Random excerpts from the Senate
Donald Trump has already benefited enormously from his ability to issue stablecoins, as everybody in the world knows. His World Liberty Financial, in which he and his family have an overwhelming stake, issued a stablecoin just the other month. This stablecoin was chosen by companies throughout the Middle East to facilitate a $2 billion investment in Binance. The President’s company will now reap interest in trading fees on billions of dollars while also raising concerns about undue influence and our national security. We shouldn’t have to wonder if the President of the United States is favoring the interests of a foreign nation or a private crypto exchange like Binance because he stands to personally profit.
While this amendment specifically addresses the issuance and endorsement of stablecoins, I believe this prohibition should extend to all digital assets, including the President’s meme coin. In other words, I believe the President and the Vice President and everybody who is a Member of this body and in the House of Representatives should not be in the business of speculating and issuing cryptocurrency--stablecoins, meme coins, any of them. The Senate should not continue with the GENIUS Act unless the opportunities for corruption and conflict of interest on the part of executives are fully addressed.
— Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-CO)
President Trump promised that he would end this war on his first day in office. Instead, Trump and his Vice President publicly humiliated Ukrainian President Zelenskyy when he visited the White House and made embarrassing overtures to Putin. Putin’s response has been to thumb his nose at the United States and peace efforts.
In fact, already this year, civilian Ukrainian deaths from Russian attacks are higher than they were last year, and assaults on civilian targets in the last 2 weeks alone have been relentless. Innocent people are dying because of these drones and bombs and artillery. I want this war to end, but it should not be a blatant giveaway to Vladimir Putin or driven by any illusion about Putin’s long-term intentions to control Ukraine and weaken the NATO alliance, nor can it be done at the security expense of Baltic and Polish allies who are also in Putin’s crosshairs.
That is why Leader Thune, here in the Senate, needs to immediately put Senator Graham’s Russia sanctions bill--which I and 80 other Senators have cosponsored--on the floor for a vote. My colleague the ranking Member of the Armed Services Committee recently argued: It is also time for us to prepare another Ukraine supplemental. Ukraine needs the equipment and the ammunition to defend this nation against Putin’s invasion. We cannot give up on them. We should not give up on them.
