Russian Bear, On The Prowl
I was startled by a January 29 New York Times piece which stated, “The United States informed its NATO allies this month that Russia had tested a new ground-launched cruise missile, raising concerns about Moscow’s compliance with a landmark arms control accord.” These tests reportedly began as early as 2008, and “Such tests are prohibited by the treaty banning medium-range missiles that was signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the Soviet leader at the time….”
“Since Mr. Obama has been in office, the Russians have insisted they want to keep the agreement. But in the view of American analysts,” the New York Times reports, “Russia has also mounted a determined effort to strengthen its nuclear abilities to compensate for the weakness of its conventional, nonnuclear forces.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin is clearly exercising muscle with these tests, but Obama Administration officials are not formally framing them as in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.
Putin has also exercised muscle in Russia’s relationship with Ukraine, which was about to sign an association, trade, and accords agreement with the European Union that is popular among millions of Ukranians. However, Russia threatened trade sanctions and the Ukranian government changed course, refusing to sign the association agreement, leading to anti-government protests and demonstrations.
What will President Obama do in response to these two scenarios? Will American officials take definitive stances on Putin’s actions, or will they continue to watch from the sidelines as Russia grows its power? As written by Tufts political scientist Daniel Drezner in Foreign Policy magazine regarding the training of Russian diplomats, “One of the very first sentences you're taught to say in Foreign Policy Community College is, ‘Russia without Ukraine is a country; Russia with Ukraine is an empire.’”
These situations cause me great concern. I will be watching these matters. I hope the President and the Obama Administration will show strength and not fear when facing the Russian Bear.
Keystone XL Pipeline – NOT an Environmental Issue!
According to the New York Times, “In a major speech on the environment last summer, [President] Obama said that he would approve the pipeline only if it would not ‘significantly exacerbate’ the problem of carbon pollution. He said the pipeline’s net effects on the climate would be ‘absolutely critical’ to his decision.”
Well, in an environmental impact assessment released on Friday, January 31, the U.S. State Department found – again – that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would not significantly worsen carbon pollution. The final decision on whether the Keystone XL pipeline can move forward must be made by the President.
The facts are in. Will the President stick with what he said last summer, or is he only for an all-of-the-above energy policy if ‘all-of-the-above’ is wind and solar?
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is expanding the boundary lines of Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation so that it now includes three towns – Kinnear, Riverton, and Pavillion. This decision, made in consultation with the Department of Interior and the Justice Department by the EPA claiming it had authority under the Clean Air Act, overturned earlier congressional actions that reduced the size of the Wind River Indian Reservation and made clear that neighboring towns were not a part of the reservation.
In a January 6 press release, Wyoming Governor Matt Mead is quoted as having said, “My deep concern is about an administrative agency of the federal government altering a state’s boundary and going against over 100 years of history and law. This should be a concern to all citizens because, if the EPA can unilaterally take land away from a state, where will it stop?”
Where will it stop?!
I believe the EPA thinks it controls anything that touches air or water. They even think they control the boundaries of the Indian nations.
You can’t make this stuff up!
As always, if you have concerns or comments or wish to inquire about legislative issues, feel free to contact my offices. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.
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