[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 10, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4878-S4879]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 571--CONDEMNING THE ONGOING ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF 
                    CRIMEA BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Portman, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Toomey, Mr. 
Coons, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Markey, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Cardin, and Mr. Brown) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 571

       Whereas, in February 2014, unidentified Russian armed 
     forces entered Ukrainian territory and took control of key 
     military and government infrastructure in the Crimean 
     peninsula of Ukraine;
       Whereas, in March 2014, the parliament of the Russian 
     Federation gave rubber-stamp approval to President Vladimir 
     Putin's request to use military force against Ukrainian 
     territory ostensibly because of the ``threat of violence from 
     ultranationalists'';
       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 Russian Federation's illegal invasion and 
     annexation of Crimea has been widely seen as an effort to 
     stifle the spread of pro-democracy developments across 
     Ukraine in 2014 in the wake of the Euromaidan protests;
       Whereas the Russian Federation is a signatory to the 1994 
     Budapest Memorandum and thus committed to respect the 
     independence, sovereignty, and borders of Ukraine and to 
     refrain from threats, coercive economic actions, or the use 
     of force against Ukraine's territorial integrity and 
     political independence;
       Whereas the Russian Federation committed in the 1975 Final 
     Act of the Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
     (Helsinki Final Act) to respect the sovereign equality and 
     territorial integrity of other participating States;
       Whereas the Russian Federation's obligations under the 
     Charter of the United Nations prohibit the threat or use of 
     force against the territorial integrity and political 
     independence of other states;
       Whereas the Russian Federation's ongoing illegal occupation 
     of Crimea in Ukraine have been widely condemned by the 
     international community as illegal acts;
       Whereas the United States and European Union have imposed 
     sanctions on individuals

[[Page S4879]]

     and entities who have enabled the illegal invasion, 
     annexation, and occupation of Crimea;
       Whereas the Department of State has stated in its Country 
     Reports on Human Rights Practices that security services and 
     local authorities in Crimea installed by the Government of 
     the Russian Federation have ``worked to consolidate control 
     over Crimea and continued to restrict human rights by 
     imposing repressive Federal laws of the Russian Federation on 
     the Ukrainian territory of Crimea'' and that ``the most 
     significant human rights problems in Crimea [were] related 
     directly to the Russian occupation'';
       Whereas the Department of State has described ``an 
     extensive campaign of intimidation to suppress dissent and 
     opposition to the occupation'' that has been carried out by 
     Russian security services inside Crimea, including the use of 
     torture and physical abuse, kidnapping, disappearances, and 
     deportations, and reporting from independent human rights 
     groups inside and outside Crimea has documented such alleged 
     human rights violations by Russian security services and 
     paramilitary groups;
       Whereas the campaign of intimidation in Crimea has resulted 
     in the prosecution and imprisonment of individuals who oppose 
     or criticize the occupation or support Ukrainian sovereignty 
     as well as the transfer of some individuals from Crimea to 
     Russian Federation territory from prosecution and 
     imprisonment;
       Whereas the Department of State has noted that illegal 
     occupying authorities in Crimea have also restricted the 
     fundamental human rights of particular groups, including 
     ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, ``particularly 
     regarding expressions of nationality and ethnicity, and 
     subjected them to systematic discrimination;''
       Whereas human rights groups have cited that such 
     discrimination has been carried out in myriad ways, including 
     through the outlawing in 2016 of the elected representative 
     body (mejilis) of the Crimean Tatar people, the closing of 
     Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian-language schools, and forced 
     conscription;
       Whereas the Department of State and other international 
     human rights groups have noted further continuing human 
     rights concerns in Crimea, including the suppression of 
     independent media and civil society through harassment and 
     harsh administrative measures, politicized and unfair 
     judicial processes, and poor prison conditions;
       Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has worked 
     to extend Russian citizenship to individuals inside Crimea 
     and deprived access to public services of those who refuse 
     such citizenship;
       Whereas civil society groups have alleged that the 
     Government of the Russian Federation has encouraged Russian 
     citizens to relocate to the Crimean peninsula and has 
     supported the physical destruction of historical sites in 
     Crimea, ostensibly to influence the demographics and 
     political character of the region in favor of the Kremlin; 
     and
       Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has 
     supported the development of infrastructure and institutional 
     ties between Crimea and the Russian Federation, including the 
     opening of a road and rail bridge over the Kerch Strait on 
     May 15, 2018; Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reiterates that Crimea is part of the sovereign 
     territory of Ukraine;
       (2) stresses that United States policy should remain that 
     Crimea is part of Ukraine and should reject attempts to 
     change the status, demographics, or political nature of 
     Crimea;
       (3) reaffirms respect for the values of democracy, human 
     rights, and rule of law that all individuals in Crimea 
     deserve, including non-Russian ethnic groups and religious 
     minorities;
       (4) condemns all human rights violations against 
     individuals in Crimea, and underscores the culpability of the 
     Russian Federation for such violations while this territory 
     is under illegal Russian occupation;
       (5) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     immediately respect the political and human rights of 
     individuals in Crimea, including those detained in Crimea or 
     who have been transferred from Crimea to the territory of 
     Russia, and to cease efforts to restrict dissent or change 
     the demographic or political nature of the peninsula;
       (6) urges the United States Government, in coordination 
     with the European Union, NATO, and members of the 
     international community, to prioritize efforts to prevent the 
     further consolidation of illegal occupying powers in Crimea, 
     reaffirm unified opposition to the actions of the Russian 
     Federation in Crimea, and secure the human rights of 
     individuals there;
       (7) welcomes the sanctions that have been imposed and 
     maintained to date by the United States and European Union 
     against individuals engaged in furthering the illegal 
     occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation;
       (8) calls on the United States Government to continue to 
     use relevant sanctions authorities codified in the Countering 
     America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (Public 
     Law 115-144), as well as under the Global Magnitsky Human 
     Rights Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public 
     Law 114-328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note), to address and deter those 
     engaged in furthering the illegal occupation of Crimea and 
     human rights abuses and corruption committed in Crimea or 
     against individuals from Crimea;
       (9) welcomes further efforts by the United States 
     Government to encourage the European Union to impose 
     additional Crimea-related sanctions; and
       (10) calls upon the United States Government to declare it 
     the foreign policy of the United States to never recognize 
     the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, 
     similar to the 1940 Welles Declaration in which the United 
     States refused to recognized the Soviet annexation of the 
     Baltic States.

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