[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 8, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H1364-H1367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
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NO FLOWERS FOR UKRAINIAN WOMEN ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 2021, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity tonight
for a Special Order on this International Women's Day.
There are a lot of ironies about this day. We in the Democratic
Women's Caucus and the Bipartisan Women's Caucus could not let this day
go by without drawing attention to what is happening in Ukraine to
women, mothers, and children. The irony is particularly significant
because International Women's Day is a national holiday in Ukraine and
Russia.
The Administrator of USAID and former U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power
commented on this today. She referenced that the founder of
International Women's Day was a woman by the name of Theresa Malkiel.
She was a Jewish labor organizer in New York. She was born in what is
now Ukraine, and she emigrated to the United States to escape
persecution. Madam Speaker, 130 years later, Ukrainian women are now
being forced to leave their homes as well.
Now, we are heralding the incredible strength of Ukrainian women.
They are facing unimaginable horrors brought about by Vladimir Putin
and Vladimir Putin alone.
Last year, President Putin sent a message to women for International
Women's Day in Russia. He said: ``I wish you good health and success .
. . . And, of course, I would like you to have as many reasons for
smiles and joy as possible.''
I guess the question to ask Putin is: Does that apply to Ukrainian
women as well, the women you presume are Russian but are willing to
have them be forced into death marches because you feel compelled to
shell communities throughout Ukraine?
Last week, Vladimir Putin's forces killed a woman and two children in
cold blood as they attempted to escape over a bridge in Irpin, a suburb
of Kyiv, and he continues to order the shelling of evacuation corridors
as Ukrainian civilians attempt to flee. Over 1 million of them have
already left. It is going to be millions and millions more.
Let me just show you a couple of pictures, Madam Speaker. This is a
woman in Ukraine on International Women's Day, thanks to Vladimir
Putin. This is what Vladimir Putin thinks of women. These are the
smiles he wants to see on their faces, the joy he wants to see in their
eyes.
This man needs to be called out for what he is. He is a tyrant, and
he is committing premeditated war on the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian
women and children. He is doing so and committing war crimes as well.
Let me show you yet another picture, Madam Speaker.
This is one that is hard to look at. These are three dead women who
were trying to escape and were shelled down. They are now dead. They
have their suitcases and their backpacks. One is a small girl. This is
what Vladimir Putin is doing in Ukraine, and he must be called out for
it.
His bloodthirsty disregard for the lives of women and children has
never been more apparent. Last month, I was disgusted to hear him use a
crude rape reference to urge Ukraine to acquiesce to Russia's demands,
saying: ``You may like it. You may not. But you will have to endure it,
my beauty.''
Vladimir Putin said this: ``You may like it. You may not. But you
will have to endure it, my beauty.''
His senseless war has already caused nearly 500 civilian deaths, and
it is probably more than that, including 29 children, and it is
probably more than that. He has already forced 2 million Ukrainian
people, mostly women and children--in fact, about half of them
children--to flee their country.
On the news tonight was a story about an 11-year-old child whose
mother let him leave. He traveled 700 miles to get to a safe haven. His
mother, from some outpost somewhere in Ukraine, put up a video thanking
those who had taken her son into their arms and who had brought him to
safety. That is what Vladimir Putin is forcing Ukrainian families to
do.
The vast majority of these refugees, as I said, are women and
children who have left their husbands, their brothers, and their
fathers behind to fight. For the first time--for the first time ever--
half of these refugees are children.
Now, think about the scars that will take place in the minds of those
children over their lifetimes. These are children who should be home
playing in
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their neighborhoods and heading off to school, not hiding in bomb
shelters and fleeing across borders, not crying in their mama's arms
for milk when all they can get is water.
Women and girls who are single and arriving at the border face an
increased risk of exploitation and abuse, including sexual violence,
gender-based violence, and trafficking.
Welcome to International Women's Day. Welcome to what Vladimir Putin
said he wanted, to put smiles and joy on the faces of women. Instead,
women are becoming victims of sex trafficking and rape.
The disruption of essential services and emergency medical care has
already affected the women in Ukraine. We have seen heartbreaking
reports of mothers giving birth in makeshift bomb shelters and
underground metro stations as Russia bombs Ukraine's cities.
