[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 29 (Thursday, February 14, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1389-S1390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 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

  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:

                               S. Res. 74

       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       Whereas many of these laws were repealed just 11 days after 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;

[[Page S1390]]

       (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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