United States HRES 15: Calling upon any agreement reached between the President and Vladimir Putin at their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, to be approved by Congress.

Bill Text

IV
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 Se-
lect Committee on Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to be sub-
sequently 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, Fin-
land, to be approved by Congress.
Whereas the strength of the American constitutional system
designed in 1787 in Philadelphia is the National Govern-
ment’s separated powers in which the legislative, execu-
tive, and judicial branches serve as checks and counter-
balances 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 Demo-
cratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, with a
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•HRES 15 IH
state-authorized campaign of cyberattacks and fake news
stories planted on social media;
Whereas, in late July 2016, the Federal Bureau of Investiga-
tion (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 influ-
ence the 2016 United States Presidential election rep-
resented the most recent expression of the Russian gov-
ernment’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 demo-
cratic 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 continu-
ation of the ‘‘Translator Project’’, an ongoing informa-
tion warfare effort launched by Russian Federation
President Putin in 2014 to use social media to manipu-
late public opinion and voters in Western democracies;
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•HRES 15 IH
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 occur-
ring 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 Spe-
cial 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 tran-
sition, with at least 19 face-to-face interactions with Rus-
sians 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, At-
torney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, and
Trump National Campaign Chairman Paul D. Manafort;
Whereas the Special Counsel has, to date, indicted 32 per-
sons, including 4 Trump campaign or administration offi-
cials, as well as 25 Russian nationals and 3 Russian com-
panies;
Whereas the Special Counsel has obtained indictments
against Trump Campaign National Chairman Paul D.
Manafort, Deputy Campaign Chairman and Manafort
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