{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mccaul.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/mccaul-speaks-support-lindsey-o-graham-sanctioning-russia-and-iran-act", "McCaul Speaks in Support of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act at Rules Committee", "2026-09-15", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Michael T. McCaul", "M001157", "mccaul.house.gov", "mccaul", "https://mccaul.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Emeritus Michael McCaul (R-Texas) spoke at a House Rules Committee hearing in support of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which he introduced in the House with Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and a bipartisan group of their colleagues.\n\nImage\n\nClick to watch\n\nRemarks as delivered:\n\nThis is a critical time in history \u2014 a time my friend Senator Lindsey Graham described as a \u201cmagic moment.\u201d Today, we have an opportunity to help end the war in Europe and to project peace through strength around the globe.\n\nBut before I get into that, I want to talk about what brought us here to this moment.\n\nWhen I chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee during the fall of Afghanistan \u2014 a disaster of epic proportions that telegraphed American weakness to our adversaries \u2014 Putin was watching. He met with President Xi at the 2022 Olympics to solidify their unholy alliance. Then, we watched on satellite imagery as the Russian Federation moved toward Ukraine.\n\nI\u2019ll never forget visiting Poland with Ranking Member Meeks and seeing the refugees fleeing out of Ukraine. The similarities to my father\u2019s war \u2014 World War II \u2014 were striking. The Poles told us: \u201cThis is 1939 all over again.\u201d\n\nThe oceans did not shield us from tyranny then, and they will not shield us now \u2014 especially as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea work together to threaten America and our allies.\n\nMake no mistake: President Xi is watching what happens in Ukraine to determine whether he can get away with invading Taiwan. He\u2019s calculating whether or not the free world will stop Putin\u2019s aggression \u2014 and he\u2019s certainly watching what we do here today.\n\nSenator Lindsey Graham understood these global threats well. That\u2019s why he spent more than a year working on this legislation, which I promised him I would introduce in the House. He brought Republicans and Democrats together and secured the White House\u2019s support. This week, we have a chance to finish his work.\n\nI\u2019m proud to champion the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. And I want to thank Mr. Hoyer and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their strong support.\n\nFor me, this is also personal. Lindsey Graham was my friend; he was my mentor. He understood the threats facing this country and had the courage to stand up and confront them. We shared a fundamental belief: \u201cAmerica is strongest at home when it projects strength abroad.\u201d\n\nHe and I were both in Ukraine \u2014 on separate trips \u2014 the week before he passed. While there, I met with soldiers and commanders near the front lines. I also saw Ukraine\u2019s drone operations and the extraordinary innovation they\u2019ve brought to this fight.\n\nPeople said Ukraine would fall in four days. But more than four years after the invasion, they are still in the fight. And the assistance we fought to pass in 2024 helped give them tools to survive \u2013 and begin turning the tide of the war.\n\nNow is the time for the free world to put maximum pressure on Putin to bring him to the negotiating table.\n\nThat\u2019s where this legislation comes in.\n\nIt targets the money that fuels Russia\u2019s war machine. It goes after Russian officials and oligarchs, banks and financial institutions, and the shadow fleet that helps keep cheap Russian energy moving. And by using narrowly scoped and precisely targeted tariffs, it exercises Congress\u2019 Article I authority over foreign commerce to punish countries providing financial support for the deadliest war in Europe since WWII.\n\nThese countries have a choice to make about whether they will continue to sustain Putin\u2019s aggression. Putin believes he can keep financing this war indefinitely. We need to change that calculation \u2014 and ensure there are consequences for helping him.\n\nYou cannot look at what Russia has done to Ukraine and pretend these are ordinary business transactions with no connection to bloodshed.\n\nThe Kremlin has murdered thousands of civilians in cold blood. They\u2019ve bombed sacred churches and schools. They\u2019ve kidnapped countless children, tortured and indoctrinated them, and sent them to fight on the frontlines against their own country.\n\nWe have a moral responsibility to bring an end to this suffering. But there is also a very clear American national security interest in stopping the Kremlin\u2019s campaign of aggression.\n\nIf Putin is rewarded for invading a sovereign nation \u2014 if he succeeds \u2014 he has already told us he will go further. His army will move into Moldova, Georgia, and the Baltic States. And just like Putin wants to bring back the power of the Soviet Union, President Xi wants to restore imperial China. These dictators must be deterred \u2014 before it\u2019s too late.\n\nThis legislation also extends sanctions on Iran, which are set to expire at the end of this year, restricting funding for its energy and weapons sectors. Again, this is all tied together. In 2024, I spoke before this committee about Iranian drones being used by Russia to kill Ukrainians. In return, Russia is reportedly providing targeting information to the Iranian IRGC.\n\nWe cannot look at one part of this threat and ignore the others. This bill leverages our economic strength to make it harder for these regimes to finance aggression.\n\nAs chairman emeritus of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I often said that partisanship stops at the water\u2019s edge. I still believe that.\n\nWe are free to have disagreements \u2014 that\u2019s democracy. But when we\u2019re addressing our adversaries, we need to speak as one \u2014 with one voice, as one nation. They need to know that we\u2019re not divided when it comes to our national security.\n\nThe Senate passed this legislation by a vote of 86 to 11. That is an overwhelming bipartisan vote. Now the House must act.\n\nWhat would it communicate to Putin if the United States can\u2019t rally around such broadly supported legislation? How would our failure to act encourage North Korea to continue sending its own soldiers to the meat grinder, or Iran to continue supplying Russia with weapons to kill innocent civilians?\n\nThis is a moral issue that requires moral courage.\n\nWhen we look back on this moment, I want us to be able to say that we did everything possible to end this war. That we understood the threat. That we had the courage to do what was right \u2014 to cripple the Russian war machine and turn the tide toward peace.\n\nOn my latest visit to Ukraine, I met with President Zelensky, who told me he is ready for a ceasefire \u2014 ready to negotiate. Putin, on the other hand, defies President Trump and the international community by refusing to come to the table.\n\nIn conclusion, Lindsey Graham said if this passed it would be his greatest legislative accomplishment. I can think of no better way to honor his life and legacy than passing these tough sanctions.\n\nFinally, he said, \u201cI have never been more optimistic than I am today that we have the formula to end this war.\u201d I couldn\u2019t agree more.\n\nThe time to act is now.", 1, "2026-09-16T09:43:13Z", "2026-09-16T09:44:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mccaul.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/mccaul-speaks-support-lindsey-o-graham-sanctioning-russia-and-iran-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9855772368609905, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}