Russian Policy

It is only after exhausting all diplomatic protocols, professional courtesies, personal relationships, and the niceties extended to representatives/diplomats of foreign governments, that the real work with our Russian adversary begins. When formulating any foreign policy dealing with Russia, one must understand that those in positions of leadership in that country don’t share any of our basic values. They will say and do just about anything to get an advantage. The leaders of Russia are ruthless. If you are prepared to come to a policy discussion or a negotiating table with Russia, with those facts in mind, you will have a more realistic view of how to deal with our adversary. They do not share our ideals on what basic human rights are all about. 

Russia is very much like the class bully. Class bullies only understand strength. If the bully hits you, then you must learn to hit them back where it hurts. If the bully inflicts pain, then one must respond immediately and in a manner that is proportional and decisive.  Anything less will put us at a disadvantage. Our national security, and even our very existence as a country, are at stake.

In lieu of the facts stated above, what are our options for responding to our international adversary and bully, Russia? Where can we hit them that will have a maximum impact when they go rogue? The answer is very clear to me. We hit them in the energy sector. We focus all of our strategic initiatives on how to disrupt their energy sector. Russia has more natural resources than any country on the face of the earth.  Natural gas is the only thing that is keeping them afloat. Their country is so economically challenged because of the ravishing effects of Marxism/communism/socialism/democrat socialism, that any significant disruption of the flow of natural gas would cripple them financially.  

We must also find a way to expand our exports of liquid natural gas to our European allies. Finding a way to peel off some of Russia’s natural gas revenue streams and use that as leverage will give us a distinct advantage. We should have done more when Russia interfered with our 2016 elections. I do not believe that economic sanctions were enough. Cyber measures attacking their electrical grids that disrupt the manufacture and distribution of natural gas should be considered. We do not want to provoke Russia into a war. However, we must punish the class bully where it hurts for meddling in our election process.    

While I am not proposing an escalation of hostilities with any kind of “first strike” response against Russia, I am recommending a response to their intrusion that has yet to be forthcoming from our leaders. We must keep our foot on the throat of Russian aggression in the same way that we root out the democrat socialist elements on our shores. We cannot let our focus dim on either of these unwanted intrusions as both espouse the same type of ideology, but in different degrees of intensity.  

As your U.S. House member, I will do everything possible to expose these despicable forms of government (Marxism/communism/democrat socialism) and fight those who propagate the ideology on our shores. Individual freedoms must not be replaced with government control. It goes against everything that our American form