[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 26 (Wednesday, February 9, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H1108-H1111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           UKRAINE: THE SCRIMMAGE LINE FOR LIBERTY IN EUROPE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. 
Kaptur) for 30 minutes.


                             General Leave

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as co-chair of the 50-member 
bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus to voice our strong support for 
Ukraine and her people.
  Ukraine is the scrimmage line for liberty on the European continent--
our very closest allies. Right now, the world is watching with growing 
alarm as Russia again beats the Kremlin's drums of war.
  Vladimir Putin, with his thirst for force over reason and the rule of 
law, is severely isolated from the norms of human decency and the 
global community. Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. Fourteen thousand 
people have been killed. While Ukraine is Putin's most immediate 
target, it certainly is not the only one he has his eyes on. As we have 
watched, Russia has taken pieces of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and the 
message is clear.
  Thirty years ago, the people of Ukraine voted by more than 90 percent 
to establish their independence. Ukraine was a signatory to the 
Budapest Memorandum in which the West guaranteed Ukraine's security in 
return for all nuclear weapons staged on its territory be removed.
  Will the West keep its promise?
  For decades, the Soviet Union held Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, 
Lithuania, Moldova, and so many others under its iron fist suppressing 
any notion of freedom. We have a map here that clearly shows how small 
Ukraine is compared to the vast Russian Empire. We are not talking 
about equal partners here.
  In 1991 the world rejoiced when, at long last, the Communist Iron 
Curtain fell--a moment the free world did not expect to see in modern 
time. Upon its fall, liberty and opportunity, which once had only been 
dreams, now became new possibilities in Ukraine. Over these last 30 
years, Ukraine has struggled to cast off Russian interference and grow 
into a strong, proud, and vibrant nation. It has been a struggle every 
day of every year.

  Having visited Ukraine more than any other Member of Congress, I know 
her people, her communities, her culture, and her struggle. In 2014 I 
joined then-Vice President Joe Biden and Senator John McCain to attend 
the inauguration of a new President of Ukraine. As our delegation 
walked down the streets of the capital city, I can guarantee you, Mr. 
Speaker, the applause and cheers that rang forth from the crowd as 
America walked down the street was absolutely unforgettable and 
astounding. Ukraine's freedom-loving people were exclaiming their love 
and friendship with the United States, but, most of all, with the idea 
of liberty. Liberty. It is a memory that I cherish and will never 
forget.
  The people of Ukraine, yes, they have hopes and dreams, and they want 
to live with safety, stability, and enduring prosperity, but, most of 
all, with liberty. Those hopes and dreams face constant threat by 
Russia. It seems to never stop. Ukraine has no desire to have its back 
broken under Russia's repressive command.
  In 2014 Russia illegally invaded, as I mentioned, and now over 14,000 
of her people have been killed in Ukraine. Over 1 million more have 
been displaced, and the country probably has under 40 million people 
now.
  Russia's physical territory represents Goliath in his battle against 
David. The maps clearly show how vast Russia is--over 13 time zones 
compared to Ukraine.
  We see the Russian military amassing at all the borders of Ukraine. 
If Russia again invades Ukraine, the internal opposition would be 
fierce and bloody, and that country suffered more than any other people 
in the world during World War II, that infamous period of time when so 
many Americans died on the European continent for the very idea of 
liberty in Europe.
  The response that is needed from global leaders is clear. When 
freedom and liberty fall under attack, the free world has an obligation 
to rise up in its defense.
  The United States is doing its part. I support President Biden and 
his administration having committed to end the Nord Stream 2 project if 
Russia invades Ukraine further. We must continue to stiffen sanctions 
and work to establish European energy independence and forge a global 
defensive shield for the protection of Ukraine.

