[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1212-S1213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Ukraine

  Mr. CASEY. Madam President, I rise, as so many of us have of late, to 
talk about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This invasion, as we 
know, started on February 24, and it is now, I guess, in its 21st or 
22nd day.
  At the time of the invasion--I think it was the day after or 2 days 
after--I was reading in a newspaper the reference to one resident of 
Ukraine who said the following about the onset of the hostilities by 
Vladimir Putin and Russia:

       It was the worst sunrise in my life.

  I can't even begin to imagine what that individual in Ukraine or tens 
of thousands of families were feeling on that day, and hundreds of 
thousands throughout the country--millions, even.
  This attack, which is ongoing, was both unprovoked and unjustified. 
It is an attack on a sovereign nation by a murderous dictator who has 
no regard for human life and no regard for the rules-based 
international order. I think a lot of people knew that before the 
invasion, but now it is abundantly clear to the world what Vladimir 
Putin's intentions are and what his practices are when it comes to 
attacking a sovereign nation.
  The New York Times told us last Friday, March 11, about Putin. I am 
quoting here from the New York Times, and they made reference in this 
story to his actions in Syria, as well as Chechnya:

       [H]e has demonstrated in [the] past . . . a willingness not 
     only to bomb heavily populated areas indiscriminately but 
     also to use civilian casualties as leverage against his 
     enemies.

  ``[U]se civilian casualties as leverage''--that is the dictator that 
the people of Ukraine are dealing with right now. And I think it is 
clear from the reporting, and so many Americans have read the stories 
and have seen the coverage of the bombings. It is clear that he is 
bombing indiscriminately. It is clear that he and his army, his 
military, are targeting civilians.
  All you have to do is look at the list of locations. And the list 
would be hundreds if we read all of them, but here are just a couple 
examples. Maybe the most graphic in the last couple of days was the 
bombing of a maternity ward and that footage of a stretcher coming out 
of that rubble with a pregnant woman, who has since died, as did her 
child. That is an example of that kind of indiscriminate bombing.
  But in addition to a maternity ward, he has bombed a shoe factory, a 
psychiatric hospital, apartment buildings, cafes, homes, parking lots 
near a shopping center, bombing near a kindergarten, bombing of a 
mosque, bombing--we are told, the most recent number--34 medical 
facilities, damaged in Ukraine. And that number, of course, will grow. 
Most recently, just in the last day or so, a supermarket, and, I think, 
at least a 12-story residential tower.
  And then, just today, another reference to just one example of the 
brutality of Putin: 10 people killed waiting in line for bread in 
Ukraine. The adviser to the mayor of one of the most besieged cities, 
Mariupol, said the following. This adviser said:

       Humanity has not yet invented a word to describe what 
     Russia is doing to us.

  I think that says it all. There is no way to describe what is 
happening. The world has never seen this, in recent history. Maybe the 
closest example would be what happened in Syria, which, of course, was 
also paid for and led by the Russian military, Mr. Putin.
  Despite all that horror and all that bloodshed and all that is to 
follow, despite all of that grim reminder of the brutality of Mr. 
Putin, the Ukrainian people have inspired so many of us. When I say 
``us,'' I don't mean just voting Members of Congress or people 
throughout the country. They have inspired people the world over. I 
have never seen anything in my lifetime that equates to the inspiration 
that they have generated; their courage--the raw physical courage of 
the people, of the military, and all the contributions they are making 
to their country--their resolute determination to protect their 
freedom, to protect their families, to protect their nation, and, 
really, when you think about it in a larger sense, to protect democracy 
itself, because that is really very much on the line in Ukraine.

  The Ukrainian people's stubborn refusal to be intimidated by a 
ruthless autocrat and his military has inspired so many people every 
single day. I just saw another example this morning. Women who have 
left Ukraine with their children, to bring their children to safety, 
coming back into Ukraine to join the fight or, in some cases, I guess, 
to rejoin the fight--women putting their lives at risk for their 
country.
  This morning the Presiding Officer and all of us, the Members of 
Congress, had the honor to listen to President Zelenskyy's address to 
the Congress, and I know the Nation saw it as well. His address this 
morning was also inspiring, every bit as inspiring as that engendered 
by his people. But his address was also a call to action for us to do 
more. We have got to do more. And we have got to provide additional 
support.
  President Zelenskyy thanked our President, President Biden, and the 
American people for all the support that we have provided, especially 
in the last couple of weeks since the invasion began but also before 
that.
  And President Biden responded just 2 or 3 hours later when he 
announced even more military assistance or security assistance, which, 
if you add up just that part of the support, just since he took office, 
is now at about $2 billion. That doesn't include other support like 
humanitarian support.
  But here is just a quick list of what that security assistance is. I 
will just itemize a few. This isn't exhaustive, but it is just some 
examples: Stinger anti-aircraft systems--we provided many hundreds of 
them, and now we are providing a lot more than that--the Javelin anti-
armor systems that have had such success against the Russian military, 
Russian tanks; helicopters; patrol boats; grenade launchers; guns and 
ammunition; grenades; mortar and artillery rounds; secure 
communications; military medical equipment; on and on and on.
  And, as I mentioned, the President responded specifically today by 
announcing that the United States will add $800 million just on 
security assistance, bringing that total, as I said, to $2 billion 
since he began his administration. It was noteworthy that two of the 
component parts of that--the Stinger systems and the Javelins--both are 
being used with great skill by the Ukrainian fighters. The increase in 
those numbers is not just a few hundred. In both cases it is either 
doubling or tripling what we have already done. And we will do more. We 
will continue to do more.
  Congress has passed a spending bill just a couple of days ago, at the 
end of last week, and the President signed it this week, which allowed 
that $800 million to be available.
  So that is the good news: more money for weapons and other security 
assistance, more money for humanitarian support. That number is growing 
all the time because of the need that the Ukrainian people have.
  The sanctions--the crushing, unprecedented sanctions--that already 
are having effect. I had a briefing today just on that topic of the 
impact of the sanctions, and it is substantial, and it will only grow 
as time goes by. We will have more time later to talk about that. And, 
of course, the contribution, as well--all of these are contributions of 
not just our government but our people. The American people made these 
contributions of military assistance and humanitarian support and our

