[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 30, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H3978-H3979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       CONDEMNING VLADIMIR PUTIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. LaHood) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LaHOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today in the strongest possible 
terms to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ongoing war 
crimes against the people of Ukraine.
  In the last month, the world has witnessed Putin's brutality and 
capacity for evil against the innocent people of Ukraine.
  In the lead-up to the invasion of a sovereign, democratic Ukraine, 
Putin lied to the world, asserting that he did not want war, that he 
did not want to invade Ukraine, and that the troops amassed on the 
Ukrainian border were only conducting training exercises.
  Putin claims that any effort to expand NATO is a mission aimed only 
to destabilize Russia; however, it is exactly the opposite. NATO is 
solely a defensive alliance that has never sought to destabilize or 
challenge Russia but, rather, to support the maintenance and respect 
for sovereignty and peace.
  At no time during the lead-up to Russia's criminal invasion did 
Ukraine or NATO provoke Vladimir Putin to act. Despite this, Putin 
launched a full-scale, illegal, and unjustified invasion of Ukraine 
under the false pretense of ethnic solidarity and denazification.
  The bottom line is: Putin is a liar and cannot be trusted.
  The world has witnessed Putin's indiscriminate bombing of residential 
areas and civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. Putin's authoritarian 
brutality has included the horrific bombing and destruction of a 
maternity hospital in Mariupol, where he murdered women and children. 
He also ordered the bombing of a community theater where hundreds of 
innocent civilians were sheltering.
  Fears remain that Russian forces, at the sole discretion of Putin, 
will use chemical weapons against innocent Ukrainians, as they did in 
Syria in 2015.

[[Page H3979]]

  In the face of Putin's criminal war, the Ukrainian people and their 
President, President Zelenskyy, have shown immense courage, resilience, 
and determination as they defend their country. The world stands united 
with them.
  As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 
I believe it is vital that the United States continue to maximize 
available intelligence-sharing with our Ukrainian and international 
allies and also maintain robust military and humanitarian assistance.
  The United States must also work to declassify intelligence that 
reveals evidence of Vladimir Putin's malign intentions and actions, 
including war crimes committed.
  Putin is a thug, a dictator, and an authoritarian war criminal whose 
crimes--past, present, and future--should be known and exposed across 
the world. Pulling back the veil on his actions will ensure that we 
hold Putin accountable and prosecute him for the war criminal he is.
  America and its people will continue to show solidarity with the 
Ukrainian people.

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