We will strengthen our sanctions, including those on the
     oil and gas sectors.

  This statement coincides with the expiration of the most recent
Treasury waiver on Russian oil sanctions, which was announced by
President Trump last October. Those sanctions were having a significant
impact by depriving Moscow of revenue. Secretary Bessent has not issued
another waiver, nor should he.
  The White House has taken an important step in endorsing longstanding
legislation introduced by the late Senator Lindsey Graham. I have
cosponsored this legislation, which would punish countries that
continue to buy Russian oil with crippling tariffs. This is a clear,
clear message to friends and foes alike: You can do business with
Russia or you can do business with the United States, but you can't do
both.
  I welcome Leader Thune's intention to bring this legislation to a
vote soon, to send it to the President's desk for his signature, and to
its becoming law.
  Similarly, I call on our European allies to find new supplies of
liquefied natural gas more quickly ahead of next year's deadline to
phase out Russian purchases. The EU's imports of Russian LNG
increased--they increased--in the month of May, reportedly providing
Moscow with over $1 billion in revenue. It is imperative for European
countries to treat the war in Ukraine with the urgency it deserves and
choke off Russia's revenue streams.
  Despite over 1 million casualties and a badly damaged national
economy, Vladimir Putin's objectives have not changed. From the outset
of the full invasion he ordered in February of 2022, he has sought to
subjugate Kyiv's sovereign authority to Moscow. He will not succeed,
but his failure in Ukraine may make him more dangerous elsewhere. In
the fall of 2022, as Russia's war effort faltered, Russian officials
repeatedly threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Given
Russian drone activity in NATO territory recently, our European allies
who border Russia have legitimate fears that Putin could escalate the
war to include them.
  President Trump is absolutely right to expect our allies to assume
responsibility for their own security. Today and for the next several
years to come, however, the undeniable fact is that American forces
have capabilities which cannot be replicated by the rest of NATO. Our
continued involvement and leadership are critical to deterring Putin
should he believe that he can take action against NATO and succeed
either by taking territory or by fracturing the alliance.
  Last month's G7 statement is unequivocally clear in recognizing the
threat Putin poses to European security. Through continued American
leadership, Putin will fail in his goals to conquer Ukraine and split
the West, and not just Europe but the entire world will be safer
because of it.

                  150th Anniversary of Burdett, Kansas

  Mr. President, this summer, from July 17 to 19--not too far away--
residents of Burdett, KS, will come together to celebrate the 150th
anniversary of the town's founding.
  Burdett is a small community of fewer than 250 residents, and it is
particularly meaningful to me as a place that I have represented since
I was first elected to public office as a State senator.
  The community is special to me because, on election night of that
State senate race, Browns Grove Township was the very first township to
report its voting totals, and the tally showed that I just might win my
uphill race for the Kansas State Senate.
  Some of my best remembrances are the Monday community potluck lunches
and the annual Tri-County picnic in the city park. I have knocked on
every door in Burdett and talked with members of the community about
their hopes, their concerns, and how we can preserve our special way of
life for another generation of Kansans.
  This summer, as local residents commemorate Burdett's history, they
will also pay tribute to one of their own: Clyde Tombaugh, whose
significant contributions advanced the fields of scientific discovery
and space exploration. It is impossible to visit Burdett without seeing
the pride the community has in his accomplishments.
  Born February 4, 1906, Clyde was raised on a farm just outside
Burdett, and he quickly developed a love of astronomy and learning. As
a teenager, he taught himself how to build his own telescopes out of
spare parts that he found around the family farm.
  Later, his commitment to research and exploration would lead him to
make a remarkable discovery that made history and helped to unlock a
new understanding of our solar system. On February 18, 1930, at the age
of just 24, Clyde discovered the existence of Pluto, the only major
planet discovered here in the United States.
  Following this achievement, Clyde earned his bachelor's and master's
degrees in astronomy from the University of Kansas, and he went on to
make many more contributions to advancing the fields of scientific
research and space exploration.
  In 2015, NASA honored him by carrying a portion of his ashes aboard
the New Horizons spacecraft on its mission to Pluto. The heart-shaped
region of Pluto's surface was officially named Tombaugh Regio in his
honor, paying tribute to his accomplishments and cementing the legacy
of a Kansas farm kid in one of the most remote parts of our solar
system.
  As Burdett celebrates its 150th anniversary--and I say
congratulations to them--it is a history that is embodied by the story
of Clyde Tombaugh, someone with determination, hard work, and
curiosity, whose discoveries helped to shape how future generations
understand our universe.
  For decades, this tight-knit community of Burdett has preserved his
legacy and made certain the world remembers his contributions to
science, research, and discovery.
  I hope everyone passing through southwestern Kansas will take the
time to visit Burdett to learn the history and the legacy of this
little town on the plains of Kansas.
  On behalf of the U.S. Senate to the citizens of Burdett--past,
present, and future--I congratulate the community of Burdett on its
150th anniversary and express my gratitude for the way in which its
residents have honored and preserved the memory of one of our most
notable Kansans and how kind they have always been to me.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Hawaii.

                                  Iran

  Mr. SCHATZ. Mr. President, Donald Trump is dragging us back into war
again, and no one is exactly sure why. He achieved almost none of his
objectives that he set out at the beginning of war, while spending
tens--if not hundreds--of billions of dollars and forcing Americans to
pay more for everything, especially gas and groceries. It has been only
a few days since the fighting resumed, and gas is already up to $4.89
nationally and $5.44 in Hawaii. And the President can't be bothered to
explain why we are at war again and what we are supposed to be getting
out of it.
  So let's just go through his own stated objectives at the start of
the war and see where we stand today.
  No. 1, regime change: ``There will be no deal with Iran except
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER''--all caps--Donald Trump said in the first
week of war.
  He told the Iranians:

       When we are finished, take over your government. It will be
     yours to take.

  How did that work out?
  The regime is intact. The regime is led by a younger ayatollah with
the same last name, emboldened by the knowledge that they survived
months of war against the world's greatest superpower. The Iranian
opposition is weaker than it was before the war, and the Iranian people
are no freer today.

  Look, regime change wars rarely ever end well. And the idea that
Trump was going to be able to go in and quickly topple the regime, much
like he did in Venezuela a month earlier, was always absurd. But he did
it anyway.
  OK. Goal No. 2, no nuclear weapons: ``We will ensure that Iran does
not obtain a nuclear weapon. . . . They will never have a nuclear
weapon,'' Trump said on the day he launched the war.
  Now, it is true that heavy strikes last summer and the first phase of
the war this spring have set back Iran's nuclear program. It is also
true that in the memorandum of understanding--that has since fallen
apart--Iran agreed to the same thing it agreed to under the JCPOA.
  Under the Obama nuclear agreement, we got all of this without having
to go to war. And the criticism of the Obama agreement--and I was on
the floor defending it--was that it didn't last long enough--not that
it wasn't any good, but that it didn't last in perpetuity; that it was
only good for 10 years.
  Now we have got nothing. Now we have got nothing.
  To that point, having repeatedly ruled out allowing any uranium
enrichment and demanding that Iran turn over its uranium stockpile,
Trump has changed his tune on both: ``It is a little hard''--``it is a
little hard''--``when other people have it, other adjoining states have
it, and you're not letting them have it for purposes of electricity and
things like that.''
  This is Trump on uranium enrichment.
  On acquiring stockpiles, he said: