— Today, Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02) released the following statement after President Trump's meeting with Putin:

"The actual actions of our government and the President regarding Russia have been right on target: arming Ukraine, enforcing real red lines in Syria, closing Russian consulates used for spying, and imposing tough sanctions against more than 100 Russian entities and individuals. 

Unfortunately, the President’s statements undermine the power of the actions we’ve taken. His words must match these tough actions. The Mueller indictments make clear that Russia’s military and intelligence services sought to undermine the confidence of our elections by sowing discord in our partisan environment. 

Russia’s behavior and actions are unacceptable and we can’t ignore their flagrant violation of international law. Last year, Congress passed one of the most aggressive sanctions laws in history, aimed at Russia.  I have also personally introduced legislation that would reduce our military’s dependence on Russian energy in Europe, and defend our critical infrastructure here at home from Russian cyber-attack.  In the FY 2018 Omnibus, Congress appropriated $380 million to the Election Assistance Commission to provide grants to states for voter infrastructure security.

I support the President’s tough actions against Putin, but his words must match these actions.   The previous Administration had the opposite problem for eight years:  talking tough but doing nothing and allowing the Russian threat to grow unchecked.  Collectively, Congress and the President have taken tough actions and I strongly support doing more.  We must stand with our intelligence and law enforcement agencies and our President must communicate with clarity to Putin his actions will be countered with firm US resolve. "