Bipartisan Agreement on Hong Kong and Animal Cruelty

Finally, there are some issues that everyone in Congress can agree on, and President Trump is onboard as well. Aside from the significance of the specific pieces of legislation, the ability to come together on meritorious issues is noteworthy.

Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida Republican, along with Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Democrat, introduced legislation to make animal cruelty a federal crime. The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act (H.R. 724criminalizes certain acts of animal cruelty.) Just briefly before that, legislation was passed approving sanctions on China’s illegal repression of Hong Kong.

The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the animal cruelty bill. The Hong Kong measure passed the House by 417-1.

In 2010, Congress passed the Animal Crush Video Prohibition Act, which made the creation and distribution of animal crushing videos illegal. However, the underlying acts of cruelty against animals were not included. The PACT Act closes this loophole by prohibiting certain cases of animal abuse.

Rep. Duetch stated “With President Trump signing the PACT Act, animal cruelty is no longer just unacceptable, it is now illegal. We can now finally say that animal abuse is a federal crime in the United States. Americans have long stood in support of animal welfare protections, and now our national laws reflect these values. This bipartisan achievement has been years in the making, and I am proud to have been a part of this great effort alongside Congressman Buchanan and so many advocates and passionate citizens who made this possible.”

China’s pattern of flagrant violation of human rights on an epic scale, and its habitual use of force and intimidation to steal resources from other nations, was unopposed by the Obama Administration. Similarly, the former President did nothing of significance to deter Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The results have been dire. Beijing has accelerated its terrible practices in the Indo-Pacific, and operates one hundred concentration camps on its soil. Putin has designs on recapturing the nations that gained their freedom following the fall of the Soviet Union.

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History has clearly taught that it is wise to put aggressors in their place early on, or face dramatic consequences down the road. The Hong Kong legislation is a start in doing just that.

While both of these measures passed on their own very worthy merits, the ability to put aside the partisan warfare that has characterized Washington on behalf of the national good has gained a small and tentative first step. It should be extended significantly further, and public opinion may just force that result.

According to recent polls, the most extreme example of excessive partisanship, the ongoing impeachment process, is unpopular. It’s a clear result of the almost total lack of solid evidence of any wrongdoing, and the inability of the House Democrats to even believably describe what crime was committed (they are almost comically reliant on “focus groups” to decide what to charge the President with.) The absurdity of the Democrats move is highlighted by the reality that the next election is less than a year away.

There are other issues that should transcend party politics. The need to address key issues, such as providing an adequate defense in a consistent manner, may be the most significant. The need to wrest government from bureaucrats and restore it to electeds is another.

The budgetary and legislative process has, for far too long, emphasized the needs of careerists over the good of the people. Urgent national requirements are held hostage to the schemes of those attempting to pork barrel their way to longevity in their jobs. The urge to embarrass and harass political opponents, no matter the collateral damage to the nation and citizenry, should be met with staunch disdain by the voters. Individuals of good conscience in government must come together to do this.

Photo: American Analysis of News & Media, Inc.

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay