“I hope the President will decide to take this stance voluntarily and not take it off the table on state-sponsored terrorism,” said Blumenthal, who represents Connecticut. Graham, of South Carolina, said he wants the Biden administration to work with Congress to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, but said Congress is “willing” to advance legislation requiring the designation regardless .
“I would like to work with (the Biden administration). But whether or not we have to legislate to get it done — we’re willing to do it. I’m calling on the administration to act now,” Graham said. The two senators traveled together in June to Ukraine, where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called on Biden to send more humanitarian aid to the county and impose tougher sanctions in addition to designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The US Department of State is responsible for designating states as state sponsors of terrorism. The section defines the designation as a country that “has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism.” There are only four countries currently designated as state sponsors of terrorism by the US: North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Syria. In July, the Senate passed a non-binding resolution calling on the State Department to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. And in April, a senior administration official said department officials were considering designating Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Both senators on Sunday praised House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a controversial visit to Taiwan last week and linked US support for the self-ruled island to the impact of US aid to Ukraine to fight Russian aggression. Blumenthal said, “China is watching what we’re doing in Ukraine,” as it considers possible actions in neighboring Taiwan. “He should have gone, I’m glad he did,” Graham said. “If he hadn’t gone, what signal would that send to the Iranians and the Russians?”

Upcoming Senate program

Although Graham and Blumenthal split on the law’s benefits for reducing inflation, the Democrats’ climate and health care bill being debated in the Senate on Sunday, both senators supported more bipartisan gun legislation. The two senators, who both sponsored gun safety legislation passed earlier this year, said there were more gun safety fixes they both want to pass. They specifically highlighted a proposal to authorize judges and law enforcement to restrict gun access to those who may pose a threat to others. “I think what we can do is incentivize states to give them the tools they need to deal with this before it’s too late,” Graham said, stressing that his proposal would not be a “national law to “Red flag”. “The common ground that I think we share and many of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle share: Keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, but through due process,” Blumenthal said. The two stood by their respective party positions when asked about the Democrats’ climate and health care bills. Blumenthal said the bill would provide “historic” cost savings to Americans, while Graham said the legislation would “make everything worse.” Blumenthal and Graham also disagree on whether Congress should codify the right to marry for same-sex couples. Although some Republicans have said they would match Democrats on the bill, Graham said he believes same-sex marriage laws should be up to the states. When asked whether the US Supreme Court ruling affirming the right to same-sex marriage should be overturned, Graham replied: “Well, that will be up to the court.”

2024 elections

Blumenthal, who is running for re-election this year, has not said whether or not he wants Biden to run for re-election in 2024, saying instead that he is focused on this year’s midterms. “I’m going to be very blunt and very honest with you. My focus is completely on this November,” Blumenthal said. He continued: “I will support President Biden if he decides he wants to run, and I think his decision will be determined by how November ends for the Democratic Party and for senators like me who are running for re-election.” Graham, by contrast, reiterated his support for Donald Trump and said he would support the former president if he runs for a second term in 2024. But Graham said Trump should stay away from election conspiracies if he runs again, noting, “I don’t believe the election was stolen.” But he added that he wants to “look into election integrity measures.” “I think we need to look at election integrity measures to make sure certain problems don’t happen again. But if he’s running for president, talking about 2020 is not what people want to hear,” Graham said. Graham was subpoenaed by an Atlanta-area grand jury investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Graham has filed a motion to block the subpoena.