[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 155 (Wednesday, September 25, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H7983-H7986]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2019, the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, it is with grave concern for our country, 
our longstanding Western security alliances, and liberty itself that I 
rise today.
  I have the distinct privilege of serving on the House Appropriations 
Subcommittee on Defense and co-chair the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.
  As the Congresswoman from a district with a strong Ukrainian heritage 
and tens of thousands of citizens who understand what liberty demands, 
I hold a unique perspective and, dare say, deep knowledge to speak on 
the events of the past several days to provide some additional context 
on why the conversation between President Donald Trump and the newly 
elected President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is so distressing to 
our national security.
  The American public has looked on in horror as America's President, 
President Trump, has willfully neglected his oath of office and sacred 
duty to defend the best interests of our Nation in favor of his own 
and, in effect, promote the interests of Russian dictator Vladimir 
Putin.
  This week, we learned of yet another instance in which our President 
has put national security at risk in favor of advancing his own 
personal, partisan, political objectives.
  According to a highly redacted White House memo released this 
morning, new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted as 
saying he was ``ready to buy more U.S. antitank missiles to defend his 
nation against Russia's invasion.''
  And President Trump, without skipping a beat, responded: ``I would 
like you to do us a favor, though.''
  A favor to receive the funds that this Congress passed and 
appropriated? A favor to disburse the funds already slated for Ukraine 
until President Trump held them back to ask a favor?
  That is illegal. It is unconstitutional. And it is dead wrong.
  This exchange is not only a clear violation of the law; it is an 
unprecedented abuse of power that undermines our national security, 
violates our Constitution, and compromises the struggle for liberty on 
the continent of Europe that includes America's most trusted allies 
through instrumentalities like NATO.

  Article I of the Constitution clearly states that all legislative 
power shall be vested in the Congress of the United States and that 
Congress holds the awesome power of the purse.
  On July 18, President Trump purposefully directed his administration 
to

[[Page H7984]]

