Foreign Affairs

Washington, D.C. – In the wake of increasing violence against Ukrainian civilians by invading Russian forces, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R – Richvale) voted in support of several pieces of legislation that reaffirms the United States’ support of our ally, Ukraine. On Wednesday, the House passed H.R. 7276, the Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act. This bill ensures a coordinated effort by the U.S. to collect evidence to be used to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine. An extensive record-keeping and evidence-tracking system of prior Russian war crimes will hopefully deter future attacks.

Washington, D.C. – Last night, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) voted against the proposed $1.5 trillion Omnibus spending package. The text of the 2741-page bill was only sent to Members in the early hours of the day before. Members of Congress were previously given an outline of the bill, but not made aware of the specific items or total spending in the legislation. Republicans successfully forced a separate vote on a negotiated Ukraine aid package and the U.S. defense portion of the bill. LaMalfa voted in favor of the separate defense and aid package while opposing the larger spending bill.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine, including launching missiles from Belarus into Ukraine, killing at least 40 Ukrainian soldiers and wounding dozens more. Putin has warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen”, and justified his actions after the U.S. and its allies crossed Russia’s “red line” by expanding the NATO alliance along Russia’s borders. Following this attack, President Biden announced further economic sanctions against Russia that would target Russian banks holding a combined $1 trillion in assets, including VTB Bank. He also stated that the U.S. would impose sanctions on additional Russian oligarchs with links to the Kremlin.

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R – Richvale) voted against H.R. 4521. This bill, introduced last week by Speaker Pelosi, was pitched as an attempt to protect American interests from China. In reality, it is a thinly veiled partisan climate change bill that does nothing to hold China accountable for its intellectual property theft, anti-competitive behaviors towards Americans and significant human rights abuses. This $325 billion, nearly 3,000 paged piece of legislation mentions “coral reefs” 394 times, more times than it actually mentions “China” (374). This bill authorizes $8 billion into an unaccountable U.N. climate slush fund, which has already awarded over $100 million to China, and does not guarantee the $8 billion won’t be used to purchase things like solar panels or batteries, whose supply chains in China are tainted by the genocide of the Uyghur religious minority.