[[Page S1213]]

ability to impose sanctions with our allies, with our NATO partners.
  But at the same time, what gets lost sometimes in the discussion 
about Ukraine is the intelligence support we have provided--all kinds 
of offices throughout our intelligence community providing actionable 
intelligence or intelligence that the Ukrainians can use if they fight 
the battle, fight the war. That is probably incalculable in terms of 
the advantages given on the battlefield and beyond. So that bears 
emphasis as well.
  I think one area of positive development in the last couple of months 
is the unity, not just the unity of NATO, which has never been 
stronger, probably never stronger since the 1960s or even more so, but 
the unity here at home--unity in the Senate, unity in the House, unity 
throughout the country to support the people of Ukraine--the people but 
also to support the military.
  I have to say, though, as much as we have that unity with our NATO 
partners and here in the Congress, there are voices here in Washington 
and around the country that are not as unified. We know the voice of 
our former President and his continued approval of Putin's ``genius.''
  Why would you ever say that about a murderous dictator? He is not a 
genius. He is, I believe, a war criminal, but that kind of language and 
that kind of support for Putin, at least by way of laudatory words, has 
tarnished that unity, has undermined that unity here at home and around 
the world. But it is not enough to break that unity.
  I just hope that Republican Members of Congress, when someone in 
their party, especially a leader of their party or a Member of Congress 
or any other Republican official--I hope that when they say things 
about Vladimir Putin that are positive or in any way supportive that 
they would call it out and condemn it.
  When you are supporting the people of Ukraine at a time of war, you 
have to use every tool in your toolbox: military assistance, diplomacy, 
sanctions, humanitarian support, but also your words as leaders. And we 
should be condemning any American leader who supports or says positive 
things about Mr. Putin.
  I hope the Republican Members of Congress who have stood up and been 
very supportive of the Ukrainian people in this fight would also call 
out Members of their party and condemn such statements because that 
didn't happen in July of 2018, when the former President--in my 
judgment, this is my view of it--was genuflecting before Vladimir Putin 
on the world stage in Helsinki, Finland, in probably what I believe is 
maybe the worst day for an American President on the world stage ever 
when he took the side of Mr. Putin, a murderous dictator, over the 
determinations made by our intelligence community about the previous 
election. That was a low moment for America, for our democracy, and for 
our country.
  We now have, I think, very clearly a choice. It is not a choice of 
three or four options or five options. There are only two options here: 
You can choose Mr. Putin or choose Mr. Zelenskyy. You can choose a 
dictator who has no regard for human life and all of the enablers 
around him, or you can choose the President who is standing up for 
freedom, Mr. Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine.
  It is really a simple choice. It is a choice between the incarnation 
of evil and the personification of freedom. That is the choice. There 
is not a third option here. Every American has to make this choice, but 
especially Members of Congress, elected officials. That is part of our 
job. You have to make a choice, and it is very simple.
  The good news is Republicans, Democrats, and Independents--House and 
Senate, the two branches of government--have made a choice, and the 
American people have made a choice. They made a choice for freedom to 
support that personification of freedom by supporting Mr. Zelenskyy and 
his government in this war, by supporting the Ukrainian people, who are 
literally putting their lives on the line for freedom itself.
  I will conclude with these thoughts. Like our Constitution that we 
turn to for both--not just guidance and inspiration, but we turn to, to 
remind ourselves of our duty, so, too, are the people of Ukraine 
turning to their Constitution for that guidance and that inspiration 
and that call to action.
  Here is what that Constitution says in pertinent part, and it sounds 
very familiar:

       The people are the bearers of sovereignty and the only 
     sources of power in Ukraine . . . To affirm and ensure human 
     rights and freedoms is the main duty of the State.

  That is what the Ukrainian Constitution says, a mandate that freedom 
must be the goal and the work of the State. Wow, are they doing that 
now. President Zelenskyy and his government and the people of Ukraine 
are standing up for freedom.
  When we are at our best here at home, we do the same. We have a great 
anthem for our Nation: ``O beautiful''--and you know the rest of that 
great anthem. One of the verses of that great anthem says:

       O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years.

  The dream of a patriot isn't just to stand up in the moment and 
fight, but that patriot is standing up for freedom, fighting and 
willing to put their lives on the line--or his or her life on the 
line--for freedom because they are seeing beyond the years. They are 
standing up for freedom, not just for themselves and their families and 
their nation, but for the future--for the future of that nation. That 
is what the people of Ukraine are doing right now, and that is why we 
have to continue to support them in that great fight.
  I think most Americans have already made the choice. We just have to 
back them up and stand for freedom--not to stand for the incarnation of 
evil, Mr. Putin and his government right now, but to stand for the 
personification of freedom. We saw that this morning with President 
Zelenskyy.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Ossoff). The Senator from Washington.