withhold nearly $400 million in defense assistance for Ukraine from the 
State and Defense Departments' budgets.
  These funds were voted by Members of the House and Senate. And, 
frankly, at one point this year, we did not know that the President was 
holding the funds back. When we learned that he was, I joined my fellow 
Ukraine Caucus co-chair, Congressman   Mike Quigley of Chicago, in 
issuing a statement demanding that the money we had voted for be 
released.
  Members of Congress wrote the President letters and sent them to the 
White House and were told by the administration that, well, you know, 
it was ``an interagency delay'' that caused the funds not to be 
released to a nation at war with Russia.
  Russia invaded Ukraine, not the reverse. And the scrimmage line for 
liberty on the continent of Europe now is at the Russian-Ukrainian 
border, and our President delayed the release of those funds.
  The President sought to make the release of national security funds 
passed and appropriated by this Congress contingent on asking a new 
foreign leader for a favor--a favor--prior to release of those funds.
  Congress must compel the release of the full conversation that 
occurred between President Trump and the new President of Ukraine, 
Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as the full whistleblower complaint as was 
originally submitted to the Office of Inspector General.
  We do not have the full release. I will say more about that in a 
moment.
  The document we were provided today was not a complete transcript of 
the conversation that our President had with President Zelensky. We 
only got about 11 minutes of a conversation that lasted upwards of 30 
minutes. Congress must demand the full transcript and hold the 
executive branch officials in contempt if they refuse to give us the 
full documents.
  Like so many Americans, I am disgusted by President Trump's repeated 
betrayal of American interests in favor of Vladimir Putin's.
  This President's efforts to coerce Ukrainian President Zelensky, an 
allied leader, into helping him win reelection by urging 
congressionally supported military aid as leverage is not only a 
dramatic betrayal of the President's constitutional duty; it is also 
the latest example of Trump doing Putin's bidding.
  I am certain that our President's relationship with Vladimir Putin 
didn't start with his veiled support for Putin's election meddling or 
inviting the Russians to hack the Democratic National Committee or even 
lobbying, most recently, for Russia to be readmitted to the G7, our 
most trusted allies, when Russia has invaded Ukraine, for heaven's 
sake.
  Who benefits when Ukraine loses military assistance? It is an easy 
question. Russia, the country that is waging a bloody war in Ukraine 
for over 5 years.
  Who is to say Putin wasn't listening in when Trump blackmailed 
Zelensky?
  Madam Speaker, no Member of Congress has traveled to Ukraine as many 
times as I, beginning long before I was in Congress and long before the 
Berlin wall fell. I can say with confidence that Ukraine, today, is the 
scrimmage line for liberty's defense on the continent of Europe. And 
that is why President Trump's decision to withhold this money is so 
troubling.
  There is no more important strategic military alliance for liberty 
than America's membership with European nations in NATO, the North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization. Every minute of every day, NATO stands 
united to defend against dictatorships and protect our liberties.
  Russia has always hated this organization and will do anything to 
disrupt the Western alliance, and she is hard and fast at work doing 
that as we stand here this evening.
  We know the battlefields of Europe directly influenced the founding 
of our own Republic and our fundamental ideals of democracy. NATO 
stands ready, as we stand here tonight, to defend our liberty. In 
return, we keep our word--our word--for our NATO allies, a promise that 
should never be contingent on a single President's political objectives 
back home.
  After the collapse of communist Russia in 1991, Ukraine became a free 
nation. Ukraine had been occupied for all of its modern history but 
began its jagged path forward to the free world, a path that has been 
torturous and fraught with danger and setbacks and, yes, bloody murder.
  To this day, there exists an insidious network of corrupt Ukrainian 
and Russian oligarchs whose tentacles reach far across Ukraine and the 
rest of the world, seeking to undermine the Western alliance while 
protecting the selfish, corrupt financial looting that continues to 
this day in that part of the world and, frankly, even reaching our 
shores.
  It will be a permanent blot on American history that certain 
Americans, including President Trump's campaign manager and several 
other Trump operatives, were actually involved in supporting these 
oligarchs and the undemocratic forces that are trying to undermine the 
Government of Ukraine every time they try to right themselves. And 
these oligarchs steal and plunder billions of dollars with their 
Kremlin allies.
  Despite these setbacks, since Ukraine's Euromaidan Revolution of 
Dignity 5 years ago, Ukrainian people have bravely demonstrated their 
resolute commitment to their nation's democratic future.
  The latest example is their historic Presidential and parliamentary 
elections, which international observers lauded as free and fair.
  Meanwhile, Russia's devastating invasion of Ukraine has resulted in 
more than 13,000 Ukrainian deaths, including civilians who have been 
targeted by Russian missiles, 30,000 injured, and more than 2 million 
displaced internally.
  It is sad that Ukraine must fight a war on two fronts: a hot war 
against Russia, for which she is completely underarmed, and one against 
the enemy from within, the scourge of corruption, both perpetuated by 
Russian influence.
  In fact, when Boris Nemtsov, a brave Russian, was prepared to lead a 
demonstration for Ukrainian independence, he was killed on the steps 
near the Kremlin--how about that?--in Moscow.

                              {time}  1930

  That is how Russia plays.
  Ukraine's new President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his party in the 
Rada won a significant majority because he promised, finally, to root 
out this corruption.
  While the ink is fresh on the Zelensky Presidency, we have high hopes 
for him and his ability to live up to the expectations of his people. 
It would be tragic if President Trump compromised him with his recent 
missteps.
  In order to make good on his promise to root out corruption, 
President Zelensky must make clear his independence from every 
oligarch. A prime example is his benefactor, the infamous Ukrainian 
oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. Kolomoisky serves as an example of corrupt 
influence on Ukraine's fragile political system.
  With a net worth of over $1.2 billion--and I am sure that is a 
lowball number--Kolomoisky is one of the richest and most corrupt 
oligarchs in Ukraine. He also owns the television channel that ran the 
show ``Servant of the People'' that propelled Zelensky to stardom and 
popular acclaim.
  The question for history will be: Will Ukraine's new President be 
able to rise to the highest aspirations of those who voted for him? Or 
will he be mired in corruption at home and by entrapment by foreign 
leaders like President Trump?
  Kolomoisky, like other oligarchs, did not become rich due to their 
acumen. Rather, they used lies, intimidation, cheating, stealing, money 
laundering, and killing--yes, killing. These are their stock in trade.
  Kolomoisky used his company, PrivatBank, as a personal piggy bank by 
issuing endless loans to himself and, frankly, laundering billions of 
dollars--billions of dollars--including in this country, mainly in real 
estate.
  In one instance, Kolomoisky hired hundreds of thugs--think about 
this--with iron rods, rubber bullet pistols, chainsaws, and baseball 
bats to raid a plant in order to take it over. He didn't buy it. He 
stole it--surely, a macabre definition of a hostile takeover.
  Due to Kolomoisky's corruption and looting of the PrivatBank, the 
bank had lost $5.5 billion, putting Ukraine's

