[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 24 (Thursday, February 12, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1010-S1011]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING FOR THE RELEASE OF UKRAINIAN FIGHTER PILOT NADIYA SAVCHENKO
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Foreign Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of
S. Res. 52 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 52) calling for the release of
Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who was captured by
Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine and has been held illegally
in a Russian prison since July 2014.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise to discuss the plight of Ukrainian
fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko. My resolution, S. Res. 52., which
Senators Wicker, Brown, Rubio, and Gardner have co-sponsored, calls for
the release of former Ukrainian fighter pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who has
been languishing in Russian prisons since she was abducted by pro-
Russian forces in eastern Ukraine last July and illegally transferred
across the border in handcuffs and with a bag over her head.
In the 8 months Nadiya has been incarcerated on specious and
unsubstantiated charges, she has endured interrogations, involuntary
psychiatric evaluations, and solitary confinement in the same pretrial
detention center where Sergei Magnitsky was tortured and killed in
2009. The resolution is especially timely as Nadiya is in the 62nd day
of a hunger strike. Her health is rapidly deteriorating. Her situation
is critical. And yet, on Tuesday, a Moscow court extended her detention
until May 13, ignoring clear evidence compiled by the defense proving
her non-involvement in the deeds the Russian authorities claim as
justification for holding her.
Nadiya is yet another victim of the Putin regime's lawlessness,
brutality, and contempt for human life. And we need to recognize that
this isn't just about her; it's a highly visible manifestation of
Putin's contempt for a Ukraine that wishes to remain free, independent,
and democratic. She was elected in absentia to the Ukrainian parliament
in October and a member of Ukraine's delegation to the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, PACE. As such, she enjoys diplomatic
immunity and PACE has called for her immediate release.
According to the September Minsk agreements between Russia and
Ukraine, hostages on both sides were supposed to be released. Russia
has made a mockery of the Minsk agreements, just as it has the Helsinki
Final Act and numerous other Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe, OSCE, agreements. The illegal detention of Nadiya and other
Ukrainian citizens represents yet another violation of international
agreements and the norms of civilized behavior. S. Res. 52 sends a
strong message of solidarity to the Ukrainian people and calls on the
Putin regime to release Nadiya immediately. I am pleased the Senate is
poised to pass this important resolution.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Cardin
amendment to the resolution be agreed to; the resolution, as amended,
be agreed to; the preamble be agreed to; and the motions to reconsider
be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action
or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment (No. 251) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to,
as follows:
(Purpose: To provide a complete substitute)
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following: ``That the Senate--
[[Page S1011]]
(1) condemns the Government of the Russian Federation for
its illegal imprisonment of Nadiya Savchenko;
(2) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to
immediately release Nadiya Savchenko;
(3) calls on the United States, its European allies, and
the international community to aggressively support
diplomatic efforts to release Nadiya Savchenko; and
(4) expresses solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
The resolution (S. Res. 52), as amended, was agreed to.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 52
Whereas Nadiya Savchenko is the first-ever female fighter
pilot in Ukraine's Armed Forces and is an Iraqi war veteran;
Whereas in the ongoing conflict in Eastern Ukraine, Nadiya
Savchenko volunteered her services to the Ukrainian Aidar
battalion;
Whereas Nadiya Savchenko was elected in absentia from the
Batkivshchyna Party to Ukraine's Parliament in October 2014,
and appointed to the Parliament Assembly of the Council of
Europe (PACE) as a representative from Ukraine;
Whereas as a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,
Lieutenant Nadiya Savchenko was conducting operations in
eastern Ukraine against pro-Russian forces in the summer of
2014 when she was captured and taken into captivity;
Whereas during her mission in Eastern Ukraine, she was
captured by the Donbas People's Militia, detained on
Ukrainian territory, deprived of rights to due process, and
illegally transferred to the Russian Federation to stand
trial on unsubstantiated charges of terrorism;
Whereas, since July 2014, Nadiya Savchenko has endured
involuntary psychiatric evaluations and solitary confinement;
Whereas Nadiya Savchenko is currently entering her sixth
week of a hunger strike as a symbol of her protest;
Whereas Nadiya Savchenko is denied access to urgently
needed medical attention and access to legal counsel;
Whereas the Minsk Protocol of September 2014, signed by
Ukraine and the Russian Federation, calls for the ``immediate
release of all hostages and illegally held persons'';
Whereas appeals have been made to the United Nations Human
Rights Council and the International Red Cross to secure
Nadiya Savchenko's release;
Whereas the international community, including
representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe (PACE) and of the United States, have urged her
immediate release;
Whereas, on January 26, 2015, the opening day of the
Parliamentary Assembly, the global community embarks on a
public campaign to bring attention to the plight of Nadiya
Savchenko and demand her immediate release; and
Whereas the Government and people of the United States
express concern about the deteriorating health of detained
pilot Nadiya Savchenko and her continued illegal
imprisonment: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the Government of the Russian Federation for
its illegal imprisonment of Nadiya Savchenko;
(2) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to
immediately release Nadiya Savchenko;
(3) calls on the United States, its European allies, and
the international community to aggressively support
diplomatic efforts to release Nadiya Savchenko; and
(4) expresses solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
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