William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Let's be clear, if our aim is to push back on Russian aggression and hold Vladimir Putin accountable, this amendment will accomplish none of that.

Nord Stream 2 is a menace to peace and security in Europe, period. It is Putin's transparent attempt to make Europe more dependent on Russian energy, to tighten Russia's grip, and to put down deeper roots to fracture European resolve.

If we want to disrupt Nord Stream 2, where should we turn up the heat? On Russia. On Putin and the oligarchs who stand to reap billions with this.

What does this amendment do? It goes after our allies. It targets German companies, European enterprises, maybe even Americans. But consequences for Russia? Forget about it.

Spit on our closest friends, let Russia off the hook, it doesn't seem right to me.

Sound familiar? It is the same refrain we have heard again and again. This is not good, and it should not pass.

How are we even debating this? The amendments I offered with Chairwoman Waters to address Russian bounties on American lives and pushing back on Russian election interference? Out of order. Nobody would go along with those.

The measure Chairman Schiff and I authored to prevent the collapse of the New START treaty, the last remaining safeguard on Russia expanding its nuclear arsenal unchecked? Out of order.

The Republicans and Democrats loved this treaty when it was ratified. There was cross-party support for nuclear modernization, but they are offering a collective shrug now that the clock is ticking on its expiration.

Mr. Speaker, the National Defense Authorization Act has long stood as a pillar of bipartisanship in advancing our security interests, but right now, the Republicans seem to be backing out of this. So guess what? We have to make sure that certain priorities are not passed because that is not the direction we should go in.

I am the chairman of the most bipartisan committee in Congress, and that is too high a price to pay for bipartisanship.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I first thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Gallego) for really terrific work on this. He did so much to move this forward, and it was a pleasure having our staffs work together, and I thank him very much for that.

Mr. Speaker, for years, I have been sounding the alarm on Nord Stream 2. I have warned about the dangers of allowing Putin and Russia to strengthen their hand by making Europe more dependent on Russian energy. I have supported dozens of other efforts to hold Putin accountable and demand that there be consequences for his aggression.

If I thought this amendment would ratchet up pressure on Putin and his cronies, I would be the first to support it. Instead, I believe this measure lets Putin off the hook while placing all the consequences for Nord Stream 2 on our friends and allies. I think it is just a wrong direction to go.

If we are serious about making Putin pay a price, we should defeat this amendment and go back to the drawing board. I won't call for a vote by the yeas and nays on this measure, but I will oppose it, and I urge all Members to do the same.

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