[[Page H7985]]

economy at risk. That is why the head of Ukraine's National Bank, 
Valeria Gontareva, nationalized it. This was a critical step urged by 
the United States, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, 
and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
  Now, Ms. Gontareva's life is under threat. She was hit by a car in 
London, leaving her hospitalized. Her son's car was burned. Her house 
in Kiev was burned down, her apartment raided by police.
  Fear, crime, murder, and destruction are the paths of repressive 
regimes. Freedom-lovers simply do not accept that way of life for 
ourselves or for the future of Ukraine.
  For these reasons, I have invited Valeria to come to Capitol Hill to 
share her courageous story in the face of such brutal intimidation.
  Corrupt oligarchs, with their ill-gotten gains, launder money to the 
West, where they know our laws will keep their ill-gotten money safe. 
How ironic it is that the Kremlin mouthpieces mock our values of 
openness and our strong tradition of rule of law while Putin's cronies 
safely store and invest their dirty money here.
  I can tell you that, in our country, recent reports have noted that 
Kolomoisky and his business partner, Gennadiy Bogolyubov, have funneled 
vast funds through various Delaware-based shell companies into 
properties and businesses around our Nation, even in my district of 
Cleveland, Ohio, where Kolomoisky has become downtown Cleveland's 
largest commercial real estate owner. How about that?
  It is not just in my State. It is in Florida. It is across this 
country. This is what is going on with the kind of corruption that 
spreads across our world, and it is why we have to pay attention to 
what is happening in Ukraine because, next to Ukraine, behind the Iron 
Curtain of Russian leadership, they have a plan to disrupt the West, 
certainly using every tool they have to disrupt the NATO alliance, but 
even here in our country, trying to disrupt our way of life.
  The newly reconstituted PrivatBank, which was taken over by the 
nation of Ukraine, has brought forth a case on behalf of its 
shareholders in Delaware against Kolomoisky. According to court 
documents--and get this--Kolomoisky laundered $470 billion through a 
Cyprus-based shell company between 2006 and 2016, potentially the 
largest money laundering case in history.
  It is now reported that the FBI is currently investigating these 
international financial crimes. I fully support their investigation to 
get to the bottom of these corrupt dealings across the world but, 
certainly, in the region that I live.
  The United States and our allies must send a message that such malign 
behavior will not be tolerated. We cannot be complicit in empowering 
foreign money laundering and the enrichment of corrupt oligarchs. We 
cannot encourage the kind of complicity that the President inferred in 
his remarks to President Zelensky in his recent conversation.
  The United States and our allies can take steps to combat the illicit 
flows of money that empower the oligarch economy of money laundering, 
blackmail, murder, and extortion. Congress must enact beneficial 
ownership transparency legislation to prevent malign actors from easily 
opening shell companies here. We must continue to support investigative 
journalism, not just in Ukraine, but here in order to maintain our own 
liberty and remain the bastion of liberty for the free world.
  President Zelensky and the newly elected Rada must now make good on 
their campaign promises to serve the people of Ukraine, not the 
oligarchs. Ukraine's new President must fully support the work of 
anticorruption that has been promoted by even many Members of our own 
Congress, including Representative Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, 
who has worked so hard to establish that effort even prior to his 
service here in the Congress.
  Critical organizations to perform the tasks include the National 
Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, the National Agency on Corruption 
Prevention, as well as the Anti-Corruption Court. The judicial system 
must be given true independence to root out corruption free from any 
kind of outside political influence.