                              {time}  1515

  The United Nations, NATO, and the Organization for Security and Co-
Operation in Europe have the ability to rally a global coalition to 
ward off Putin and his thirst for domination over countries that do not 
welcome him.
  Russia cannot be allowed to operate as the outlaw on the European 
Continent. So let us seek to build, not destroy. The time has come for 
the free world to soundly reject Putin's ugly schemes and work together 
to safeguard Ukraine now and forever.
  There are several Members who are joining us here today on the floor 
to participate in this Special Order. I would like to especially 
recognize Brian Fitzpatrick, the co-chair of Ukraine Caucus from 
Pennsylvania.
  We also have, I believe, Congressman Kweisi Mfume of Maryland, 
Congressman   Andy Levin of Michigan, and Congresswoman Victoria Spartz 
of Indiana, thus far. I thank them all for being here.
  I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).
  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representative Kaptur for all 
she does for Ukraine.
  Mr. Speaker, I stand here not only as the co-chair of Ukraine Caucus, 
but also the ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Europe, 
Energy, the Environment, and Cyber; and a commission on the Helsinki 
Commission, having previously served and lived in Ukraine, in Kiev, 
standing side by side with the Ukranian people, and growing to love 
them for their heart, their passion, their desire for independence, 
their desire for closer ties to the West, and their craving for 
freedom, something that they are striving for more and more every 
single day.
  With all of those things in context, Mr. Speaker, this moment before 
us, unfortunately, has not come as a surprise. Over the last 8 years, 
the amazing people of Ukraine have endured Russia's illegal and violent 
occupation. To date, some 14,000 innocent Ukrainians have perished, 
many of whom were civilians with more than a million displaced.
  The autocratic regime of Vladimir Putin has engaged in countless 
humanitarian violations and challenged international norms of 
sovereignty over the last 30 years, and it is imperative that the 
United States and our NATO allies meet this moment with deterrence and 
diplomacy and strength in unity.
  America must, as we have in the past, stand up against Russian 
authoritarianism. The people of Ukraine share our Western values and 
deserve freedom from Russian oppression. The people of Ukraine share a 
steadfast commitment to regional cooperation resisting polarization and 
shining a light on corruption. The United States has moved to supply

[[Page H1109]]

Ukraine with lethal aid to maintain its borders in the wake of 
increased Russian aggression.
  The United States has committed just recently an additional $200 
million in security assistance, and we must encourage our NATO allies 
to act in a similar fashion. We applaud those NATO allies who have 
stepped up to the plate and encourage those who have not that they must 
do so now to maintain the NATO alliance. We have already stepped up to 
defend democracy in so many other areas of the world and this must be 
no exception.
  It is my hope, Mr. Speaker, that more of our ally countries will take 
this charge seriously and realize what is at stake. It is also my hope 
that our allies can look to decouple with the Russian economy, 
recognizing the larger threat Putin's destabilizing regime poses 
throughout Europe and throughout the world. Taking decisive action in 
implementing economic sanctions to the harshest degree is necessary, 
and we must weigh all of our options given the severity of this moment, 
along with a wide, bipartisan coalition in both Chambers of Congress.
  My colleagues in Congress have called for sweeping sanctions on the 
kleptocrats that keep Putin's regime operable. As it has before with 
other rogue powers, the international community must send a clear and 
unequivocal message. If Russia insists on threatening the sovereignty 
of another state and jeopardizing global security, there will be the 
harshest of consequences.
  I would like to thank my co-chairs for being here today as well as 
Representative Victoria Spartz, the first-ever Ukrainian born Member of 
Congress, an immense source of pride for the people of Ukraine. We are 
here to send a bipartisan, bicameral message to Vladimir Putin and his 
corrupt regime that these consequences will far outweigh any benefit he 
may perceive of further aggression in Ukraine.
  If the Euromaidan Revolution should have sent any message to Russia, 
it is that you never underestimate the heart and the passion of the 
soul of Ukrainian people to defend their own independence.
  The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians were born after 1991, after 
their independence. They do not want any part of Russia regardless of 
what Vladimir Putin thinks. And we will stand behind them unequivocally 
and unapologetically to call for the harshest of consequence should 
Vladimir Putin take one step across the Ukrainian border.
  I personally will make it my mission here in this body to see that 
they receive the harshest consequences, the least of which will be 
ending Nord Stream 2 and removing Russia from the Swiss banking system, 
cutting off their economy, targeting sanctions to Vladimir Putin 
himself and his surrounding oligarchs.
  I say to Mr. Putin that that will be just the beginning of what he 
will face.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Congressman Fitzpatrick for 
his strong support of Ukraine and for the substance he has given from 
his own life prior to his service here in the Congress of putting that 
life at risk many times on behalf of liberty around the world. I thank 
him so very, very much.
  I yield to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), who is a very 
fervent supporter of Ukraine, and thank him for adjusting his schedule 
to be here with us this evening.
  Mr. LEVIN of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my 
colleagues in the House Ukraine Caucus in this strong show of resolve 
to keep our focus on what is happening in Ukraine and on its borders. 
And I especially want to thank my dear friend, Chair Marcy Kaptur, for 
her leadership in organizing this timely event, and the co-chair, Brian 
Fitzpatrick, for his strong leadership on this issue and all of the 
other Members who are joining today.

