Title: Expressing the sense of Congress that until the conclusion of the FBI's criminal and counterintelligence investigations into the nature of the Russian connection to the Trump campaign, the Trump Administration is acting under a "gray cloud" of the appearance of a conflict of interest, and, as such, should refrain from taking any actions or making any changes to United States policy that could be seen as benefitting President Putin or his inner circle.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Expresses the sense of Congress that:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 47 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 47

Expressing the sense of Congress that until the conclusion of the FBI's 
criminal and counterintelligence investigations into the nature of the 
 Russian connection to the Trump campaign, the Trump Administration is 
   acting under a ``gray cloud'' of the appearance of a conflict of 
   interest, and, as such, should refrain from taking any actions or 
   making any changes to United States policy that could be seen as 
            benefitting President Putin or his inner circle.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 5, 2017

 Mr. Swalwell of California (for himself and Mr. Engel) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, 
 and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that until the conclusion of the FBI's 
criminal and counterintelligence investigations into the nature of the 
 Russian connection to the Trump campaign, the Trump Administration is 
   acting under a ``gray cloud'' of the appearance of a conflict of 
   interest, and, as such, should refrain from taking any actions or 
   making any changes to United States policy that could be seen as 
            benefitting President Putin or his inner circle.

Whereas the Russian Federation has been a longstanding adversary of the United 
        States;
Whereas the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), James Comey, 
        and the Director of the National Security Agency, Michael Rogers, 
        testified at a March 20, 2017, hearing of the House Permanent Select 
        Committee on Intelligence (in this resolution referred to as the ``HPSCI 
        Hearing'') that the Russian Federation is a foreign adversary of the 
        United States and should be treated as such in all interactions with 
        United States officials;
Whereas the Russian Federation has an institutionalized opposition to human 
        rights, democracy, and the sovereignty of its neighbors, exhibited most 
        recently in its 2014 invasion of Crimea, its support for troops that 
        shot down a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet, its state-sponsored 
        suppression of an independent media, and its support for Syrian dictator 
        Bashar al-Assad;
Whereas 17 United States intelligence agencies jointly concluded in a January 
        2017 public report (``IC report'') that Russian President Vladimir Putin 
        personally ordered a campaign to interfere in the 2016 United States 
        elections in order to harm former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 
        chances of winning with a preference toward candidate Donald Trump;
Whereas the Russian Federation's attack on the 2016 United States elections was 
        multi-faceted, and included the hacking and dissemination of the 
        contents of electronic systems of the Democratic National Committee and 
        the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and its emails, the 
        hacking and dissemination of the e-mails of Secretary Clinton's campaign 
        chairman, the probing of voter databases in Florida, Illinois, and, 
        Arizona, the dissemination of fake news through paid social media 
        trolls, and using its state broadcasting station--directly tied to 
        Russia's intelligence services--RT, to attack Secretary Clinton and 
        support Donald Trump;
Whereas the IC report concluded that the Russian Federation will undoubtedly 
        attempt to meddle in and influence future United States elections and 
        elections of United States allies;
Whereas despite the Russian Federation's status as an adversary and its attack 
        on our democracy, Trump campaign officials and members of the Trump 
        Administration have established or maintained well known and publicly 
        documented ties with people close to President Putin;
Whereas such ties include--

    (1) Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who provided misleading testimony 
for his Senate confirmation hearings with respect to at least twice meeting 
with Russia's Ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, in 2016;

    (2) former Assistant to the President for National Security, Michael 
Flynn, who was compelled to resign just weeks into his tenure because he 
misled Vice President Mike Pence about his conversations with Ambassador 
Kislyak, and who also failed to disclose a $33,750 payment from RT, for a 
speech in Moscow in 2015, and a $11,250 payment from Kaspersky Lab, a 
company suspected of having ties with the Russian intelligence services and 
later caught up in a Russian espionage investigation, for a speech in 2015;

    (3) Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who received over 
$12,000,000 from former pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych 
in his work as a political consultant in Kiev, and who reportedly signed a 
$10,000,000 annual contract with Russian business magnate and Putin ally, 
Oleg Depripaska, saying he would influence American politics, business, and 
news, in a pro-Russia manner;

    (4) Trump campaign national security advisor J.D. Gordon, who directly 
advocated for a change in the 2016 Republican Party platform to include 
more pro-Russia and less pro-Ukraine policies, and who met with Ambassador 
Kislyak, telling him he would like to improve United States-Russia 
relations;

    (5) Trump campaign senior foreign policy advisor Carter Page, who has 
ties to Gazprom, the Russian Federation's state-owned gas company, made a 
speech in Moscow critical of United States foreign policy while a Trump 
campaign advisor, and met with Ambassador Kislyak at the 2016 Republican 
National Convention while serving as campaign advisor;