  Madam Speaker, the Ukrainian people have our full support in their 
efforts to shake off the rapacious grip of corrupt oligarchs supported 
by Russia.
  Democracy shines in the sunlight, and we want that sunlight to shine 
here. Any conversation between our President and the new President of 
Ukraine that can reveal any attempt to threaten security of our 
longstanding allied relationships and continue to threaten liberty 
demands the undivided attention of this Congress.
  I reiterate my call for transparency, accountability, and strong, 
unencumbered congressional investigations.
  If President Trump and his administration fail to comply with 
legitimate congressional inquiries, then there is no other option than 
for this House to stand with our American allies and move forward with 
impeachment.
  We appreciate those who work late into the evening this night to make 
sure that these words get placed in the Record.
  Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the following material:

  Kaptur Press Release on Whistleblower Complaint, September 20, 2019

       Washington.--Today, Co-Chair of the Congressional Ukraine 
     Caucus Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), released the 
     following statement after reports of a whistleblower 
     complaint filed by a member of the Intelligence Community, 
     which is being withheld from Congress in violation of federal 
     law, is said to involve Ukraine:
       ``Today. press reports indicate that a U.S. intelligence 
     officers whistleblower complaint regarding President Trump's 
     possible breach of national security may involve the nation 
     of Ukraine.'' said Rep. Kaptur. As co-chair of the bipartisan 
     Congressional Ukraine Caucus. I fully support the efforts by 
     Chairman Adam Schiff and the House Permanent Select Committee 
     on Intelligence to seek a detailed accounting of the 
     complaint and transcript of the incident(s), and call upon 
     the Speaker and Minority Leader to take all courses of action 
     for appropriate Congressional oversight to obtain the 
     relevant documents and necessary testimony to establish 
     confirmation of fact and circumstance.''
       ``Following Ukraine's historic elections and continued 
     democratic struggles, the Ukrainian people deserve our full 
     support. We must know to what extent the President and his 
     lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. are using the weight of U.S. foreign 
     policy, including holding critical security assistance, to 
     advance their own narrow personal interests.''
       ``The American people deserve a government free of malign 
     foreign influence. The American people deserve to know the 
     full truth.''
                                  ____


 Kaptur/Quigley Press Release To Condemn President Trump's Attempt To 
       Slow Roll Critical Assistance to Ukraine, August 30, 2019

       Washington.--Today, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Ukraine 
     Caucus Representatives Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Mike Quigley 
     (D-IL) released the following statement condemning President 
     Trump's attempts to slow-roll $250 million in congressionally 
     appropriated military aid for Ukraine, known as the Ukraine 
     Security Assistance Initiative.
       ``President Trump's decision to slow-walk this 
     congressionally appropriated military funding for Ukraine is 
     disturbing and demonstrates once again his affinity for 
     Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.'' the 
     representatives said in a joint statement. ``This funding is 
     vital to preserving democracy in Ukraine and Eastern Europe 
     and must not be delayed or hindered in any way.''
       ``With Russia's unprovoked, unwarranted and murderous 
     invasion of Ukraine and with over 10,000 innocent Ukrainians 
     now having been killed, the President of the United States 
     should not be a defender of Russian interests. President 
     Trump has repeatedly berated our closest allies in the North 
     Atlantic Treaty Organization. lifted sanctions on Russian 
     oligarchs. and advocated for Russia being allowed back in the 
     G7.''
       ``The President of the United States should be a champion 
     for liberty, not a pawn for dictators. This funding cannot be 
     delayed.''

                  Memorandum of Telephone Conversation

     Subject: Telephone Conversation with President Zelenskyy of 
         Ukraine.
     Participants: President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Notetakers: The 
         White House Situation Room.
     Date, time and place: July 25, 2019, 9:03-9:33 a.m. EDT 
         Residence.
       The President: Congratulations on a great victory. We all 
     watched from the United States and you did a terrific job. 
     The way you came from behind, somebody who wasn't given much 
     of a chance, and you ended up winning easily. It's a 
     fantastic achievement. Congratulations.
       President Zelenskyy: You are absolutely right Mr. 
     President. We did win big and we worked hard for this. We 
     worked a lot but I would like to confess to you that I had an 
     opportunity to learn from you. We used quite a few of your 
     skills and knowledge and were able to use it as an example 
     for our elections

