Title: Calling upon any agreement reached between the President and Vladimir Putin at their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, to be approved by Congress.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses support for the intelligence community's assessment that Russian agents acting under the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered with the 2016 presidential election. It also expresses strong disapproval of the President's failure to support that assessement.
The resolution also expresses opposition to any future secret meetings between the President and Putin, and calls upon the President to submit any agreement reached with Putin in Helsinki to Congress for approval.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 15 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 15

 Calling upon any agreement reached between the President and Vladimir 
    Putin at their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, to be approved by 
                               Congress.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 3, 2019

Ms. Jackson Lee submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Permanent 
Select Committee on 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling upon any agreement reached between the President and Vladimir 
    Putin at their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, to be approved by 
                               Congress.

Whereas the strength of the American constitutional system designed in 1787 in 
        Philadelphia is the National Government's separated powers in which the 
        legislative, executive, and judicial branches serve as checks and 
        counterbalances on each other, and fidelity to the rule of law is the 
        highest value and responsibility;
Whereas United States intelligence agencies concluded in 2016 that Russia was 
        behind an effort to tip the scale of the United States Presidential 
        election against Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with 
        a state-authorized campaign of cyberattacks and fake news stories 
        planted on social media;
Whereas, in late July 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an 
        investigation into the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's 
        emails, which the United States intelligence community would attribute 
        to the Russian Government;
Whereas an Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) issued in January 2017 
        concluded that Russian efforts to influence the 2016 United States 
        Presidential election represented the most recent expression of the 
        Russian government's longstanding objective to undermine the United 
        States-led Western Alliance and international democratic order, and that 
        these activities demonstrated a significant escalation in directness, 
        level of activity, and scope of effort compared to previous operations;
Whereas the ICA assessed that Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin 
        ordered a disinformation campaign in 2016 aimed at influencing the 
        outcome of the United States Presidential election and that Russia's 
        goals were to undermine public faith in the United States democratic 
        process, undermine the Presidential campaign of Democratic candidate 
        Hillary Clinton, and facilitate the election of President Putin's 
        preferred candidate, Donald J. Trump;
Whereas Russian interference in the election processes of democratic countries 
        is not new but instead a continuation of the ``Translator Project'', an 
        ongoing information warfare effort launched by Russian Federation 
        President Putin in 2014 to use social media to manipulate public opinion 
        and voters in Western democracies;
Whereas, on July 27, 2016, Russian military intelligence agents made their first 
        effort to break into the servers used by Mrs. Clinton's personal office, 
        a burglary occurring immediately following then-Republican Presidential 
        nominee Donald J. Trump's direct appeal to Russia to hack the Clinton 
        campaign's servers, saying, ``Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're 
        able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,'' referring to 
        Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails;
Whereas the Department of Justice investigation led by Special Counsel Robert 
        Mueller into the Russian conspiracy to defraud the United States by 
        sabotaging the 2016 Presidential election is still ongoing;
Whereas at least 12 Trump campaign officials and associates had contacts with 
        Russians during the campaign or transition, with at least 19 face-to-
        face interactions with Russians or Kremlin-linked figures and at least 
        51 individual communications;
Whereas senior Trump campaign officials known to have had contact with Russians 
        include the President's son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, his son 
        Donald J. Trump, Jr., former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, 
        Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, and Trump National 
        Campaign Chairman Paul D. Manafort;
Whereas the Special Counsel has, to date, indicted 32 persons, including 4 Trump 
        campaign or administration officials, as well as 25 Russian nationals 
        and 3 Russian companies;
Whereas the Special Counsel has obtained indictments against Trump Campaign 
        National Chairman Paul D. Manafort, Deputy Campaign Chairman and 
        Manafort business partner Rick Gates, Michael Flynn, Trump campaign 
        official and the first National Security Advisor to the President of the 
        United States, George Papadopoulos, Trump campaign foreign policy 
        adviser, Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who lied to the FBI about his 
        dealings with Rick Gates and was jailed for 30 days, Richard Pinedo, who 
        has pleaded guilty to identity thefts to facilitate the Russian 
        conspiracy, and Konstantin Kilimnik, a Russian national and business 
        associate of Paul D. Manafort;
Whereas, on February 16, 2018, 13 Russian nationals connected to the Internet 
        Research Agency (IRA), a Russian ``troll factory'', including Yevgeny 
        Prigozhin, an associate of Vladimir Putin, were indicted for conspiracy 
        to defraud the United States by spreading fake news stories through 
        United States social media;
Whereas, on July 13, 2018, 12 Russian military intelligence officers were 
        charged with hacking the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton 
