[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 210 (Monday, December 6, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8922-S8923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Russia

  Madam President, now on a totally different matter, last week brought 
new information about Russia's military activities along its border 
with Ukraine. Heavily armed ground forces are mobilizing by the tens of 
thousands. It is looking more and more like Vladimir Putin intends to 
redraw another border by force.
  The escalation of Putin's ongoing war against Ukraine is an immediate 
threat to Ukraine's sovereignty and to the security of its people. But 
as always with Putin, it is also a test with much broader consequences. 
Can aggressive powers violate sovereign countries without facing 
serious consequence?
  Fellow authoritarians in Beijing and Tehran will be watching how the 
free world responds. And President Biden has an opportunity to set the 
tone when he speaks with Putin tomorrow. The stakes for the President's 
call with Putin couldn't be clearer. We know what happens when the 
United States fails to engage with Russia from a position of strength. 
We know what weakness and capitulation get us.
  Remember how President Obama treated arms control and European-

[[Page S8923]]

based missile defense as negotiable items that could be traded away in 
exchange for Moscow's good will. Remember how he mocked Republicans--
perhaps most notably our colleague Senator Romney--who dared to suggest 
that we ought to take the threat of Russia seriously. Remember the cuts 
to defense spending. Remember the dithering over whether to provide 
meaningful capabilities to Ukraine when Putin first invaded and how 
useless our blankets and MREs were against Russian armor and Moscow-
trained little green men.
  This weakness didn't purchase a reset; it produced a more emboldened 
Russia, willing to engage in more repression at home and more 
aggression abroad.
  And here we are today. Vladimir Putin is gearing up to escalate his 
violation of Ukraine's sovereignty. And if the free world doesn't 
object, there is no reason to assume he will stop there.
  So, tomorrow, President Biden has both the opportunity and the 
responsibility to tell Russia and Ukraine and our allies in Europe that 
the United States cares about sovereign borders and will help its 
friends protect them. If the free world is serious, its leaders--first 
and foremost, the President of the United States--will leave Putin no 
room to doubt that Ukraine's sovereignty is inviolable. And, by 
extension, they will signal to Chairman Xi that similar prospecting in 
the Pacific will come with prohibitive costs.
  If our leaders do not defend a fundamental tenet of international 
order, we cannot be surprised by the chaos that will follow. So if 
President Biden is serious, he will convince Germany's new government 
to abandon the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline and, instead, try to reduce its 
dependence on resources that enrich Putin and his cronies and give 
Moscow leverage over Europe.
  If the President intends to learn from the past and actually help 
Ukraine defend itself, he should expeditiously provide weapon systems 
that will materially help Ukraine defend itself against air threats.
  Finally, for the United States to lead the world's response to 
authoritarian aggression, I hope President Biden will call on our 
allies to do more to contribute to our collective security. In Europe, 
NATO member states must treat their own military modernization as a top 
priority. And in the Indo-Pacific, our friends in Taiwan and elsewhere 
must commit the resources, training, and reforms needed to help them 
face down their own looming threats.
  Tomorrow's call must mark a turning point for the Biden 
administration's approach to major power competition from one where 
words are pinned on hopes to one where its words are literally backed 
by strength.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.