The U.N. estimates that 80,000 Ukrainian women will give birth in the
next 3 months--80,000 of them. That is as many women who will give
birth as I have in one of my larger cities in my district. Many of
these women are going to do it alone without the support of their
family or their spouses, and they are going to do it without access to
medication or critical and lifesaving care.
This is the joy and smiles that Vladimir Putin talked about in his
address for International Women's Day last year. I don't know what he
said to the Russian women today. Did he send them flowers, give them
candy, and offer them gifts?
This is what he calls gifts to the Ukrainian women. The Russian
conflict in the Donbas region has already led to an increase in sexual
violence. In 2019, one in three Ukrainian women reported experiencing
physical or sexual violence, and the current crisis increases this risk
exponentially.
We have seen a horrific increase in sexual violence just in the past
2 weeks. In the city of Kherson alone, Russian soldiers raped at least
11 women, in some cases so brutally that only five of them have
survived.
We must elevate these stories and call Vladimir Putin out for what he
is. He is a misogynistic, evil dictator.
Nevertheless, Ukrainian women are fighting back. I am really in awe
of the ordinary, brave Ukrainian women who are leading the fight to
protect their country.
I am going to show you a picture now, Madam Speaker, of the Ukrainian
women. These are Ukrainian women. They represent almost 22 percent of
Ukraine's armed forces, which is one of the highest percentages in the
world. In the United States, the number of women serving in the
military is like 18 percent. It is 22 percent in Ukraine.
Many women, many mothers, are taking their children to the border to
hand them off to family members in Poland or Romania or other locales
and then going back in to join in the fight.
More women are joining the fight every day. They are teachers,
nurses, accountants, police officers, and grandmothers. The list goes
on and on. Even women members of the Ukrainian parliament, who just
1\1/2\ weeks ago were writing their country's laws, have taken up arms
in defense of Ukraine.
I guess we should all ask a question: Would we do that?
The Ukrainian parliamentary members are doing that. It is important
for us to have their backs.
I am proud that the United States has imposed unprecedented sanctions
and export controls on the Russian economy. I am proud of what our
President has done by solidifying the support of all NATO nations,
something that hasn't been done for a very long time.
NATO countries throughout Europe are stepping up in terms of how much
money they are committing to their defense. They all recognize that
this is about more than Ukraine. This is about freedom for all of
Europe.
I commend the Speaker for working quickly to bring a Russia energy
sanctions package to the floor and committing to sending $14 billion to
Ukraine to aid its military and assist with humanitarian responses. We
must bring the full weight of the U.S. Government and our allies to
bear in holding Putin accountable for his aggression and his violations
of international law.
Let me show you this picture, Madam Speaker. This is International
Women's Day. There is no joy on the faces of these people. There are no
smiles.
This is Vladimir Putin's war. He has every intention to annihilate an
entire population of people in Ukraine. This is not just an unprovoked
war; this is a premeditated, savage, murderous, and tyrannical attempt
of genocide.
I hope that we have the guts to call him out. We need to create our
red line, and our red line should be that every Ukrainian person who
wants to leave the country will have safe passage to a safe country
before another bullet or another missile is put into the air.
I hope we do not see the unthinkable happen in Ukraine.
God bless our Ukrainian women and children. God bless our Ukrainian
President. God bless the military in Ukraine who fights on and all
those who recognize that freedom is not cheap and freedom is not given.
If you want a democracy, you have to be willing to put your name, your
body, and your soul on the line to protect the community that you love.
Madam Speaker, I have the great and distinct honor to yield to the
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), who is my colleague whom I adore.
She co-chairs the Congressional Ukrainian Caucus and has been
passionate about drawing attention to the fate of the Ukrainian people.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Congresswoman Jackie
Speier of California for her leadership on so many issues, including
women. Not just women but for people everywhere, in our country, those
who have been abused, those who serve in our military, and those who
serve in our intelligence services. I thank her for her great
contributions to our country, how she has lived her life and has served
so nobly. The people of California have really sent a jewel here, and
they know it. I shall miss her greatly when she makes her decision to
leave us at the end of this session of Congress. She is truly a friend
and a friend to the American people.
I am very honored this evening to join her and rise on this
International Women's Day to call out the damaged and really bestial
soul of Vladimir Putin. His torturous treatment of the women, children,
and elderly of Ukraine is a war crime.
