00:00President.
00:00Senator from Kentucky.
00:02Reserving the right to object,
00:05designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism
00:08is a colossally bad idea,
00:10a dangerous provocation,
00:13and a roundabout way of allowing military strikes on Russian targets.
00:17If you doubt this, ask the Venezuelans.
00:20All of the kinetic strikes on Venezuelan boats are justified
00:24because they are designated as a terrorist sponsor.
00:27They have these fancy names.
00:30We call them Designated Terrorist Organization,
00:33and therefore it's like a war, not quite a war,
00:36but they justify their attacks,
00:38and they justify acting like there is a war with Venezuela
00:41by designating them as terrorists.
00:45Never underestimate Washington's ability to make things worse.
00:49In its insistence that Moscow be a permanent enemy of the U.S.,
00:53the foreign policy establishment
00:55is pushing to impose more punitive measures on Russia,
00:59measures that may make globalists in Washington feel virtuous,
01:04but in reality will do nothing to help Ukraine,
01:06do nothing to bring peace in Europe,
01:08and do nothing to make Americans safer or more prosperous.
01:12In fact, if there's one thing more likely to disrupt the peace talks
01:17and make it less likely to find peace,
01:19it's simply labeling Russia as a terrorist nation.
01:23If you want to destroy the peace process,
01:26you should pass this legislation and shout it from the rooftops
01:30that you're calling Russia a terrorist nation
01:32if you want to disrupt the peace talks.
01:35This bill would designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism,
01:39directly undermines President Trump's diplomatic efforts
01:42to end the four-year war in Ukraine.
01:45If you like the war in Ukraine, vote for this bill
01:49because this bill will do everything possible
01:52to drive Russia away from the table.
01:55Our goal should be to seek de-escalization and stability in Europe,
02:00which will only come about by establishing working relations with Russians.
02:05None of this says that Russia isn't the aggressor.
02:08None of this says that Russia isn't doing bad things.
02:11They're in the middle of a war.
02:12Yes, they are the aggressor.
02:14But simply standing forth and showing how virtuous we are
02:18by calling them terrorists will do nothing to end the war
02:22and may well allow the war to continue.
02:25The hardliners in Moscow already believe they're at war with the U.S.
02:29And designating them as a state sponsor of terrorism
02:31will only throw further fuel on that fire.
02:35This misguided legislation would destroy any semblance of U.S.-Russia bilateral relations,
02:42and it's not going to achieve its desired intention.
02:47It's absurd to think that applying more economic pressure on Russia
02:51will get them to change their objectives.
02:54They've fought for four years.
02:55They've lost tens of thousands of soldiers.
02:58They've killed tens of thousands of soldiers.
03:00Some say up to a million casualties in this war.
03:03We already imposed 16,000 sanctions on them.
03:07Do we really think that 16,001 is going to do the trick?
03:11We think, oh, we're going to call them a terrorist.
03:13What a terrible thing.
03:14They are going to lay down their arms and give back the land they have taken.
03:19No, that's not what's going to happen.
03:21This will not work, but it might drive them away from the process
03:25of coming to a negotiated settlement.
03:27If this bill is enacted, Russia will likely conclude that negotiations are futile,
03:35and they will continue the grinding war of attrition on the battlefield.
03:39And it should come as no surprise, given the disparity between Russia and Ukraine
03:43in terms of economic strength and population,
03:46that a war of attrition does not favor Kiev.
03:49President Trump has repeatedly made clear that this is not our war
03:53and that his primary desire is to end the killing.
03:57He's 100% right.
03:59Congress should fully support the president's efforts
04:02to end the needless slaughter of a generation of young people in Ukraine and Russia.
04:07But this legislation will do the opposite of his intentions.
04:11This legislation will put peace farther away,
04:14may well drive a wedge in negotiations and end the negotiations.
04:20The way to do this, the way to achieve peace,
04:23is to pursue realistic negotiations.
04:26Negotiations that, whether you like it or not,
04:29will require that Russia's security interests are taken into consideration,
04:33not by ratcheting up tensions with Moscow
04:36or by designating them as a state sponsor of terrorism.