  I represent one of the most vibrant Ukrainian-American communities in 
the United States. And I have spent time with my constituents in 
Michigan at memorials and commemorations of the Holodomor, and even 
just last weekend at a peace vigil in a Ukrainian church to pray for 
peace and for no more war in Ukraine.
  The Ukrainian-American community in Metro Detroit and around this 
Nation is deeply worried about their family, about their friends in 
Ukraine, and what might happen if Russia were to newly invade their 
country because we know Russia has already invaded their country.
  It is 8 years of Russia invasion and occupation of Crimea and their 
interference in the Donbas and eastern parts of Ukraine, and it has 
been a really traumatizing time for Ukrainians, obviously, but also for 
Ukrainian-Americans.
  I have been supportive of the efforts here in the House and by the 
Biden administration to focus on both deterrence and diplomacy. I am 
proud to cosponsor the Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act which seeks to 
deter Russia by imposing tougher sanctions by providing more defensive 
equipment and weapons, and expanding programming to counter Russian 
disinformation and cyber activity.
  I also want to commend President Biden emphasizing diplomacy to 
deescalate tension. Above all, we must avoid a war between the two 
largest nuclear powers. I appreciate how much he has worked to unify 
all of our European allies behind this effort, and I appreciate the 
leadership of those European allies in pushing for a peaceful 
resolution to this situation.
  Mr. Speaker, I am glad to join with my colleagues today and to share 
this commitment to helping the Ukrainian people, and I am hopeful that 
our work in the Congress, coupled with measures taken by the Biden 
administration, will ultimately prevent more conflict from breaking 
out. But we have got to make it very, very clear to Vladimir Putin that 
he will get exactly what he doesn't want if he insists on attacking 
Ukraine further.
  He has said he wants less NATO involvement in the eastern reaches of 
the alliance, and his aggression and his provocation is causing just 
what he says he doesn't want. So I am hopeful that diplomacy can carry 
the day, but we have to be ready with all measures of deterrence to 
prevent an attack, and we have to be--even though it doesn't make sense 
to implement sanctions in advance, it definitely makes sense that we be 
very clear with Putin and the oligarchs and the people around him just 
as Representative Fitzpatrick said, that we will implement a broad 
array of sanctions, by far, the harshest array of sanctions that we 
have ever arrayed against them.
  Before I yield back, Congresswoman Kaptur, I just wanted to share 
that when I was at my most recent event in the community in Michigan, I 
said--and Congresswoman Spartz, I want to say this to you because I 
haven't had a chance to talk to you about this idea--let's organize a 
vigil at the Holodomor Memorial here near Union Station when we are 
back to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
  Let's get as many Members of Congress there as we can. That idea 
seems to be taking off with the Ukrainian-American community. So I hope 
we will soon have a date when we can announce an event there where we 
can show our solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
  Lord knows, we love Ukraine. It is an independent country that 
deserves to have its own borders respected and where the people deserve 
to democratically determine their own future and, Congresswoman Kaptur, 
we are never going to give up on our commitment to those principles.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Levin for his leadership 
on this, and we will work with him on the vigil at the Holodomor 
Memorial here in Washington, D.C.
  I thank the gentleman for taking the time to delay his flight back 
home, I am sure, to be with us. The gentleman reminds me when we look 
at the map of Russia in red and Ukraine in yellow, we think about David 
and Goliath--at least I do--and David deserves attention and respect.
  We thank you for your time this evening. And also I wanted to say to 
Congresswoman Victoria Spartz from the State of Indiana who is joining 
us this evening, sometimes the heavens produce someone in the Congress 
at a moment in history that becomes pivotal.
  As I introduce her, I thank her extremely for her excellent 
participation in the Ukrainian Caucus, her leadership, and her ability 
to change her schedule at any point in order to be a strong voice for 
liberty. No one knows

