[国会记录163卷，28号（星期四，2017年2月16日）] [参议院] [网页S1225-S1226]调查领带之间的TRUMP管理和俄罗斯政府舒默先生。主席先生，我们是在我们的政府行政部门的稳定性深刻不安的时刻。最近关于通用弗林的报告ReportsReports，详细说明特朗普政府成员和俄罗斯政府提高对外交政策和国家安全以及我们的民主进程的神圣性更严重怀疑的境界本届政府的能力产生严重怀疑之间恒定的，高层次的接触。我们不知道所有的事实，并在未来几天和几周的更多信息，可以了解这些令人不安的启示以及面，但我们已经知道的东西是丹麦的状态烂。我一直在国会很长一段时间，我也从来不曾见过这样的事。政府机构在他们还没有在一段时间内被测试的方式进行测试。在这个时刻，我们都应该好好记住，democracy--最仁慈的，可取的，有效的，只是一种形式的政府由人设计的 - 也是政府由人设计的最脆弱的系统之一。它需要持续的警惕和强有力的民主制度，以加强彼此。在宪法起草时，托马斯·杰斐逊表示怀疑，建立在这样一个文件一个政府可以长久存在。在我国建国一代不同派系或者担心被暴民统治和潜在的独裁者所构成的威胁。 One of the things that the Framers of the Constitution most worried about was the threat of foreign intervention in our government, what they called foreign intrigue. Federalist No. 68, likely authored by a famous resident of my State, Alexander Hamilton, labeled the ``desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils'' as one of the ``most deadly adversaries of republican government.'' That fear is the origin of the emoluments clause, which safeguards against bribery of government officials by foreign powers. It cannot be that officers at the highest echelons of our governmentowe favors to foreign capitals. But it may well be that a high-level member of President Trump's campaign and administration, General Flynn, violated the emoluments clause by accepting money from the Russian Government during a trip to Moscow in 2015. The reported contact between operatives in the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials is exactly the kind of intrigue that our Founders sought to prohibit. I mention all of this because I believe the stakes to be very high. This is not a drill. Nothing less than our system of checks and balances, the rule of law, and our national security is at stake. Our Nation does not face moments like this often. Frankly, the fact that foreign powers would have high influence in our government has not been on the front page for decades. But the wisdom of the Founding Fathers shines through. It is a real danger, and now the possibility of that danger being real is here today. History will look upon us and will no doubt judge our efforts to stem this wrong wherever it occurs. Our Nation does not face moments like this often. From the earliest days of the Republic, what has always sustained us has been the strength of our democratic institutions of government. We have distinct pillars of power that check and balance one another for the very purpose of fortifying our government whenever one branch is deficient. On this matter, the legislative branch has a responsibility to be that check and balance via our oversight duties. All of us can agree that right now what are required are the facts. We have to evaluate the scope of Russia's interference in our election and assess if agents of their government have penetrated to the highest levels of our government. Throughout the process, we have to avoid jumping to conclusions or engaging in wild speculation. We must seek the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Once we have all the facts at our disposal, Democrats and Republicans alike can debate what to do next. The investigation should proceed along two tracks. The first is Congress. My friend from Virginia, Senator Warner, the ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, is committed to using every resource and authority in that committee to seek the truth. His committee will take the lead, but it will not be the only committee that looks into ties between the Trump campaign, transition, or administration, and Russia. The Judiciary, Foreign Relations, HSGAC, Banking, and Commerce Committees all have significant roles at getting to the bottom of this. They should also move forward in their areas of jurisdiction. These committee investigations must be bipartisan; they must have access to all intelligence officials, transcripts, documents, and other related materials that they need to answer critical questions; and they must be permitted to make their findings public to the maximum extent possible. Of course, anything that Congress does requires Republican support because they are in the majority. I am gratified that some of our Republican colleagues have called for that. Bipartisan letters from the Judiciary Committee and the Intelligence Committee have been and are being sent last night and today. These letters will ask for document preservation, briefings, and for information related to the investigations. As for the Intelligence Committee, Senator Burr, the chairman, originally expressed skepticism about his committee proceeding with an investigation into the ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, but he is now working well with Senator Warner to do this. We will be watching very carefully. If the Intelligence Committee investigation is not proceeding to unearth the entire truth, we will seek alternative tools and structures to get to the truth because get to the truth we must. The second part of the investigation is in the executive branch, where law enforcement resides. While Congress has a constitutional oversight ability to bring facts to light, it is only the executive branch that can prosecute potential criminal liability. The two are not mutually exclusive. They are not either/or. They must move forward simultaneously on parallel tracks. On the executive branch side, three specific things must now happen: First, Attorney General Sessions must follow Department of Justice guidance and recuse himself. When the FBI looks into a matter, they do so right alongside prosecutors from the Justice Department. Those prosecutors should not be reporting to the first Senator who endorsed Donald Trump's campaign, who served on the same campaign committee as General Flynn, and who nominated Donald Trump at the Republican convention. The Justice Department's own guidelines demand that Attorney General [[Page S1226]] Sessions remove himself from this matter immediately. If he does not, he will be breaking serious guidelines that have been in place for decades, followed by both Republican and Democratic administrations alike. To disregard or ignore these rules would be a major transgression by this administration, so early in its term, and would bode poorly for the future impartiality of the criminal justice system. We now know that the President and the Attorney General are meeting today. Of course the President needs to meet with the Attorney General; that is important for national security. But until the Attorney General recuses himself, those meetings raise serious questions. There will be a cloud hanging over every meeting and conversation between the President and the Attorney General until the Attorney General recuses himself. We presume that they would not even think of discussing the investigation--that the Attorney General and the President would not-- because if they were to discuss any investigation, it would constitute a massive, massive ethical violation. Second, to reiterate, from the executive branch point of view, we expect the administration will order all records from administration, transition, and campaign officials to be preserved. There is real concern that some in the administration may try to cover up its ties to Russia by deleting emails, texts, or other records that could shine a light on these connections. These records are likely to be the subject of executive branch as well as congressional investigations and must be preserved. Third, campaign, transition, and administration officials must be made available to testify in public, under oath, on these issues. It has been reported that campaign officials have had constant contact with Russian intelligence officials. They must testify. Our caucus is united in these three requests, and we hope and expect our Republican colleagues to join in these appeals as well. Senate Democrats are faithfully committed to keeping this issue above partisan politics. The gravity of this issue demands nothing less. Throughout the history of this country, the Senate has come together to steer the ship of state through stormy seas when the times required it. Republican Senators like Howard Baker, Hugh Scott, and Bob Dole rose above politics during the Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Whitewater scandals to demand the truth. I am very hopeful my Republican colleagues on the other side will follow in that grand tradition. I am very hopeful the other side wants to get at all the facts, just as our side wants to get at all the facts. I disagree with my friends on the other side of the aisle often on a number of issues--often, we disagree vociferously--but I have never once doubted their patriotism. This is an issue on which patriotism must prevail over politics because before we are Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans, with respect for the rule of law. I have a hope and a faith that these reports and revelations will not pit the two parties against one another--that they will unite the parties in pursuit of the full truth. I yield the floor. ____________________