"I am very concerned about Georgia, its backsliding, the approval of the foreign agents law, which is a reflection of the Russian law. They did it despite the opposition of the Georgian people," Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said at the hearing in the United States Senate.
Senator Shaheen says it's important for Washington to be "clear" that there is "bipartisan opposition to what's happening in Georgia" and hopes that "the government of Georgia understands that this is a bipartisan issue."
According to the Senator, the Congress is doing it well.
Shaheen believes that the United States Government should use its authority to impose "financial sanctions against those responsible for the corruption and actions that led to this current situation there [in Georgia]."
Senator Shaheen, who is chairing the session, also spoke about Georgia in her opening speech.
Senator Shaheen said she wanted to hear from the US diplomat how Washington could better help aspiring countries, including "the spirit of democracy" in a country like Georgia, where he said the government had "undermined its ambitions to join the European Union, despite the greatest aspirations of its people, to become a member of the European Union".
Among the steps taken by Russia against its neighbors, Democratic Senator Ben Cardin spoke about Russia's occupation of Georgian territories and said that in 2008, not enough attention was paid to it and there was no proper response.
The translation of the Senator's statement is distributed by the Georgian editorial office of "Voice of America".
