[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 74 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 74
Marking the fifth anniversary of Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity by
honoring the bravery, determination, and sacrifice of the people of
Ukraine during and since the Revolution, and condemning continued
Russian aggression against Ukraine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 14, 2019
Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Rubio, Mr.
Murphy, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Casey, Mr. Blumenthal, Ms.
Ernst, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Collins, Mr. Brown, Ms. Klobuchar, Mrs. Shaheen,
and Mr. Jones) submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Marking the fifth anniversary of Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity by
honoring the bravery, determination, and sacrifice of the people of
Ukraine during and since the Revolution, and condemning continued
Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Whereas, on November 21, 2013, peaceful protests began on Independence Square
(Maidan) in Kyiv against the decision by the government of then-
President Viktor Yanukovych to suspend signing the Ukraine-European
Union (EU) Association Agreement and instead pursue closer ties with the
Russian Federation;
Whereas the Maidan protests, initially referred to as the Euromaidan, quickly
drew thousands of people and broadened to become a general demonstration
in support of Ukraine's integration with the European Union and against
the corrupt Yanukovych regime;
Whereas, on the night of November 30, 2013, Ukrainian police forces surrounded
and violently dispersed peaceful protestors on the Maidan;
Whereas the next day, thousands of Euromaidan demonstrators regrouped and
resumed the protests for three months, despite facing continuing and
increasing violence from the police;
Whereas, on January 16, 2014, anti-protest laws, known as the ``dictatorship
laws'', were adopted by the Government of Ukraine, which sought to
restrict the actions of the Euromaidan protestors;
Whereas these laws were condemned by Euromaidan protestors as well as Western
officials, including then-Secretary of State John Kerry, who called them
``anti-democratic'';
Whereas many of these laws were repealed just 11 days after being signed into
law;
Whereas, on the night of February 18, 2014, police assaulted and burned down the
Trade Union Building in Kyiv, which had been used as a headquarters for
the Euromaidan movement;
Whereas Yanukovych's government forces began using live ammunition against the
Euromaidan movement, leading to the deaths of more than a hundred
protestors who are now remembered in Ukraine as the ``Heavenly
Hundred'';
Whereas, on February 21, 2014, in the face of the ongoing Euromaidan protests
demanding his resignation, then-President Viktor Yanukovych fled Kyiv,
and then fled Ukraine the next day;
Whereas, on February 22, 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized that
Yanukovych had ceased his functions as president, voted him from office,
and scheduled early presidential elections for May 25, 2014;
Whereas, on February 25, 2014, fulfilling demands of the Maidan, Ukraine's
special police force known as the Berkut was dissolved, as it had been
heavily involved in the violence against the Euromaidan protestors;
Whereas the Ukrainian government's use of force against activists throughout the
Euromaidan protests, including the use of live bullets, was widely
condemned by Western governments, including the United States, and
ultimately failed to discourage the Euromaidan movement;
Whereas, on September 1, 2017, the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement came into
force after its signing by the Government of Ukraine and the EU;
Whereas, in response to Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, the Russian Federation
launched military aggression against Ukraine, illegally occupied
Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, and instigated a war in eastern Ukraine,
which is still ongoing and has killed more than 10,000 Ukrainians;
Whereas the Russian Federation's attempted invasion and annexation of Crimea has
been widely seen as an effort to stifle pro-democracy developments
across Ukraine in 2014 in the wake of the Revolution of Dignity;
Whereas 2019 marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest
Memorandum, which committed the United States, the United Kingdom, and
the Russian Federation to refrain from the threat or use of force
against Ukraine's territorial integrity in exchange for Ukraine giving
up its nuclear weapons;
Whereas the Russian Federation is a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum
and thus committed to respect the independence, sovereignty, and
territorial integrity of Ukraine;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation is further obligated to respect
the sovereignty of Ukraine pursuant to its commitments as a signatory to
the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of the United Nations;
Whereas, on March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted
Resolution 68/262 calling on states and international organizations not
to recognize any change in Crimea's status and affirmed the commitment
of the United Nations to recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine;
Whereas the United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on
individuals and entities who have enabled the attempted invasion,
