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What to say? A Confederacy of Russian Senators and one Republican Congresswoman in Moscow on July 4th, led by R. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama? Obviously they are not US members of Congress. Does the “R” by their name stand for Russian, rather than Republican, now?

Abe Lincoln is past worn out spinning in his grave over today’s so-called Republican party. Do they think that US national day is now June 12th, as in their Russian motherland? This was the first Congressional delegation to visit Russia since Russia took over Crimea in 2014. How many died during WWII to protect against such invasions by both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia?

So many dead during the American Revolution, War of 1812 and US Civil War for a bunch of cheap prostitutes to sell the country out!

Here are the eight:
R. Sen Richard Shelby of Alabama
R. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota,
R. Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana
R. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas
R. Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota,
R. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas,
R. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana and
R. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

Update: “U.S. GOP Senator Kennedy Blasts Putin, Russia’s ‘Mafia’ Government” https://www.rferl.org/a/gop-kennedy-calls-putin-dictator-government-mafia/29353680.html Thus, Kennedy has been belatedly removed from the title.

“The delegation avoided publicity, with none of the eight lawmakers tweeting from Russia about their trip. Several, such as Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, posted generic Independence Day greetings from Moscow.” https://www.npr.org/2018/07/05/626079169/gop-lawmakers-hope-russia-visit-sets-stage-for-new-day-ahead-of-trump-putin-summ

Steve Daines alleges that he returned to the US for the 4th. True or false he sold out American values of freedom and independence by kowtowing to Russia.

Excerpted from “US Lawmakers in Moscow Set Stage for Trump-Putin Summit” Last Updated: July 03, 2018 1:48 PM, by Charles Maynes

“We come here realizing that we have a strained relationship, but we could have a better relationship between the U.S. and Russia,” said Senator Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, speaking in front of cameras ahead of a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“Because we have some common interests around the world that we could hopefully work together on,” Shelby said, adding, “We could be competitors, we are competitors, but we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries.”

“So we’re hoping that coming out of the Putin-Trump meeting in Helsinki will be the beginning, maybe, of a new day.”

The eight-member U.S. delegation was officially in town to speak with their counterparts in Russia’s lower and upper houses of parliament – the first direct exchange between lawmakers from both countries since 2013.

Both sides indicated that discussions touched on a range of topics, including Syria, Ukraine, allegations of election meddling, as well as Russia’s economy – the latter topic raised by Shelby despite punishing U.S. sanctions levied against Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

“I’d like to know how your economy’s doing as far as your GDP?“ asked Shelby before bemused members of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament; however, if the U.S. delegation’s visit was intended to break the ice, it seemed to have the desired effect.

There were hints of a possible reciprocal visit by Russian lawmakers to Washington, with Shelby suggesting the move “would be useful for both sides.” Left unsaid was that the move would also likely require removing top Russian lawmakers from a U.S. travel “blacklist” imposed last year.

Foreign Minister Lavrov later welcomed the warming initiative, congratulating the U.S. delegation on the coming July 4 Independence Day celebrations and expressing “real hope your visit will symbolize the resumption of relations between the two parliaments.”

“I think that the resumption of dialogue between parliamentarians is going to be a very timely event on the eve of the forthcoming meeting between the two presidents a couple of weeks from now in Helsinki,” added Lavrov….

When asked about the Crimea issue, Senator Shelby demurred. “We discussed all the issues including that one, but the resolution is not on our level.” https://www.voanews.com/a/in-moscow-us-senator-hopes-for-new-day-in-us-russia-ties/4464698.html