        Presidential campaign, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign 
        Committee using spear phishing emails and malicious software;
Whereas Maria Butina, a Russian national, was indicted for unlawfully acting as 
        an unregistered agent of a foreign government, for working under the 
        direction of Alexander Torchin in furtherance of a plan backed by the 
        Russian Foreign Ministry to co-opt influential leaders of the Republican 
        Party and conservative organizations like the National Rifle Association 
        and the Fellowship Foundation, which hosts the National Prayer 
        Breakfast;
Whereas the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a joint alert in 
        March of 2018 stating that ``Russian government cyber actors'' have been 
        targeting United States critical infrastructure sectors, including 
        energy, nuclear, and commercial facilities, since at least March 2016;
Whereas the Russian government is known to have targeted the same critical 
        infrastructure sectors of Ukraine shortly before interfering in the 
        elections of that nation;
Whereas in addition to the Justice Department investigation led by Special 
        Counsel Mueller, there are three pending congressional investigations 
        probing Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election;
Whereas, on July 21, 2017, The Washington Post reported that lawyers 
        representing the President of the United States are exploring ways to 
        limit or undercut Special Counsel Mueller's Russia investigation and 
        that the President himself had ``asked his advisers about his power to 
        pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the 
        probe'';
Whereas at the meeting in Helsinki, Finland, rather than embracing the 
        conclusions of the intelligence community, the President of the United 
        States sided with President Putin in heaping scorn on the ICA regarding 
        Russian interference and called Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 
        investigation into Russia's interference ``the greatest political witch 
        hunt in history'';
Whereas at their postmeeting joint press conference in Helsinki, President Putin 
        stated that in order for him to permit the Special Counsel to question 
        the 12 Russian military intelligence agents indicted for conspiracy to 
        defraud the United States, the United States must reciprocate by making 
        available for interrogation by Russian authorities a former United 
        States Ambassador to Russia and 11 other persons, an offensive 
        suggestion that the President of the United States nonetheless 
        characterized favorably as an ``incredible offer'';
Whereas prior to the July 2018 meeting in Helsinki, Finland, Americans have 
        become increasingly concerned regarding the cozy relationship between 
        the President of the United States and the leader of its most formidable 
        adversary, President Putin, whose actions or conduct the President of 
        the United States has found no reason to criticize or condemn, 
        notwithstanding his well-documented propensity to attack, criticize, and 
        disrespect other persons at will, from the leaders of America's most 
        stalwart allies to private citizens he dislikes;
Whereas Trump and Putin agreed to meet again following the meeting in Helsinki, 
        with Trump ultimately inviting Putin to the White House in the fall;
Whereas the nature, extent, and scope of the agreements reached in the Trump-
        Putin secret meeting held in Helsinki announced by Russian authorities 
        remain unknown to senior United States national security and defense 
        officials, including the Director of National Intelligence;
Whereas the President of the United States has blamed tensions with Russia on 
        ``many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity,'' stating that the 
        United States relationship with Russia ``has NEVER been worse''--
        including periods like the Cuban missile crisis, and the wars in Korea 
        and Vietnam;
Whereas following the meeting in Helsinki, Russia's ambassador to the United 
        States, Anatoly Antonov, stated that ``important verbal agreements'' 
        were reached between the President of the United States and the 
        President of the Russian Federation;
Whereas such purported agreements include the preservation of the New START and 
        INF agreements and major bilateral arms control treaties;
Whereas according to media reports the President of the United States did not 
        raise with President Putin the causes contributing to United States-
        Russia tension, including Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for 
        the rebels in Ukraine, its continued support of the Assad regime in 
        Syria, its interference in the elections in the United States and 
        Europe, the nerve agent poisonings in the United Kingdom, and Russia's 
        opposition to article V of the North Atlantic Treaty;
Whereas Russia is claiming that it is has reached agreements with the President 
        of the United States that favor the Kremlin's interests without any 
        disputation or confirmation from the President of the United States to 
        his national security advisors, the Congress, or the American people; 
        and
Whereas to protect the vital interests of the United States, any agreements 
        reached in Helsinki between the President of the United States and the 
        Russian Federation President in their secret meeting in Helsinki must be 
        subjected to congressional scrutiny and approval: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) strongly disapproves of the President's failure to 
        support the assessment of the intelligence community that 
        agents and entities of or allied with the Government of the 
        Russian Federation conspired to interfere, and did interfere, 
        with the 2016 Presidential election, acting under the direction 
        and with the approval of President Vladimir Putin, for the 
        purpose of facilitating the election of their preferred 
        Presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump;
            (2) strongly opposes any future secret meetings between the 
        President of the United States and Russian President Vladimir 
        Putin; and
            (3) calls upon the President to submit any agreement 
        reached with Russian President Putin in Helsinki to the 
        Congress for review and approval.
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