04:39The Washington establishment already succeeded
04:43in its foolish designation of drug cartels
04:46in the Western Hemisphere as terrorist organizations,
04:49and now we're conducting extrajudicial killings of individuals
04:55seemingly every day with no congressional authorization or oversight.
05:00What's next?
05:01Are we going to commit extrajudicial executions of Russians?
05:05Once they're designated as state sponsors of terrorism,
05:08that's exactly what we're doing in Venezuela.
05:11They say, oh, we're just not killing any drug dealers.
05:14We're killing drug dealers who are terrorists.
05:17That sort of begs the question,
05:19when they released a narco-terrorist
05:21who'd been in prison for 45 years,
05:24the former president of Honduras, Hernandez,
05:27oh, well, why is he not a narco-terrorist?
05:30Oh, because we name who the narco-terrorist is.
05:32The guys we're killing in the boats,
05:34they're narco-terrorists.
05:35The guy convicted and sent to prison for 45 years,
05:39the former president of Honduras,
05:41he's not a narco-terrorist.
05:43But the justification for killing the people in the boats
05:45who are not armed,
05:48there's been no evidence presented
05:49that anybody in these boats is armed.
05:51We're killing unarmed people
05:53because we call them narco-terrorists,
05:55and now we're going to call the Russians terrorists.
05:57What does that mean?
05:59Are we setting up the predicate for bombing Russian boats?
06:02They say they don't need authority for war.
06:06They say they can do it,
06:07but you're helping them by designating Russian as terrorists.
06:12And when you do,
06:13and when they begin to blow up Russian boats,
06:15what will we say?
06:17The Washington establishment
06:19has succeeded in this foolish designation.
06:23We now have drug cartels.
06:25We're conducting these killings.
06:26What's next?
06:27Will we allow killings of Russians?
06:29Will we allow bombings of Russian boats?
06:32Designating countries or cartels as terrorists
06:35essentially has become an end run
06:38around congressional war-making powers.
06:41The Constitution says we declare war.
06:44They say, well, it's not quite war.
06:46It's somewhere in between war,
06:48but it's not drug smuggling anymore.
06:50We don't kill drug smugglers on site,
06:52but we do kill them if there are designated terrorists.
06:56So it's just game-playing with these labels.
06:59It's circular reasoning,
07:01but everything about it leads to more war
07:04and leads to less restraint.
07:07Once they are designated as terrorists,
07:09attacks on the country are argued to be sanctioned.
07:12This is an argument for saying
07:14that bombing Russian boats will be sanctioned.
07:19The terrorists, the Venezuelans,
07:21are said to be terrorists.
07:22Their boats are targets,
07:23and we can bomb them like it's a war but not a war
07:27because we haven't voted on it.
07:28If we label Russia as terrorists,
07:31is that the same conclusion?
07:33So while we are not at war with Russia,
07:35designating them as a state sponsor of terrorism
07:38implies that no further vote of Congress is necessary
07:42before letting the bombs fly.
07:45To think that the risk of escalation
07:47must no longer concern us
07:50because the war has gone on for years is folly.
07:53There is still danger
07:54to escalating the war with Russia.
07:57We must still take great care
07:58to ensure that the United States
08:00is not foolishly dragged
08:02into a kinetic conflict
08:04through stupidity or miscalculation.
08:08Americans supported President Trump
08:10because they resonated
08:11with his message of America first.
08:14Outside of the globalist elites in Washington,
08:17everyday Americans do not want
08:20to be further entangled in a war
08:215,000 miles from our shores.
08:24Congress should reject this bill
08:26and instead focus its efforts
08:28to advance realistic peace negotiations
08:31in Ukraine and pursue policies
08:34that advance America's national interests.
08:37I object.
08:47that with the wind
08:50that will remain
08:52in Ukraine
08:52and unfortunately
08:53are salvation
08:53that they sit
08:54with him
08:54and that they're
08:55who don't want
08:56to be further
08:57in favour of the war.
08:57That is where I am
08:58the war
08:59of the war
08:59that can't be
09:01in this country.
09:02That was when,
09:02in the war
09:04of the war
09:04of the war
09:06in the war
09:07that had happened
09:08in the war
09:09that we wanted
09:09to be in.
09:10The war
09:11of the war
09:12of the war
09:13that was
09:14was
09:15the war
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