[[Page H1110]]

better than she what it is like to live under a tyrannical, repressive 
regime.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Spartz).
  Mrs. SPARTZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Kaptur and 
Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick for their bipartisan leadership.
  I know that this Special Order is about the situation in Ukraine, but 
the situation in Ukraine goes beyond Ukraine. It is a threat to the 
stability of the world order, the largest threat since World War II, 
and a threat to any democracy.
  I would also like to remind us that millions of our predecessors died 
for freedom, peace, and democracy. I would like to read some excerpts 
from the recent joint statement of the Russian Federation and the 
Peoples Republic of China dated February 4, 2022.
  ``Today, the world is going through momentous changes, and humanity 
is entering a new era of . . . profound transformation. It sees . . . 
transformation of the global governance architecture and world order . 
. . a trend has emerged towards redistribution of power in the world. 
The sides note that Russia and China as world powers . . . have 
longstanding traditions of democracy which rely on thousand-years of 
experience. They stand ready to work together with all the interested 
partners to promote genuine democracy.''
  I know that President Putin is not going to listen to me, and I am 
not sure to anyone else, but I hope he still has to listen to the 
Russian people at least a little bit. I am not naive on his personal 
ambitions although I would still offer him an olive branch if he really 
cares about his people in his country. Therefore, I am going to direct 
my message to over 3 million Russian Americans. I am talking to you as 
a Congresswoman representing the great State of Indiana, who grew up 
under Communists in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. I was born 
in a country that doesn't exist anymore, and for good reason, as many 
of you, too.
  I know that many of you have relatives in Russia and dual 
citizenship. I know that Putin has powerful anti-American propaganda on 
his TV. I was somewhat surprised over its extant. It's worse than 
during the Soviet Union times.