He is about genocide in a country that 30 years ago voted to be
independent. When the Soviet Union fell, 90 percent of the people of
Ukraine, about 42 million people, voted that they wanted to be free. It
was an extraordinary moment in world history.
But yet, we hear from this--what do I call him--Russia's tyrant--last
year on International Women's Day, he issued a statement. Here is what
he said: Congratulations to women--calling the day a ``holiday filled
with joy, warmth and goodness.'' And he talked about mothers,
granddaughters, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, saying how they
represented love and tenderness and how good this was. Yet, if we look
at the pictures that are here, he is killing them.
There are pictures of the people. Look at this woman. He says
tenderness and love and that women are taking care of countries and
they are raising children. He is killing them.
The elderly and the disabled--I received a letter today, and two
individuals were killed in a car because a Russian bomb came down in a
civilian area. The woman who was driving was elderly, and the person
she had in the car with her was disabled. He is massacring civilians.
He says he loves women. Really? They are dead. They didn't have a
chance. They are civilians.
In terms of the disruption of life in Ukraine, God bless them. Over 2
million have now fled from their tiny, little homes. It is one of the
poorest Nations in Europe, but it wants its freedom.
Here is a picture of the numbers of people fleeing. You can see, if
you look at the number of headscarves, these are women with their
children. Many at the Ukraine-Poland border are kissing their husbands
goodbye, they fear for the last time. The children are crying.
In the westernmost city of Ukraine, Lviv, there is a sea of displaced
people. Europe has not seen this since the Second World War, nothing
like it. Free people everywhere have to pay attention. These are good
people.
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Seventy-five percent of the food raised in that country that is eaten
by the people there is raised by those women in their family plots, in
their gardens. Putin is killing them. He is killing the mothers and
grandmothers of Ukraine.
What do his statements matter in the Kremlin, when he comes out of
his cave, wherever that is. We see the butchery on the news every
night. We see it on our iPhones. Our visceral feelings of horror pale
in comparison to the lived reality of those who now know deep fear,
anxiety, and loss.
The reality is that Putin is sending his troops in those tanks and
those jets up in the air to shoot and bomb hospitals and maternity
wards and kindergartens and schools. He has already killed, from 2014
to the present, when he first invaded Ukraine, 14,000 people who aren't
known to the world, and now more. He has no heart.
In his statement last year, on International Women's Day, he said:
Thank you to the women doctors, the paramedics, the medical nurses, and
all of those who are saving lives and nursing patients back to health.
What a lie.
These women in Ukraine today, without proper bandages, without
medical equipment, are caring for women who are pregnant and delivering
in the subway systems of the capital city, in Kyiv. If they need a C-
section and they are cut, there is no thread to sew them up. How about
that, Putin? How about that?
How many children have you killed since your invasion of Ukraine? The
misery among these people.
This abominable creature is now spilling the blood of those he once
heralded. Ukraine's medical professionals and their patients are being
murdered. The people trying to help are being murdered.
On a day Putin recently proclaimed as the triumph of love and
admiration and gratitude. This two-faced liar is committing war crimes
against an innocent people.
Can Putin be human? A human could not celebrate women on one day and
then annihilate them and their families on the next. He simply couldn't
be human. He is a killer of Lucifer proportion. He considers human life
not sacred.
So on this International Women's Day, a day dedicated to honoring
women around the globe, let us recognize the brave, courageous women of
Ukraine.
From every walk of life, they have endured centuries of oppression.
Now, with this window on liberty, this moment in history, they have a
chance to take their young democracy forward, and they are fighting for
it.
They are sewing camouflage material to try to prevent the planes from
seeing where they live. They are defending their homeland with every
ounce left in them. There is not enough food, and there is not enough
water.
As co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and as someone who
has visited Ukraine since the 1970s countless times, I know these women
and their bravery. There is nothing you can teach a grandma in Ukraine
that she hasn't been through. We call them babusyas. They are the
world's strongest women. They have endured so much. Ukraine's women are
truly engaged in a battle to slay Goliath.
Ukraine's passionate, generous, and courageous women are on the front
lines. There are some who are serving in the military itself, on the
home front, in their neighborhoods.
I don't know if anybody saw the babusya, a grandma, who had a pan,
and she hit an armed drone out of the air. How about that? They are
learning how to use guns, to do anything to help their people in
beating the savage attacks of Kremlin's Putin.
