[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 20, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3546-S3547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
______
SENATE RESOLUTION 713--RECOGNIZING RUSSIAN ACTIONS IN UKRAINE AS A
GENOCIDE
Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Wicker, Mrs.
Shaheen, Mr. Portman, and Mr. Graham) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 713
Whereas the Russian Federation's illegal, premeditated,
unprovoked, and brutal war against Ukraine includes
extensive, systematic, and flagrant atrocities against the
people of Ukraine;
Whereas article II of the Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (in this preamble
referred to as the ``Genocide Convention''), adopted and
opened for signature in 1948 and entered into force in 1951,
defines genocide as ``any of the following acts committed
with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national,
ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing
members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental
harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on
the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing
measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e)
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another
group'';
Whereas, on October 3, 2018, the Senate unanimously agreed
to Senate Resolution 435, 115th Congress, which commemorated
the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor and ``recognize[d] the
findings of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine as submitted
to Congress on April 22, 1988, including that `Joseph Stalin
and those around him committed genocide against the
Ukrainians in 1932-1933' '';
Whereas substantial and significant evidence documents
widespread, systematic actions against the Ukrainian people
committed by Russian forces under the direction of political
leadership of the Russian Federation that meet one or more of
the criteria under article II of the Genocide Convention,
including--
(1) killing members of the Ukrainian people in mass
atrocities through deliberate and regularized murders of
fleeing civilians and civilians in passing as well as
purposeful targeting of homes, schools, hospitals, shelters,
and other residential and civilian areas;
(2) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the
Ukrainian people by launching indiscriminate attacks against
civilians and civilian areas, conducting willful strikes on
humanitarian evacuation corridors, and employing widespread
and systematic sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians,
including women, children, and men;
(3) deliberately inflicting upon the Ukrainian people
conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical
destruction in whole or in part, including displacement due
to annihilated villages, towns, and cities left devoid of
food, water, shelter, electricity, and other basic
necessities, starvation caused by the destruction of
farmlands and agricultural equipment, the placing of Russian
landmines across thousands of acres of useable fields, and
blocking the delivery of humanitarian food aid;
(4) imposing measures intended to prevent births among the
Ukrainian people, demonstrated by the Russian military's
expansive and direct targeting of maternity hospitals and
other medical facilities and systematic attacks against
residential and civilian areas as well as humanitarian
corridors intended to deprive Ukrainians of safe havens
within their own country and the material conditions
conducive to childrearing; and
(5) forcibly mass transferring millions of Ukrainian
civilians, hundreds of thousands of whom are children, to the
Russian Federation or territories controlled by the Russian
Federation;
Whereas the state-level intent of the Russian Federation in
favor of those heinous crimes against humanity has been
demonstrated through frequent pronouncements and other forms
of official communication denying Ukrainian nationhood and
sovereignty, including President Putin's ahistorical claims
that Ukraine is part of a ``single whole'' Russian nation
with ``no historical basis'' for being an independent
country;
Whereas some Russian soldiers and brigades accused of
committing war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine, and elsewhere were
rewarded with medals by President Putin;
Whereas the Russian state-owned media outlet RIA Novosti
published the article ``What Should Russia do with Ukraine'',
which outlines ``de-Nazification'' as meaning ``de-
Ukrainianization'' or the destruction of Ukraine;
Whereas article I of the Genocide Convention confirms
``that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in
time of war, is a crime under international law which [the
Contracting Parties] undertake to prevent and to punish'';
and
Whereas although additional documentation and analysis of
atrocities committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine may
be needed to punish those responsible, the substantial and
significant documentation already undertaken, combined with
statements showing intent, compel urgent action to prevent
further acts of genocide: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) condemns the Russian Federation for committing acts of
genocide against the Ukrainian people;
(2) calls on the United States, in cooperation with allies
in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European
Union, to undertake measures to support the Government of
Ukraine to prevent further acts of Russian genocide against
the Ukrainian people; and
(3) supports tribunals and international criminal
investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military
personnel to account for a war of aggression, war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and genocide.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to draw the attention of the
Senate and the American people to a dark anniversary on the near
horizon.
On July 24, the world will have seen 5 full months of the brutal,
unjustified, and utterly senseless war Russia's dictator Vladimir Putin
has unleashed on Ukraine, a peace-loving democracy that has never
threatened Russia or any of its other neighbors.
It will be 150 days of Mr. Putin and his army's killing and raping
Ukrainian women and children; destroying homes, hospitals, museums,
schools, and churches; displacing almost 13 million people; and
unleashing chaos and havoc on the world. The blockage of the southern
ports of Ukraine has interrupted the vital supply of Ukrainian food
supplies to a hungry world, wreaking pain and havoc on societies across
the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. An existing global food
security crisis has now been severely worsened by Russia's violent
assault, as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee examined earlier
today in a hearing where USAID Administrator Samantha Power and our
permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Linda
Thomas-Greenfield, testified. They spoke about the U.S. role in trying
to avert this additional global tragedy resulting from Russia's
aggression and the immensity of the task ahead.
Who could forget the horrors of Bucha and Irpin, the shell-shocked
look in the eyes of Ukrainian children who will forever carry the
burdens of unimaginable trauma or the Ukrainian women who had to be
carried from a maternity ward after the Russians struck their hospital
with a cruise missile.
This is an everyday reality now for Ukrainians--unspeakable, cruel
military assaults. Yet they demonstrate the indomitable will to fight
for their land and freedom; they do not give up; and they are truly an
inspiration for the rest of the world.
