SFRC Chairman Menendez Delivers Floor Remarks Ahead of Senate Vote to Confirm Hon. Lynne Tracy to Serve as Ambassador to Russia
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Committee, today delivered the following remarks on the Senate Floor in advance of the Senate confirmation of the Honorable Lynne M. Tracy to be Ambassador to the Russian Federation. Chairman Menendez’s speech comes in advance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s joint address to Congress tonight.
“Our nation needs a strong voice to stand up for our values: from the larger Russian public, many of whom feel isolated and betrayed by their leader’s war of aggression, to the American detainees who Putin still holds in his prisons, and to the Russian opposition activists who are fighting for a different way forward in Russia,” Chairman Menendez said. “Ambassador Tracy will not shy away from confronting Putin’s abuses. America needs her in her post. Europe needs her in her post. Ukraine needs her in her post. And so I urge this body to confirm Ambassador Tracy today.”
Find Chairman Menendez’s remarks as delivered below.
“Mr. President, I come to the floor today to highlight the importance of this confirmation vote on Lynne Tracy, our nominee to be Ambassador to Russia.
Today, on the 300th day of Putin’s heinous, unjustified war against Ukraine, I am humbled that we will welcome President Zelenskyy to address Congress later tonight.
As President Zelenskyy will no doubt underscore, Putin’s war is one of the greatest challenges we face today.
Putin is targeting Ukrainian civilians. And he is bombing their electricity grid and their water supplies as winter sets in. That is, in essence, from my perspective, a war crime.
We haven’t seen anything like this in Europe since the Second World War.
Ukrainians are fighting for their lives. For their freedom. For the future of their country and their children.
But even as Putin presses forward with this brutal war, the United States needs an ambassador who can represent us in Moscow.
That is why we need Ambassador Lynne Tracy to assume her post without delay.
She is a career diplomat with an exceptional record of leadership and public service.
She has the courage to carry out her duties in the face of a hostile government, and represent America beyond the Kremlin walls.
And she has the experience to lead the mission in one of the most challenging and difficult places our diplomats work today.
Our personnel in Moscow are braving harsh conditions, separation from their families, and are largely cut off from the world—all to serve their country. To serve Americans who need them.
And in spite of that, we have diplomats who are raising their hands, saying ‘send me.’
Ambassador Tracy is one of them.
Our nation needs a strong voice to stand up for our values: from the larger Russian public, many of whom feel isolated and betrayed by their leader’s war of aggression, to the American detainees who Putin still holds in his prisons, and to the Russian opposition activists who are fighting for a different way forward in Russia.
Ambassador Tracy will not shy away from confronting Putin’s abuses.
America needs her in her post. Europe needs her in her post. Ukraine needs her in her post.
And so I urge this body to confirm Ambassador Tracy today.
I yield the floor.”
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