[[Page H7986]]

     and yes it is true that these were unique elections. We were 
     in a unique situation that we were able to achieve a unique 
     success. I'm able to tell you the following; the first time, 
     you called me to congratulate me when I won my presidential 
     election, and the second time you are now calling me when my 
     party won the parliamentary election. I think I should run 
     more often so you can call me more often and we can talk over 
     the phone more often.
       The President: [laughter] That's a very good idea. I think 
     your country is very happy about that.
       President Zelenskyy: Well yes, to tell you the truth, we 
     are trying to work hard because we wanted to drain the swamp 
     here in our country. We brought in many many new people. Not 
     the old politicians, not the typical politicians, because we 
     want to have a new format and a new type of government. You 
     are a great teacher for us and in that.
       The President: Well it's very nice of you to say that. I 
     will say that we do a lot for Ukraine. We spend a lot of 
     effort and a lot of time. Much more than the European 
     countries are doing and they should be helping you more than 
     they are. Germany does almost nothing for you. All they do is 
     talk and I think it's something that you should really ask 
     them about. When I was speaking to Angela Merkel she talks 
     Ukraine, but she doesn't do anything. A lot of the European 
     countries are the same way so I think it's something you want 
     to look at but the United States has been very very good to 
     Ukraine. I wouldn't say that it's reciprocal necessarily 
     because things are happening that are not good but the United 
     States has been very very good to Ukraine.
       President Zelenskyy: Yes you are absolutely right. Not only 
     100%, but actually 1000% and I can tell you the following; I 
     did talk to Angela Merkel and I did meet with her. I also met 
     and talked with Macron and I told them that they are not 
     doing quite as much as they need to be doing on the issues 
     with the sanctions. They are not enforcing the sanctions. 
     They are not working as much as they should work for Ukraine. 
     It turns out that even though logically, the European Union 
     should be our biggest partner but technically the United 
     States is a much bigger partner than the European Union and 
     I'm very grateful to you for that because the United States 
     is doing quite a lot for Ukraine. Much more than the European 
     Union especially when we are talking about sanctions against 
     the Russian Federation. I would also like to thank you for 
     your great support in the area of defense. We are ready to 
     continue to cooperate for the next steps specifically we are 
     almost ready to buy more Javelins from the United States for 
     defense purposes.
       The President: I would like you to do us a favor though 
     because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows 
     a lot about it. I would like you to find out what happened 
     with this whole situation with Ukraine, they say Crowdstrike 
     . . . I guess you have one of your wealthy people. . . The 
     server, they say Ukraine has it. There are a lot of things 
     that went on, the whole situation. I think you're surrounding 
     yourself with some of the same people. I would like to have 
     the Attorney General call you or your people and I would like 
     you to get to the bottom of it. As you saw yesterday, that 
     whole nonsense ended with a very poor performance by a man 
     named Robert Mueller, an incompetent performance, but they 
     say a lot of it started with Ukraine. Whatever you can do, 
     it's very important that you do it if that's possible.
       President Zelenskyy: Yes it is very important for me and 
     everything that you just mentioned earlier. For me as a 
     President, it is very important and we are open for any 
     future cooperation. We are ready to open a new page on 
     cooperation in relations between the United States and 
     Ukraine. For that purpose, I just recalled our ambassador 
     from United States and he will be replaced by a very 
     competent and very experienced ambassador who will work hard 
     on making sure that our two nations are getting closer. I 
     would also like and hope to see him having your trust and 
     your confidence and have personal relations with you so we 
     can cooperate even more so. I will personally tell you that 
     one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently 
     and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to 
     travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine. 
     I just wanted to assure you once again that you have nobody 
     but friends around us. I will make sure that I surround 
     myself with the best and most experienced people. I also 
     wanted to tell you that we are friends. We are great friends 
     and you Mr. President have friends in our country so we can 
     continue our strategic partnership. I also plan to surround 
     myself with great people and in addition to that 
     investigation, I guarantee as the President of Ukraine that 
     all the investigations will be done openly and candidly. That 
     I can assure you.
       The President: Good because I heard you had a prosecutor 
     who was very good and he was shut down and that's really 
     unfair. A lot of people are talking about that, the way they 
