[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 157 (Wednesday, September 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S5322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 5841. Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) submitted an 
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 5499 submitted by Mr. 
Reed (for himself and Mr. Inhofe) and intended to be proposed to the 
bill H.R. 7900, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2023 for 
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military 
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy, 
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for 
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

        At the end of subtitle C of title XII, add the following:

     SEC. 1239. CONDEMNATION OF RUSSIA'S ATTEMPTS TO CLAIM 
                   SOVEREIGNTY OVER ANY PORTION OF UKRAINE.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The Russian Federation violated the sovereignty of 
     Ukraine beginning with the illegal annexation of Crimea and 
     its invasion into eastern Ukraine.
       (2) Beginning in February 2022, the Russian Federation 
     sought to further violate Ukraine's sovereignty by launching 
     unprovoked military action against Ukraine.
       (3) On September 22, 2022, the North Atlantic Treaty 
     Organization condemned the then upcoming referenda stating 
     that the ``[s]ham referenda in the Donetsk, Luhansk, 
     Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions of Ukraine have no 
     legitimacy and will be a blatant violation of the UN Charter. 
     NATO Allies will not recognize their illegal and illegitimate 
     annexation. These lands are Ukraine. We call on all states to 
     reject Russia's blatant attempts at territorial conquest''.
       (4) On September 23, 2022, President Joseph R. Biden 
     stated, ``The United States will never recognize Ukrainian 
     territory as anything other than part of Ukraine.''.
       (5) Beginning on September 23, 2022, Russia conducted sham 
     referenda in 4 Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, 
     and Zaporizhzhia) in an attempt to validate Moscow's illegal 
     annexation of the territory.
       (6) Published reports indicate that--
       (A) Ukrainians have been forced to vote in the sham 
     referenda ``under a gun barrel''; and
       (B) Russian officials have visited schools, hospitals, and 
     other workplaces to force Ukrainians to vote in favor of 
     annexation.
       (7) The Kremlin has stated that once the sham referenda are 
     concluded, the process of absorbing the annexed areas into 
     Russia will be completed ``promptly''.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the United States should refuse to recognize any claim 
     of sovereignty by the Russian Federation over any portion of 
     Ukraine;
       (2) the recent sham referenda beginning on September 23, 
     2022, directed by the Government of the Russian Federation, 
     violates international law; and
       (3) President Biden should restrict all economic and 
     military aid and assistance to any nation that recognizes 
     Russian sovereignty over any portion of Ukraine.
                                 ______