    (6) Trump campaign advisor Roger Stone, who had back-channel 
discussions with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, and had exchanges 
with hacker Guccifer 2.0, a known front for Russian intelligence, both of 
whom released documents damaging to Secretary Clinton and her presidential 
campaign; and

    (7) Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has met a number of times 
with President Putin and was awarded Russia's Order of Friendship in 2013, 
the highest state honor for a foreigner;

Whereas, despite being presented with clear and convincing evidence of 
        atrocities committed by the Government of the Russian Federation and its 
        President, President Trump has not only refused to criticize them, but 
        has gone so far as to praise President Putin and his government, and 
        furthermore, President Trump has been exceedingly willing to criticize 
        or offend some of our closest allies, including the United Kingdom, 
        Australia, Canada, Germany, and Mexico;
Whereas President Trump, his campaign officials, and some of his cabinet members 
        have openly criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 
        its usefulness, and its future, and this open criticism of NATO only 
        helps Russia by seeming to call into question NATO's power, influence, 
        and ability to counter the Russian Federation strategically and 
        militarily;
Whereas NATO is one of our oldest and strongest military alliances that was 
        created to counter the former Soviet Union's aggression, and, more 
        recently, provides a needed deterrent capability against an increasingly 
        belligerent Russia;
Whereas the Russian Federation has increased militarization in the region in the 
        last few years, and the prime target of this aggression is our European 
        allies, and NATO is a critical defense against this type of military 
        aggression;
Whereas the Russian Federation has increasingly used cyberwarfare as a weapon 
        against democracies and democratic institutions, including in Estonia in 
        2007, Lithuania in 2008, Ukraine in 2014, Germany in 2015, and the 
        United States in 2016;
Whereas in response to the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine, the United 
        States, in close coordination with its European partners, imposed a 
        series of escalating rounds of sanctions on business transactions in the 
        United States with respect to both Russian individuals and Russian 
        companies, and in addition through travel bans;
Whereas in response to the Russian Federation's interference in the 2016 United 
        States elections, the United States issued sanctions against Russian 
        intelligence agents and entities, expelled 35 Russian personnel 
        registered with the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States and 
        listed them as ``persona non grata'', and shut down two Russian 
        compounds in Maryland and New York alleged to have been used for 
        intelligence activities;
Whereas the FBI generally does not publicize ongoing investigations, except in 
        extraordinary circumstances in which it believes it is in the public 
        interest, and FBI Director Comey testified at the HPSCI Hearing, ``This 
        is one of those circumstances'';
Whereas Director Comey further testified that the FBI ``is investigating the 
        Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential 
        election'';
Whereas Director Comey further testified that the FBI's criminal and 
        counterintelligence investigations include ``investigating the nature of 
        any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the 
        Russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the 
        campaign and Russia's efforts'';
Whereas coordination between a foreign adversary and members of a United States 
        presidential campaign during the adversary's attack on our democracy 
        would be an unprecedented assault on the government and democratic 
        process of the United States; and
Whereas the extensive ties between President Trump's campaign and Administration 
        with President Putin's government and associated individuals, President 
        Trump's statements and those of his Administration toward President 
        Putin and his government about defense policy as it relates to the 
        Russian Federation, and the ongoing criminal and counterintelligence 
        investigations by the FBI, raise enough serious questions about the 
        intent and influence behind any policy decisions the President or his 
        Administration may make with respect to President Putin and the 
        Government of the Russian Federation or otherwise affecting them: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) President Trump, his family, his business associates, 
        his campaign associates, and members of his Administration 
        should cooperate fully with all investigations undertaken which 
        examine the Russian Federation's attack on our democracy during 
        the 2016 United States elections, ties between officials with 
        President Trump's campaign and the Russian Federation, and 
        possible coordination between these officials and the Russian 
        Federation as part of its attack;
            (2) until the conclusion of the FBI's criminal and 
        counterintelligence investigations into the nature of the 
        Russian connection to the Trump campaign, the Trump 
        Administration is acting under a ``gray cloud'' of the 
        appearance of a conflict of interest, and, as such, should 
        refrain from taking any actions or making any changes to United 
        States policy that could be seen as benefitting President Putin 
        or his inner circle; and
            (3) the appearance of any conflict of interest concerning a 
        well-resourced, committed, and dangerous foreign adversary and 
        the institutions of United States Government primarily 
        responsible for national defense and the conduct of foreign 
        policy weakens our national security and erodes confidence 
        between the United States and our allies.
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