     shut your very good prosecutor down and you had some very bad 
     people involved. Mr. Giuliani is a highly respected man. He 
     was the mayor of New York City, a great mayor, and I would 
     like him to call you. I will ask him to call you along with 
     the Attorney General. Rudy very much knows what's 
     happening and he is a very capable guy. If you could speak 
     to him that would be great. The former ambassador from the 
     United States, the woman, was bad news and the people she 
     was dealing with in the Ukraine were bad news so I just 
     want to let you know that. The other thing, There's a lot 
     of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the 
     prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about 
     that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General 
     would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped 
     the prosecution so if you can look into it . . . It sounds 
     horrible to me.
       President Zelenskyy: I wanted to tell you about the 
     prosecutor. First of all I understand and I'm knowledgeable 
     about the situation. Since we have won the absolute majority 
     in our Parliament, the next prosecutor general will be 100% 
     my person, my candidate, who will be approved by the 
     parliament and will start as a new prosecutor in September. 
     He or she will look into the situation, specifically to the 
     company that you mentioned in this issue. The issue of the 
     investigation of the case is actually the issue of making 
     sure to restore the honesty so we will take care of that and 
     will work on the investigation of the case. On top of that, I 
     would kindly ask you if you have any additional information 
     that you can provide to us, it would be very helpful for the 
     investigation to make sure that we administer justice in our 
     country with regard to the Ambassador to the United States 
     from Ukraine as far as I recall her name was Ivanovich. It 
     was great that you were the first one who told me that she 
     was a bad ambassador because I agree with you 100%. Her 
     attitude towards me was far from the best as she admired the 
     previous President and she was on his side. She would not 
     accept me as a new President well enough.
       The President: Well, she's going to go through some things. 
     I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going 
     to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the 
     bottom of it. I'm sure you will figure it out. I heard the 
     prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair 
     prosecutor so good luck with everything. Your economy is 
     going to get better and better I predict. You have a lot of 
     assets. It's a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, 
     they're incredible people.
       President Zelenskyy: I would like to tell you that I also 
     have quite a few Ukrainian friends that live in the United 
     States. Actually last time I traveled to the United States, I 
     stayed in New York near Central Park and I stayed at the 
     Trump Tower. I will talk to them and I hope to see them again 
     in the future. I also wanted to thank you for your invitation 
     to visit the United States, specifically Washington DC. On 
     the other hand, I also want to ensure you that we will be 
     very serious about the case and will work on the 
     investigation. As to the economy, there is much potential for 
     our two countries and one of the issues that is very 
     important for Ukraine is energy independence. I believe we 
     can be very successful and cooperating on energy independence 
     with United States. We are already working on cooperation. We 
     are buying American oil but I am very hopeful for a future 
     meeting. We will have more time and more opportunities to 
     discuss these opportunities and get to know each other 
     better. I would like to thank you very much for your support
       The President: Good. Well, thank you very much and I 
     appreciate that. I will tell Rudy and Attorney General Barr 
     to call. Thank you. Whenever you would like to come to the 
     White House, feel free to call. Give us a date and we'll work 
     that out. I look forward to seeing you.
       President Zelenskyy: Thank you very much. I would be very 
     happy to come and would be happy to meet with you personally 
     and get to know you better. I am looking forward to our 
     meeting and I also would like to invite you to visit Ukraine 
     and come to the city of Kyiv which is a beautiful city. We 
     have a beautiful country which would welcome you. On the 
     other hand, I believe that on September 1 we will be in 
     Poland and we can meet in Poland hopefully. After that, it 
     might be a very good idea for you to travel to Ukraine. We 
     can either take my plane and go to Ukraine or we can take 
     your plane, which is probably much better than mine.
       The President: Okay, we can work that out. I look forward 
     to seeing you in Washington and maybe in Poland because I 
     think we are going to be there at that time.
       President Zelenskyy: Thank you very much Mr. President.
       The President: Congratulations on a fantastic job you've 
     none. The whole world was watching. I'm not sure it was so 
     much of an upset but congratulations.
       President Zelenskyy: Thank you Mr. President bye-bye.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

                          ____________________