[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 72 (Monday, May 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Ukraine

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I want to begin by responding to a 
particularly disgusting comment made over the weekend by Russian 
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. As the Russian Army continues 
slaughtering civilians, Foreign Minister Lavrov did what many others 
who now reside in the dustbin of history have done before him--resort 
to anti-Semitism to defend his nation's action.
  As the highest ranking, Jewish elected official in the United States, 
I take particular umbrage at what Mr. Lavrov said. Asked on Italian 
television yesterday to defend his nation's invasion of Ukraine, Mr. 
Lavrov repeated the deranged conspiracy that Ukraine is dominated by 
Neo-Nazis and dismissed President Zelenskyy's own Jewish heritage by 
saying:

       I believe Hitler also had Jewish origins.

  He also added:

       We have been hearing the wise Jewish people say that the 
     biggest anti-Semites are the Jews themselves.

  I have only one word for this: ``sickening.'' It is sickening. Mr. 
Lavrov's comments are just sickening and deserve to be condemned by all 
who oppose the dangers of anti-Semitism. They tap into the very old and 
very poisonous notion that the Jewish people themselves were the 
architects of the worst human atrocities in modern history even when 
they were aimed at Jews themselves.
  Mr. Foreign Minister, you are fooling no one. The war crimes 
committed by Russia are as plain as day for the world to see. And to 
justify Russia's violence with appeals to anti-Semitism is sickening; 
it is dangerous. It is chilling to see Russia's top diplomat--he should 
not be called a diplomat after saying that. It is chilling to see 
Russia's top foreign policy person so casually spread disinformation 
about the history of the Holocaust in order to advance Mr. Putin's 
political and military agenda.
  I condemn Mr. Lavrov's comments in the strongest possible terms, and 
every individual who wishes to guard against the poisons of anti-
Semitism should do the same.
  Now, Madam President, over the weekend, Speaker Pelosi led a 
delegation of House Members to Ukraine and met with President Zelenskyy 
to pledge our country's support for the Ukrainian people.
  We have the obligation to demonstrate that support by approving 
another round of Ukrainian emergency funding. Now that President Biden 
has made a formal request for $33 billion, our appropriators are hard 
at work turning the request into legislation. It is my hope that a 
bipartisan agreement can be reached very soon and that the Senate can 
begin processing this aid package on the floor as early as next week.
  Quickly approving this emergency funding for Ukraine is essential to 
helping the people of Ukraine in their fight against Russia. Again, I 
expect both sides to work quickly, decisively, and with bipartisan 
cooperation to get this aid out the door and onto the President's desk, 
just as we did for the first round of aid back in March.
  I will also work to include a provision that arms the Federal 
Government with the tools needed to liquidate assets the United States 
seized from Russian oligarchs, such as yachts, mansions, private jets, 
art collections, and the like.
  Specifically, the Senate should expand existing forfeiture laws that 
will turn up the heat on these corrupt individuals who made their own 
ill-gotten gains from the vicious, evil, dictatorial Vladimir Putin. We 
need to go after these crooked oligarchs. They have gotten rich off 
Putin's regime. Their ill-gotten gains should have no safe refuge 
within the United States, and it would be great if the proceeds from 
these assets would be used to support the Ukrainian people. I think 
that is the right way to go, and I will work to see that the Senate 
acts in this space.
  Two months into the war, it is clear that support from the United 
States and our allies has been essential in helping Ukraine resist 
Russia's invasion. But the bloodshed is very likely far from over, and 
the cost borne by the Ukrainian people has been immense. According to 
the U.N., at least 3,000 civilians have been killed since the start of 
the war, and the true number is unfortunately, sadly, far higher than 
that in all likelihood.
  The United States thus has a moral obligation to give the Ukrainian 
people the tools they need for as long as they need them, more money 
for Javelins, Stingers, howitzers, Switchblade unmanned aerial 
munitions, and much more. And make no mistake, the Senate will move 
swiftly to get an emergency funding package passed and sent to the 
President's desk.