[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 15 (Thursday, January 24, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S590-S591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 27--CALLING FOR A PROMPT MULTINATIONAL FREEDOM OF 
 NAVIGATION OPERATION IN THE BLACK SEA AND URGING THE CANCELLATION OF 
                       THE NORD STREAM 2 PIPELINE

  Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Risch, Mr. Menendez, Mr.

[[Page S591]]

Inhofe, Mr. Reed, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Murphy, Ms. Baldwin, 
Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Braun, Mr. 
Cardin, Mr. Carper, Mr. Casey, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coons, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. 
Cotton, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Daines, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. 
Enzi, Mrs. Fischer, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Graham, Mr. Grassley, Ms. Hassan, 
Ms. Hirono, Mr. Hoeven, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Jones, Mr. Kaine, Mr. 
Kennedy, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Moran, Mr. 
Peters, Mr. Portman, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Romney, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Rubio, 
Mr. Sasse, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Smith, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Thune, Mr. Tillis, 
Mr. Toomey, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Wyden, Mr. 
Young, Mr. Manchin, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Isakson, and Ms. 
Murkowski) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:
       Whereas, in late February 2014, the Russian Federation 
     invaded and illegally occupied Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, 
     in full contravention of the United Nations Charter and the 
     Helsinki Final Act, which condemn the threat or use of force 
     as means of altering international borders;
       Whereas the Russian Federation's attempted illegal 
     annexation of Crimea is also a direct violation of its 
     pledges as a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on 
     Security Assurances to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and 
     existing borders and to refrain from the threat or use of 
     force against Ukraine;
       Whereas the inclusion of the United States and the United 
     Kingdom as signatories to the Budapest Memorandum was 
     essential in order to provide Ukraine the security assurances 
     needed to give up its nuclear arsenal;
       Whereas, on November 25, 2018, military forces of the 
     Russian Federation attacked and seized three Ukrainian Navy 
     vessels and their crews as they attempted to transit the 
     Kerch Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov;
       Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation still has 
     not released the Ukrainian crew members or returned the 
     Ukrainian ships that were seized illegally;
       Whereas European Commissioner Julian King stated that the 
     Government of the Russian Federation launched a 
     disinformation campaign over a year ago designed to paint 
     Ukraine and NATO as provocateurs in the Kerch Strait;
       Whereas, as part of the Russian Federation disinformation 
     campaign, Russian state media outlets spread demonstrable 
     falsehoods, including claims that Ukraine was dredging the 
     Kerch Strait seabed to facilitate the stationing of a NATO 
     fleet, that Ukraine had intentionally infected the sea with 
     cholera, and that Ukrainian and British clandestine services 
     were conspiring to destroy the Kerch Strait bridge with a 
     nuclear weapon;
       Whereas the United States has important national interests 
     in the Black Sea region, including the security of three NATO 
     littoral states, the promotion of European energy market 
     diversification by ensuring unfettered European access to 
     energy exporters in the Caucuses and central Asia, and 
     combating use of the region by smugglers as a conduit for 
     trafficking in persons, narcotics, and arms;
       Whereas the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a proposed underwater 
     natural gas pipeline project that would provide an additional 
     55,000,000,000 cubic meters of pipeline capacity from the 
     Russian Federation to the Federal Republic of Germany through 
     the Baltic Sea;
       Whereas the Russian Federation's state-owned oil and gas 
     company, Gazprom, is the sole shareholder of the Nord Stream 
     2 project;
       Whereas, in 2017, there was spare capacity of approximately 
     55,000,000,000 cubic meters in the Ukrainian gas transit 
     system;
       Whereas Gazprom cut off natural gas exports to Europe via 
     Ukraine in 2006, and again in 2009, over supply and pricing 
     disputes with Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company, 
     Naftogaz;
       Whereas transit of Russian natural gas to Europe via 
     Ukraine declined precipitously after the completion of Nord 
     Stream 1 in 2011, falling from 80 percent to between 40 and 
     50 percent of Russia's total exports to Europe;
       Whereas, in 2017, Russian gas accounted for 37 percent of 
     Europe's natural gas imports, an increase of 5 percent over 
     2016;
       Whereas, on December 12, 2018, the European Parliament 
     overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning both the 
     Russian Federation's aggression in the Kerch Strait and the 
     construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; and
       Whereas, on December 11, 2018, the United States House of 
     Representatives passed a resolution calling upon the European 
     Union to reject the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and urging the 
     President to use all available means to promote energy 
     policies in Europe that reduce European reliance on Russian 
     energy exports: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) calls upon the President to work with United States 
     allies to promptly lead a robust multinational freedom of 
     navigation operation in the Black Sea to help demonstrate 
     support for internationally recognized borders, bilateral 
     agreements, and safe passage through the Kerch Strait and Sea 
     of Azov and to push back against excessive Russian Federation 
     claims of sovereignty;
       (2) calls upon the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to 
     enhance allied maritime presence and capabilities, including 
     maritime domain awareness and coastal defense in the Black 
     Sea in order to support Freedom of Navigation Operations and 
     allied interests;
       (3) urges the President to use the authority provided under 
     section 1234 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
     Fiscal Year 2018 (Public Law 115-91; 131 Stat. 1659) to 
     enhance the capability of the Ukrainian military;
       (4) urges the President, through the Departments of State 
     and Defense, to provide additional security assistance to 
     Ukraine, especially to strengthen Ukraine's maritime 
     capabilities, in order to improve deterrence and defense 
     against further Russian aggression;
       (5) reiterates that the President is required by statute to 
     impose mandatory sanctions on the Russian Federation under 
     the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act 
     (Public Law 115-44);
       (6) stresses that sanctions against the Russian Federation 
     are a direct result of the actions of the Government of the 
     Russian Federation and will continue and increase until there 
     is an appropriate change in Russian behavior;
       (7) calls upon United States allies and partners in Europe 
     to deny Russian Navy vessels access to their ports to 
     resupply and refuel;
       (8) notes the resolution passed by the House of 
     Representatives on December 11, 2018, calling on European 
     governments to cancel the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and urging 
     the President to support European energy security through a 
     policy of reducing reliance on the Russian Federation;
       (9) applauds and concurs with the European Parliament's 
     December 12, 2018, resolution condemning Russian aggression 
     in the Kerch Strait and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, calling 
     for the pipeline's cancellation due to its threat to European 
     energy security, and calling on the Russian Federation to 
     guarantee freedom of navigation in the Kerch Strait; and
       (10) urges the President to continue working with Congress 
     and our allies to ensure the appropriate policies to deter 
     the Russian Federation from further aggression.

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