[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 227 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 227
Recognizing the sovereignty of Ukraine and the unbreakable spirit of
the people of Ukraine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 14, 2023
Mr. Kean of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Kaptur, Mr.
Lawler, Mr. Keating, and Mr. Quigley) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the sovereignty of Ukraine and the unbreakable spirit of
the people of Ukraine.
Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation launched
an unprovoked, full-scale, military invasion against Ukraine in direct
violation of international law;
Whereas this full-scale assault is a continuation of the Government of the
Russian Federation's illegal invasion and occupation of Ukraine's
Crimean Peninsula and part of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions in
2014;
Whereas contrary to the expectations of the Russian Federation, Ukraine's
capital of Kyiv did not fall in a matter of days, and Ukraine has
prevented Russia from achieving its objectives of conquering Ukraine and
installing a puppet government;
Whereas Russia's invading forces have committed war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and other atrocity crimes in Ukraine, including rape, torture,
murder, the forcible deportation of children, and the targeting of
civilian critical infrastructure;
Whereas the Russian Federation has deployed troops to Belarus, using the country
as a staging ground for attacks into Ukraine and making the Lukashenka
regime complicit in Russia's war against Ukraine;
Whereas Russia's full-scale invasion has created immense humanitarian crisis in
Ukraine and, as a result, over 8,000 civilians have died, roughly
5,400,000 people have been internally displaced, and 17,600,000 people
are in need of humanitarian aid;
Whereas Russia's war has also triggered an immense human and economic toll felt
well beyond Ukraine's border, including a massive influx of over
8,100,000 Ukrainian refugees in Europe and an exacerbation of global
food insecurity;
Whereas, since February 2022, Congress has appropriated over $113,000,000,000 in
humanitarian, economic, and military assistance for Ukraine and other
countries impacted by the conflict, and related funding, which totals
just 0.4 percent of the United States gross domestic product (GDP);
Whereas our European allies and partners have committed more economic and
humanitarian assistance to Ukraine than the United States;
Whereas, as a share of GDP, assistance reportedly provided to Ukraine by
Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Denmark, the
Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Sweden, and Greece is higher
than that provided by any other country including the United States, and
many other European countries have provided an amount of assistance
comparable to the United States as a share of their GDP;
Whereas, as a share of a country's defense budget, 12 countries have provided
more military aid to Ukraine than the United States;
Whereas the United Kingdom has provided the second-most military assistance to
Ukraine after the United States and was the first country to pledge
Western main battle tanks, provide significantly longer range missiles,
and train Ukrainian pilots on advanced Western fighter jets;
Whereas Poland has been a regional leader in supporting the people of Ukraine,
including by processing the border crossing of over 9,900,000 refugees
from Ukraine and facilitating their onward movement to other European
countries, caring for over 1,500,000 Ukrainian refugees currently
residing in Poland, providing training for Ukrainian soldiers in Poland
on various weapons systems, including Leopard 2 tanks, and being the
third-largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine;
Whereas, as a result of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and
Finland have applied for NATO membership which would greatly bolster the
security and strength of the alliance;
Whereas European countries have generously accepted and cared for over 7,800,000
Ukrainian refugees who have fled from Russia's war, including more than
4,000,000 Ukrainians who have registered for temporary protection in the
European Union (EU), at an estimated cost of $18,000,000,000 in EU
funding and billions more in funds from individual EU member states; and
Whereas the Ukraine Oversight Working Group, led by the inspector generals (IGs)
from the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the United
States Agency for International Development, is following a coordinated
Joint Plan to ensure transparent oversight of and accountability for the
United States assistance to Ukraine, and the IGs have completed 14
reviews and have 64 ongoing or planned reviews related to the United
States Ukraine response: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) demands that the Government of the Russian Federation
respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well
as immediately withdraw all of its forces from inside the
internationally recognized borders of Ukraine;
(2) affirms its strong support for continued United States
support to Ukraine, specifically the transfer of lethal aid to
enable Ukraine to liberate its sovereign territory and win the
war as soon as possible;
(3) appreciates those United States allies and partners
that have provided significant support to Ukraine and urges
their continued and increased assistance to Ukraine;
(4) calls on allies and partners in Europe to increase
national defense spending in order to bolster trans-Atlantic
security;
(5) affirms the importance of robust transparency and
accountability mechanisms for United States assistance to
Ukraine to ensure its proper and effective use; and
(6) condemns Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity,
and other atrocity crimes in the strongest terms and calls for
accountability for those involved, including at all levels of
Russian leadership.
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