WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today spoke on the Senate floor about President Donald Trump’s decision to ignore the topic of Russia in his first address to Congress despite mounting evidence that members of his Administration may have been compromised by the hostile foreign government. Senator Durbin also renewed his call for an independent, transparent investigation of Russia’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election.
“I listened carefully, as did everyone in the chamber, at the President's first remarks from that historic setting addressing a Joint Session of Congress. There were some omissions which I found very interesting. Not once, not one time in the course of an hour, did President Trump ever say the word –‘Russia,’ even though we've been told by seventeen of our intelligence agencies that Russia made an overt effort to influence the outcome of the last presidential campaign... I think that's noteworthy. It’s certainly historic. It would certainly be worth a mention when the President speaks to a Joint Session of Congress just a few months after that election. Instead, radio silence, mute button, crickets, nothing about Russia.
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“Many of us believe this is serious, and many of us believe there should be an independent, transparent commission, just like the 9/11 Commission. Let’s call on people that we respect – General Colin Powell, Sandra Day O'Connor, former Supreme Court justice, and many others just like them – who could get to the bottom of this and answer the basic questions: What were the Russians up to?”