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The entire world sees the bold spirit of these women. Here in
America, we see that spirit in Ukraine's remarkable Ambassador Oksana
Markarova, who has such dignity, dignity under pressure, real courage,
rallying our Nation and our leaders for the aid of her country. We must
hear her. We must hear the pleas of the people of Ukraine.
In the midst of unceasing atrocity, Ukraine's women are pouring their
hearts and souls into the righteous cause of defending the bright
shining light of liberty. They can see it.
I will tell you one experience I had when I first went to Ukraine,
and I watched how the people walked with their heads down, and they
didn't want to be noticed. They tried to be almost disappeared while
they were walking down the sidewalk. They didn't want to make eye
contact with anybody.
Today, when you go to Ukraine, the new generation, they look at you,
they have hope in their eyes, there is possibility. They want to access
West. There is no more noble duty than defending liberty and letting
others enjoy its bounty.
When envisioning the vanguards of democracy, don't think of some
mythical beings. Instead, think of the flesh and blood of Ukrainian
women who are protecting and defending the precious blessings of the
bit of democracy and liberty that they have been able to taste. These
women are the real heroines among us.
Today, America and the world rise up in solidarity with Ukraine's
women. Let us salute their valiant fight against the darkness and the
murderous behavior of Vladimir Putin. We stand with them, and we stand
with Ukraine. No country in the world has done more for Ukraine than
the people of our great country.
Today, on International Women's Day in the year of 2022, America
exclaims to Ukraine's women: Slava Ukraini. Thank you, we love you, we
know you are going to be victorious. It is going to take a bit more
time, but know that we in the free world stand with you and are doing
everything possible to save you, to save your beloved families, to save
your communities, to save your country. You so deserve the liberty that
you have earned.
I say in many of my speeches back home, there is no more sacred soil
than the soil of Ukraine because of what its people intergenerationally
have endured through no fault of their own. They deserve to be free.
They have earned it.
Ms. SPEIER. I thank the remarkable gentlewoman from Ohio, whose
passion and commitment to the Ukrainian people is just so evident. She
said that they will be victorious. I believe her because we are going
to make sure they are going to be victorious. We have their backs.
I am reminded of this comment by one Ukrainian woman, and she said:
Nobody thought this is how we would spend our weekend; a teacher from
the town of Dnipro told a cameraman as she and her neighbors made
molotov cocktails. She said: I planned to plant tulips and daffodils on
my backyard today. Instead, I learned to fire arms and get ready for
the next night of attacks on Kyiv. These women are strong and
committed, and we will have their backs.
It is now a great privilege to yield to the gentlewoman from
Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean), co-chair of the bipartisan Women's Caucus and
a talented leader.
Ms. DEAN. Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Speier and
Representative Marcy Kaptur. It is a solemn privilege to be with them
tonight as we lift up the people of Ukraine, as we lift up the women
and children of Ukraine on this International Women's Day.
It is a sad day. It is a solemn day around the globe, and I hope that
the people of Ukraine know that we are heartbroken and determined
alongside of them.
I will begin by saying, ``Slava Ukraini. Slava Heroyam,'' and
recognize this International Women's Day.
I am the co-chair of the bipartisan Women's Caucus, and on behalf of
that caucus, I stand here to lift up the people of Ukraine, in
particular, the women and children in their suffering.
I want to say personally for me--I am speaking for no one in this
case other than myself--I don't believe that we are actually witnessing
a war here. I believe we are witnessing a series of war crimes; that we
are witnessing a series, the world is witnessing a series of
atrocities. There is no justification for this attack on the sovereign
nation of Ukraine. These are war crimes, and they are Mr. Putin's
alone.
I represent the Fourth Congressional District of Pennsylvania. It is
Montgomery and Berks Counties, suburban Philadelphia, proud home, in
both Jenkintown, Abington, and in Bridgeport and other areas of our
community, to terrific Ukrainian-American members of my community.
I have known them for my entire time of public service: As a State
representative for 6\1/2\ years and now in my
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fourth year in Congress. I have always been proud to call them my
community members, but sadly never so proud as I have been in the last
3, 4 weeks, as they prepared for this horror that we all hoped would
not come.
Just a few days ago, I was with the Ukrainian organizations and
volunteers at the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center in
Abington, many of whom still have close family and friends in Ukraine.
