[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 59 (Monday, April 4, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H4129-H4130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        UKRAINE MUST BE THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE AT THIS TIME

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Pennsylvania (Ms. Wild) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise today not just as the Representative 
for Pennsylvania's Seventh District, but also as the Representative of 
one of the largest Ukrainian-American communities in our entire 
country.
  Today, my constituents are gutted. These horrific images of Bucha are 
seared into their hearts and minds forever. When they see these images, 
they are thinking of their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, 
mothers and fathers, and aunts and uncles who have gone from living 
peaceful lives to being martyrs in an unprovoked war of choice that had 
absolutely no reason for occurring.
  When we see these images, we need to think of an average suburban 
neighborhood here in the United States and try to imagine what it would 
be like to have our homes, our families, our neighbors destroyed 
without provocation, without any cause whatsoever.
  I look at this photo of a woman with freshly manicured nails, and as 
any woman viewing this knows, when she had her nails done, perhaps in 
anticipation of an evening out with friends, this victim of slaughter 
wasn't imagining that her beautiful bright red nails were going to be 
displayed around the world as evidence of carnage.
  There is enormous grief in my community, and there is enormous 
righteous anger and indignation. I am here to echo that anger and that 
indignation and to say that we will not accept this. We will stand up 
against it.
  The United Nations Security Council must authorize an independent 
investigation into the crimes that were committed in Bucha. Since 
Russia will almost certainly veto, it is crucial that we immediately 
find another path to move forward with such an investigation. This is 
not up to Vladimir Putin. His crimes are now for the world to judge and 
for history to record. Now is not the time for messaging resolutions by 
the United Nations and others. It is time for action by every 
democratic country in the world. We cannot stand back.
  As the Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said, 
``Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when 
human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become 
irrelevant. Wherever

[[Page H4130]]

men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or 
political views, that place must--at that moment--become the center of 
the universe.''

  Ukraine must be the center of the universe right now, for as long as 
it takes. The Grammy Awards, the NCAA tournaments, and our favorite 
television shows are a welcome diversion, but let that diversion be 
short. Don't lose focus of the center of the universe, which right now 
must be Ukraine.
  The work of delivering justice can start here. Every democratic 
country must investigate and ensure that implicated Russian officials, 
oligarchs, and their families are barred from entering their borders. 
Together, the international community must come together to send the 
message that no country can commit war crimes and see them go 
unpunished.
  I urge President Biden to take the step I called on him to take back 
in the first week of March. Work with our European allies to take all 
Russian financial institutions, not just some, off the SWIFT system. 
The cost of this invasion must be beyond unsustainable for Putin and 
the oligarchs around him. It must become literally unbearable.
  But we must do more. We must provide the Ukrainian people with the 
full range of military aid that they need--drones, armored vehicles, 
machine guns, planes, night vision devices, every single weapon of war 
that they need for their defense. And time is of the essence.
  It goes without saying that continued humanitarian assistance must be 
provided on an ongoing basis. The fact that we have private American 
citizens--and I know some of them--who are delivering medical supplies 
and other necessities into Ukraine more quickly than we or our NATO 
allies are is incomprehensible. But I also laud those citizens.
  The extraordinary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people is a 
challenge to us all. How much will they have to bear? How long will we 
let these crimes continue? Enough is enough.
  We will never forget. We will never lose sight of the fact that our 
shared humanity is at stake in this barbaric invasion. The Ukrainian 
people and justice and democracy will prevail. The Ukrainians will come 
out as the heroes of this story when it is told in the history books. 
But let us, too, come out as the helpers, the ones who did everything 
we possibly could to help them achieve victory and restore their 
country.

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