukrainian [00:04:53] children. So in that regard, I would ask [00:04:56] unanimous consent that notwithstanding [00:04:59] rule 22, the Senate proceed to the [00:05:02] immediate consideration of calendar [00:05:04] number 246 [00:05:06] 2978. [00:05:08] That the committee report reported [00:05:11] substitute amendment be withdrawn. the [00:05:14] Graham substitute amendment at the desk [00:05:16] be considered and agreed to. The bill is [00:05:19] amended be considered read a third time [00:05:22] and passed and the motion to reconsider [00:05:26] be considered made and laid upon the [00:05:28] table. [00:05:29] >> Yeah, I'll respond. [00:05:30] >> Senator from South Carolina [00:05:31] >> and turn it over to my colleagues. Uh, [00:05:33] number one, [00:05:35] you're very consistent, Senator Paul, in [00:05:38] the sense that you do not believe [00:05:43] that standing up to aggression [00:05:47] stops it. I do. When you appease it, you [00:05:50] get more of it. In 2014, [00:05:54] Putin invades Crimea. [00:05:56] We end that conflict only to have him [00:05:59] invade again in 2022. [00:06:02] You can have your opinions, but you need [00:06:04] to listen to what the enemy is saying. [00:06:07] If you believe Putin's going to stop [00:06:10] voluntarily, you're completely [00:06:12] discounting everything he's said and [00:06:14] everything he's done. He's going to go [00:06:17] to somebody stops him. Not one American [00:06:20] soldier has died in the effort to stop [00:06:23] him in Ukraine. We have provided [00:06:26] weapons. We've put sanctions. We've done [00:06:29] a lot of things, but the war keeps [00:06:30] going. [00:06:33] Senator Paul advocated for getting out [00:06:35] of Afghanistan, Syria, you name it, he [00:06:38] wants to leave. The problem is that the [00:06:41] people that you leave behind want to [00:06:43] kill you. Senator Paul doesn't believe [00:06:46] that radical Islam is dedicated to the [00:06:48] destruction of the American people, our [00:06:51] way of life. I do. Under his model, if [00:06:54] you live them alone, they will leave you [00:06:56] alone. There's really no reason for us [00:06:58] to be forward deployed because we're [00:07:01] safe if we just ignore them. If you [00:07:04] ignore Putin, there goes Taiwan. All the [00:07:08] negotiations I appreciate, they haven't [00:07:11] worked. We're negotiating and Ukrainians [00:07:14] are dying. [00:07:16] How many Ukrainians have died since [00:07:19] these talks have been going on? To my [00:07:21] friends in the Trump administration, you [00:07:24] have an obligation to bring this war to [00:07:26] an end [00:07:28] for the good of the civilized world. I [00:07:32] appreciate you going to Berlin. I hope [00:07:34] we come up with security guarantees that [00:07:36] will prevent another invasion like in [00:07:39] 2014 and 2022. I hope America will say [00:07:42] the third time around, Putin, you come [00:07:44] into Ukraine after we have a ceasefire, [00:07:47] then you run into the coalition of the [00:07:49] willing and the United States. And if [00:07:50] you don't say that, Putin will come [00:07:52] back. So the worst thing you can do is [00:07:54] not understand the times in which you [00:07:56] live. People didn't understand Hitler. [00:08:00] These arguments made today were all made [00:08:02] in the 30s. [00:08:05] And 50 million people die when people in [00:08:08] power like us in the Senate don't [00:08:10] understand the world in which we live [00:08:12] in. [00:08:14] Putin has raped and murdered on mass [00:08:18] Ukrainians who just wish to be [00:08:20] Ukrainians. To Senator Paul, if he gets [00:08:23] away with this, there goes Taiwan. But [00:08:25] you'll do nothing for Taiwan. I don't [00:08:27] know if you'd do anything if they [00:08:29] actually went into Kentucky. [00:08:31] The point is the rest of us believe [00:08:35] you're the outlier. There's nothing [00:08:37] about the Washington establishment here. [00:08:39] It's about common sense, learning from [00:08:41] history, having a half a brain when it [00:08:43] comes to dealing with aggression. If you [00:08:46] think ISIS is going to leave you alone [00:08:48] because you want to leave them alone, [00:08:50] that's insane. If you think Putin will [00:08:54] stop until somebody stops him, you've [00:08:57] missed a lot. So, what are we trying to [00:09:00] do? We're trying to make it hard to do [00:09:02] business with Russia. China is the [00:09:05] number one purchaser of Russian oil. [00:09:08] Cheap. The number one purchaser of [00:09:10] Iranian oil, cheap. The number one [00:09:12] purchaser of Venezuelan oil. What does [00:09:14] that have in common? China is propping [00:09:17] up all these dictatorships. Without [00:09:20] China, India, and Brazil buying Russian [00:09:22] oil cheap, Putin would have no money [00:09:26] virtually to prosecute the war. So, [00:09:28] we're trying to make it hard to prop up [00:09:31] Putin's war machine. A state sponsor of [00:09:33] terrorism designation against Russia [00:09:36] would matter. it would his war [00:09:39] machine because he'd be radioactive in [00:09:41] terms of doing business. [00:09:44] And if you turn your back on a regime [00:09:47] that kidnaps 20,000 children, [00:09:52] takes them away from their family, [00:09:54] appropriates them to Russia, then boy, [00:09:59] have you lost your way. [00:10:01] If that's not terrorism, [00:10:04] if that's not something America should [00:10:06] care about, what the hell should we care [00:10:09] about? We're labeling the conduct of [00:10:13] Putin for what it is, state sponsor of [00:10:17] terrorism. So, let it be said that in [00:10:21] 2025, almost everybody in the Senate, [00:10:24] except two or three, believes that [00:10:28] Russia should be a state sponsor of [00:10:30] terrorism under US law, not to go to war [00:10:33] with Russia, but because of their [00:10:35] conduct of taking 20,000 children away [00:10:40] from Ukrainian families, putting them in [00:10:42] camps in Russia, and sending some of [00:10:45] them to North Korea. [00:10:47] If that's not something we should push [00:10:50] back against, God help the world. If [00:10:53] Putin gets away with this, the world [00:10:56] will [00:10:58] only time will tell what would happen. [00:11:00] To my Democratic and Republican [00:11:02] colleagues. Thank you for working [00:11:05] together with Senator Blumenthal, [00:11:07] myself, Senator Sheen, you've been [00:11:09] terrific. Thank you for letting Russia [00:11:12] know if this war doesn't end honorably [00:11:16] and justly, we're going to crush your [00:11:18] economy. [00:11:20] We're going to come after your [00:11:22] customers. Putin will go as far as he [00:11:25] can go to somebody stands up to him. [00:11:28] That's what I've learned when it comes [00:11:30] to Putin. And as to the United States [00:11:33] Senate, this is one of our finest [00:11:35] moments. [00:11:37] This is one of our finest hours where we [00:11:40] came together to create legislation to [00:11:43] punish a country that would kidnap [00:11:45] children of another country, [00:11:48] rape and murder and pillage. So, thank [00:11:53] you very much.