                              {time}  1530

  I want you to let the Russian people know that neither the United 
States nor the West are a threat to Russia's national security.
  I would argue that Russia has a much bigger threat coming from the 
east. There is a very aggressive economic expansion of China in the Far 
East and Siberia.
  I would also like to make it very clear that the American people do 
not want another war in Europe.
  I also want to remind you of the human cost of any war. If Russia 
starts a war in Ukraine, which looks more and more likely, a lot of 
young people will have to die from both sides. No one will benefit from 
it. Maybe the Chinese Communist Party, but not the Russian people.
  I just do not believe that the Russian people would want to go in 
history as a puppet to the imperialistic ambitions of China and would 
want to promote a so-called genuine democracy of the Chinese Communist 
Party.
  The ball is in your court, President Putin and Russian people. I hope 
you will be on the right side of history.
  I also would like to share a message with my fellow Americans: Do not 
get distracted, and do not get reluctant. A threat to our freedoms from 
outside and within is real. Protect and cherish our freedoms so our 
children do not have to fight to get them back.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Spartz very much for 
being here and for being such a strong voice for liberty, having known 
the other side of that. I thank her for her time today, for her 
heartfelt remarks. We continue to be benefited by her extraordinary 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, our final speaker today is the very distinguished 
gentleman from the State of Maryland who knows a whole lot about the 
rule of law and human rights.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Mfume), who 
we are fortunate has returned to Congress after serving in so many 
national positions. We are so grateful for his life and his presence 
here today.
  Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Kaptur for her overly gracious 
remarks. I appreciate them. I also appreciate the opportunity to join 
her and the others in our discussion about Ukraine.
  Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Ohio has 6 minutes 
remaining.
  Mr. MFUME. Mr. Speaker, I am really happy to join with Congresswoman 
Kaptur, who has served for some time now as chair of the Ukrainian 
Caucus, who has driven us and gotten us to this point, but who has also 
kept together a bipartisan group of legislators. So, to her and to 
Ranking Member Fitzpatrick, my thanks to both of them.
  We are all here, obviously, because of the situation in Ukraine. This 
comes at us from different ways. I initially got involved when I came 
back to Congress because of a gentleman by the name of Roman Goy in my 
district who has watched these situations with Ukraine going back to 
2014 and beyond and who felt sort of helpless.
  On behalf of Mr. Goy in Catonsville and all the other ones that I 
have heard from--and I am particularly heartened to also hear, as we 
did earlier, from the gentlewoman, Mrs. Spartz, who is the only native 
Ukrainian to serve here in the United States Congress. Her comments are 
compelling, and her witness is one that we should always keep in front 
of us as something to be reminded of.
  Mr. Speaker, I go back a long, long way in terms of the aggression 
that we now see in Ukraine. I go so far back as to remember the Cold 
War days that a lot of us grew up under, the days of a very, very 
aggressive Soviet Union hellbent on domination, spanning 13 time zones, 
with a growing nuclear arsenal in those days and with the twisted 
belief that they somehow or another could, in fact, be a part of this 
hemisphere and pose an issue to us. It was a different Soviet Union. It 
is Russia now, but that same sort of thinking pervades.
  Back then, I am talking about the missile crisis in Cuba, where 
Soviet President Khrushchev, Nikita Khrushchev, was putting missiles 90 
miles off our coast, believing that he and the Soviet Union had a right 
to that sort of expansionism, that sort of aggression.
  Thank God that President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, having reached a 
very tight ultimatum with the reality, decided that the United States 
would not accept that.
  We were on the brink of war then, but the Soviet Union blinked. They 
removed their missiles from Cuba, and we have sort of coexisted in a 
sort of Cold War for some time now.
  Then, with the fall of Berlin and the ending of the Soviet Union as 
we knew it, and now the singular emergence of Russia, all of us 
concerned here are concerned about what is happening in Ukraine.
  When you look at the troop movements that are taking place, when you 
look at the propaganda being spun by the Kremlin, it is all so familiar 
to what happened in 1914 when the Soviet Union went off in its own 
direction and when it began to build up its war machine.
  In 2014, the Russian Government, following the same script, has 
decided--or did decide then--to have similar troop movements, similar 
weapons buildup, and a similar effort to invade. Even though the talk 
then was ``we are not invading,'' we know what happened then. They 
invaded Ukraine. They took and annexed Crimea.
  People in Kiev and elsewhere have been watching the situation with 
great trepidation, and now we are at a point with a massive Russian 
buildup all along the Ukrainian border, well over 100,000 troops, all 
sorts of armaments, and the ability to have airpower to strike and to 
take, if they want to, that country.
  So, the fact that President Biden and others have stood up--we want 
to also thank all of our European allies for banding together. The 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed just to be able to 
prevent things such as this. Although Ukraine is not a signatory under 
Article 5, its sovereignty and its independence is so very, very 
important.
  I want to join with Congresswoman Kaptur, Ranking Member

[[Page H1111]]

Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Spartz with her testimony, and all the others who 
have continued to raise this issue.

  In the old, old days, we never knew when the then-Soviet Union was 
going to strike. We don't know now. I remember air drills at 1 o'clock 
in the afternoon. In schools, we were so close to the end of the last 
war, kids had to stop what they were doing and practice drills, hiding 
under their desks. In every school, there was a bomb shelter. We have 
come a long way since then, but that threat is still there.
  A lot of people say: Well, why is this important? It is important 
because history can repeat itself. It is important because history 
often does repeat itself. It is important because it is a lesson that 
we have learned and must never get away from.
  Terrorism anywhere is a threat to democracies everywhere. I join and 
am happy in this bipartisan effort, Mr. Speaker, to lend my voice.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Mfume for his sterling 
remarks. His presence here adds enormous value to what we are 
attempting to do, to stop war, to promote diplomacy and peace, and to 
help protect a David against a Goliath. This is a very noble calling.
  As we close today, I want to say for the record, for teachers who may 
be listening, for scholars, for other Members of Congress, there is a 
book by Dr. Timothy Snyder of Yale University titled ``Bloodlands.'' If 
you want to understand the struggle for liberty, that is a book that is 
a must-read.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________