House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi says House Speaker Paul Ryan should make it clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin won't be invited to address Congress if he comes to Washington.
President Donald Trump has asked National Security Adviser John Bolton to invite Putin to Washington this fall — an invitation Pelosi calls "beyond belief."
Pelosi labels Putin a tyrant and a thug and says Trump's "frightened fawning over Putin is an embarrassment and a grave threat to our democracy."
Heads of state at times address Congress when visiting the city. Pelosi says invitations to address a joint meeting of Congress should be bipartisan.
She says Putin's "ongoing attacks on our elections and Western democracies" deserve unanimous condemnation from the international community, "not a VIP ticket to our nation's capital."