And, in fact, the children there made me this beautiful headband; made
for me and for many others. What was fascinating that day is everyone
was coming together, community coming together--not just Ukrainian
Americans, but others--to say we will not stand for the horror that is
going on. The globe, the world will not stand for the atrocities, the
murderous brutality of Mr. Putin on sovereign people.
One woman who started a donation drive was amazed. She went to U-Haul
and bought 30 boxes, and she wondered if they would be able to fill
those 30 boxes with donations of humanitarian food, medicines,
blankets, clothing, and others. Well, I think there were about three
container trucks later. The place was teeming with people, volunteers
of all stripes, towering with boxes of donations and people furiously
and very hopefully sorting those things. It was an amazing snapshot of
what I already knew about the Ukrainian-American community. They are
leaders in Montgomery County. They are leaders in this country. They
are leaders we are watching and witnessing in this world. Their
generosity and strength, their determination is extraordinary, and we
cannot imagine the pain and suffering as they watch their homeland,
they watch their family, their neighbors, their friends struggling with
this set of atrocities.
No amount of warnings from the Biden administration and our
intelligence could have prepared us for the sheer brutality and
devastation we have seen. Mr. Putin expected that he would quickly
topple Ukraine's young democracy. He was wrong, and he will be forever
wrong, as we have watched in all the resilience and the heroism of the
Ukrainians, especially President Zelensky.
Over the weekend, President Zelensky got on a call with Members of
Congress, both House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats, hundreds of
us. What a man of determination and dignity. I took notes. He said to
us: We just want peace. We want to hold and kiss our children. We want
to go to work. We want to sip coffee at our kitchen table. We want to
be neighbors with the Russians.
What bravery. What dignity. And yet this war has brought on him and
us a humanitarian crisis, with the number of people fleeing Ukraine
already exceeding 2 million. But death, displacement, and destruction
must not be forever. We must provide necessary aid, weapons, medicines,
food, fuel, refuge in a bipartisan universal way. I know we all in
Congress will continue to do all we can.
Ukrainians worldwide, please know we are here for you. You are
welcome here. God bless Ukraine.
The U.N. has recorded 406 civilian casualty deaths. Sadly, I think it
will be far more than that. An 18-month-old boy was killed in his home
after he was shelled by Russian forces; 13 civilians killed in an air
strike on the town of Makariv, their bodies recovered from the rubble;
a 26-year-old woman killed while attempting to deliver supplies to a
dog shelter in Buka; eight people killed during Russian shelling while
trying to flee the town of Irpin--children, mothers, civilians; a
preschool in northeastern Ukraine hit while civilians took shelter,
killing three of them, including a child and wounding another.
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These tragedies are inspiring a Nation and the many women in it, and
I applaud the women of Ukraine fighting to keep their country free and
the women of Russia protesting and speaking out against Mr. Putin, even
at the risk of imprisonment and worse.
I think of Ukraine's Ambassador to the U.N., whom we have met with
this past summer and this last week--what a tower of strength; and
Julia, a teacher and volunteer who wept and said, ``I just want to live
in our country, and that is all,'' as she waited to be deployed to
fight Russian troops.
Putin will forever be a pariah. The globe recognizes him for the
murderous, brutal dictator that he seeks to be.
Yet, I have hope. I have hope in the Ukrainian people and the globe
that has recognized the horror that is this series of war crimes.
Representative Speier, thank you for heading this tonight. Slava
Ukraini. Slava Heroyam. God bless Ukraine.
Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania
(Ms. Dean) for her outstanding remarks.
Madam Speaker, there are many people to thank. There are many
organizations to thank.
When we look at who is bringing shelter and aid to the Ukrainian
people now, the nonprofit organizations around the world, CARE,
Catholic Relief Services, the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization,
the International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Rescue
Committee, Plan International, Save the Children, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF,
World Food Program, and World Health Organization. To all of them, we
say thank you.
Let's be clear: This is Putin's war. He will pay the price. His
vicious, premeditated attempt of genocide of the Ukrainian people will
not be tolerated.
Tonight, I want to close with this photograph of Ukrainian women in
uniform. They are fighting for their country, their future, their
children, and truly for freedom around the world.
Madam Speaker, I yield back.
____________________