[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 16, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S4859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 925. Mr. THUNE (for Mr. Portman) proposed an amendment to the
resolution S. Res. 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; as follows:
Strike the preamble and insert the following:
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Whereas many of these laws were repealed just 11 days after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, 2018, 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
signed into law, 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;
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;
Whereas, on March 31, 2019 and April 21, 2019, Ukraine held
the first and second rounds of its presidential election;
Whereas these elections were widely recognized by
international observers as being free, fair, and conducted
without serious, widespread irregularities;
Whereas the large turnout and civic activism related to the
election highlight the ongoing support of the Ukrainian
people for continued Western integration, political,
economic, and judicial reform, and renewed anticorruption
efforts;
Whereas Volodymyr Zelensky won Ukraine's presidential
election and was inaugurated on May 20, 2019, concluding a
peaceful transfer of power from former President Petro
Poroshenko; and
Whereas parliamentary elections in Ukraine are scheduled
for July 21, 2019: Now, therefore, be it
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