annexation, and occupation of Crimea;
Whereas, pursuant to the Revolution of Dignity's goal of fighting corruption in
Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law On the National
Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) of Ukraine on October 14, 2014;
Whereas, on June 26, 2017, the Law of Ukraine On the Establishment of the High
Anti-Corruption Court was signed into law;
Whereas, on July 5, 2018, the Law on National Security was adopted, which has
strengthened civilian control over the Ukrainian military, increased
transparency in the security sector, and more clearly delineated the
powers of law enforcement agencies;
Whereas, on January 6, 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople granted
autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, thus establishing the
first independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church in over 300 years;
Whereas despite requests by the Government of Ukraine, the Government of the
Russian Federation has repeatedly refused to extradite former President
of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych to stand trial in Ukraine;
Whereas, on January 24, 2019, a Ukrainian court found Yanukovych guilty in
absentia of high treason and complicity in conducting an aggressive war
against Ukraine, and sentenced him to 13 years in prison;
Whereas, in order to help Ukraine preserve its sovereignty in the face of
Russian aggression, the United States Government has provided Ukraine
with over $1,000,000,000 in security assistance, including critical
defensive items such as Javelin anti-tank missiles and Island-class
cutters; and
Whereas, in the 115th Congress, both the United States Senate and the United
States House of Representatives passed resolutions commemorating the
85th anniversary of the Holodomor, the Soviet Union's manmade famine
that it committed against the people of Ukraine in 1932 and 1933: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) remembers the courage and resolve shown by the
Ukrainian people in the Revolution of Dignity;
(2) solemnly honors the ``Heavenly Hundred'' who were
killed during the Revolution of Dignity while fighting for the
causes of freedom and democracy in Ukraine;
(3) applauds the progress that the Government of Ukraine
has made since the Revolution of Dignity in strengthening the
rule of law, aligning itself with Euro-Atlantic norms and
standards, and improving military combat readiness and
interoperability with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO);
(4) encourages the Government of Ukraine to continue
implementing crucial reforms to fight corruption, build strong
and free markets, and strengthen democracy and the rule of law;
(5) affirms the United States Government's unwavering
commitment to supporting the continuing efforts of the
Government of Ukraine to implement democratic and free market
reforms, restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, as well as
providing additional lethal and non-lethal security assistance
to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities on land, sea, and
in the air in order to improve deterrence against Russian
aggression;
(6) condemns the Russian Federation's ongoing malign
activities against Ukraine and renews its call on the
Government of the Russian Federation to immediately cease all
activity that seeks to undermine Ukraine and destabilize the
European continent;
(7) reiterates its strong condemnation of the provocative
actions and unjustified use of military force by the Government
of the Russian Federation in the Kerch Strait against the
Ukrainian Navy on November 25, 2018, as a blatant violation of
the Russian Federation's commitments under international law
and the 2003 Treaty Between the Russian Federation and Ukraine
on Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Kerch
Strait;
(8) expresses its support to all Ukrainian political
prisoners convicted on fabricated charges and incarcerated by
Russian or Russian-controlled authorities, including the
Ukrainian sailors seized in the November 25, 2018, attack near
the Kerch Strait who are due treatment under the 1949 Geneva
Conventions and have been illegally kept in detention in the
territory of the Russian Federation, while renewing its strong
call on the Kremlin to immediately release these Ukrainian
citizens;
(9) affirms the Department of State's Crimea Declaration,
announced on July 25, 2018, that rejects Russia's attempted
annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until
Ukraine's territorial integrity is restored;
(10) believes that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline poses a major
threat to European security, seeks to further undermine
Ukraine's economic stability, and threatens to increase the
country's vulnerability to further Russian military incursions;
(11) calls upon the United States Government, as well as
its international allies and partners, to maintain a strong
sanctions regime against the Russian Federation until it
upholds its international obligations towards Ukraine,
including the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances and
the Minsk Agreements; and
(12) congratulates the people of Ukraine on the
announcement on January 6, 2019, of autocephaly for an
independent Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which has marked an
important milestone in Ukraine's pursuit of its own future free
from Russian influence.
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