When Mr. Putin started this attack, he assumed Russia would conquer
Ukraine and seize its capital in 3 days. Yet it is now day almost 150,
and Russia has suffered heavy losses and retreated from Kyiv. While
several towns in the south of the country have been flattened and then
occupied, in most of the country, the Russian invaders have barely
advanced from their initial positions.
In the towns and cities the Russians occupy, they have met heavy
resistance from Ukrainian guerillas and regular citizens who do not
want to be part of Putin's evil empire. Despite efforts to indoctrinate
Ukrainian children in occupied areas with a counterfactual narrative of
the contemporary history, Russian speakers are learning Ukrainian, and
what have been generally positive relations with the people of Ukraine
and Russia before this invasion have now been completely destroyed.
Independent analysts have described the ongoing violence as a
genocide in
[[Page S3547]]
Ukraine, and there is a growing body of evidence that it is, sadly,
true. A May of 2022 study conducted by the New Lines Institute and the
Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights concluded that ``Russia bears
State responsibility for breaches of Article II and Article III of the
Genocide Convention.''
The report pointed to a pattern of Russian forces targeting the
Ukrainian civilians, with evidence of mass executions and torture of
civilians in Russian-occupied regions. The report included evidence of
deliberate attacks on shelters, evacuation routes, and humanitarian
corridors, as well as reports of sexual violence and forcible
deportation of Ukrainians to Russia.
On July 14, the United States and 44 other nations signed an
International Criminal Court declaration to investigate over 20,000
reports--20,000 reports--of war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine
since the beginning of the war.
Make no mistake about it, Vladimir Putin has caused the suffering and
pain in pursuit of his ambition to rebuild the Russian Empire. He has
said it to himself on multiple occasions. He is hell-bent on destroying
the post-World War II world order that has brought prosperity and peace
to our allies in Europe--and to Russia to this point, too.
Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Ukrainians are
fighting not just for their land and freedom, which, as Americans, we
should cherish and appreciate, but also for the very core of the global
order that, if destroyed, will marginalize our allies and threaten the
United States.
With this in mind, we must remember that supporting Ukraine is not
charity. It is in our core national security interest to provide the
Ukrainians with the arms, financing, and moral support to defeat the
tyrant of Russia. If Ukraine falls, it will lead to the subjugation of
Ukrainian people, destruction of its culture and language, and bring a
hostile and expansionistic Russian Empire right to the borders of our
NATO allies that we are committed to protect with our troops and
weapons. Ukraine is the firewall that the world cannot afford to see
breached.
So, yes, it is a moral imperative for us to support Ukrainians in
this just war, but it is also a core national security necessity for us
to do this. Ukraine is fighting this war on multiple fronts: on land
and at sea and in the air. The security of the Black Sea region is a
critical aspect of this war that has not received enough attention. As
recent reporting suggests, the ability of the Ukrainians' vessels to
navigate the Black Sea is important for the country but also for
regional stability and global food security. That is where Ukraine
exports most of its agricultural products. Ukraine is a major grain
exporter, and the Russians have been blocking these vessels from
departing Ukrainian ports. This exposes some of the world's most
vulnerable people to food scarcity, malnutrition, and worsening
poverty--and in some cases leading to unnecessary and preventable
deaths. Truly, the ugliness and depravation of the Putin regime has no
limit.
It is in this context the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation
in Europe that I chair conducted a field hearing on Black Sea security
in Constanta, Romania, on July 1. I want to thank my friend Senator
Wicker for chairing that hearing. The Commission brought together key
decisionmakers from the Black Sea states to discuss how best to address
Russia's illegal naval blockade of Ukrainian ports.
Subsequently, Senator Wicker and I joined Senators Shaheen and Romney
in introducing the Black Sea Security Act, S. 4509. This bill would
declare that it is the policy of the United States ``to actively deter
the threat of further Russian escalation in the Black Sea region and
defend freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to prevent the spread of
further armed conflict in Europe.''
The bill further requires that the National Security Council shall
deliver to Congress an interagency report that outlines current policy
options toward Black Sea countries and the border region. The report
would include a breakdown of funding to support these efforts,
including military assistance; economic assistance, including support
for food security; countering Russia's disinformation and propaganda;
energy diversification; increasing access to global capital markets; a
plan for helping U.S. allies in the region to accelerate their
transitions from legacy Russian military equipment and promote NATO
interoperability; and strengthening the rule of law and anticorruption
efforts.
I call on my colleagues to support this important piece of
legislation.
Tragically, this war is turning into a marathon, and it is incumbent
upon us not to lose our focus and determination in supporting our
Ukrainian partners. I want to urge my colleagues in this Chamber and
all my fellow Americans to stay the course and continue to support
Ukraine for as long as it takes.
My final point today is that we should say the name of what Russia is
doing, the atrocities they are committing. Russia is committing
genocide in Ukraine. Russia is trying to eviscerate not just the people
and the buildings of Ukraine; they are trying to eliminate the
Ukrainian language, Ukrainian history, and Ukrainian culture. That is
genocide.
That is why I am joining Senator Risch, along with Senators Graham,
Blumenthal, Shaheen, and Portman in introducing a resolution that would
condemn the Russian Federation for committing acts of genocide against
the Ukrainian people; call on the United States, in cooperation with
allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European
Union, to undertake measures to support the Government of Ukraine to
prevent further acts of Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people;
and support tribunals and international criminal investigations to hold
Russian political leaders and military personnel to account for a war
of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
We must stand shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainians to lighten
their load and hasten their victory. We must be prepared for the
reconstruction of Ukraine that will follow the conclusion of this war.
And, yes, we must pursue accountability for those responsible for the
genocide underway in Ukraine by the Russian Federation.
____________________