[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 45 (Thursday, March 9, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SAD ANNIVERSARY FOR UKRAINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, as we reflect on the 1-year anniversary 
of Putin's war against Ukraine, it cannot help but remind us of why we 
fought in the Second World War and that the fight in Ukraine embodies 
the very same principles we fought for in the Second World War.
  First: Preventing authoritarian regimes from wiping out sovereign 
democratic countries.
  Ukraine is a sovereign democratic nation. They have held free and 
fair elections since 1991. They have freedom of expression, press, and 
speech, while Russia is an autocratic nation led by an authoritarian 
dictator who represses personal expression, the free press, and free 
speech. He invaded Ukraine expressly to expand his sphere of autocratic 
control and subvert the will of the free people of Ukraine.
  The second principle: To prevent further genocide.
  Putin's invasion has been characterized by the commission of war 
crimes. One year ago this month, Russian forces deliberately targeted a 
civilian shelter. That same month they struck a children's hospital and 
maternity ward. The next month, over 400 bodies of civilians were found 
in mass graves in Bucha after the city was liberated. In September, 450 
bodies, mostly of civilians, were found in mass graves in Kharkiv.
  I visited Ukraine last summer, where I met with President Zelenskyy 
and traveled to Bucha and saw the mass graves firsthand.
  In the Second World War, we vowed, ``Never again.'' Removing 
ourselves from this effort would be an egregious breach of that 
commitment and would demonstrate that we have not learned the lessons 
of those who gave their last full measure of devotion in the Second 
World War.
  The third principle we defended in World War II was the preservation 
of a liberal world democratic order.
  As we have seen in history, the actions of one autocratic nation can 
inspire the actions of others. Allowing Russia to conquer Ukraine will 
send the message to other autocrats that their expansion to free 
nations will not be opposed. This cannot be the future we allow.
  President Biden's recent historic trip to Kyiv highlighted these 
reasons, but it also recalled the words of FDR in his last inaugural 
address in the months leading up to the end of that great conflict. He 
said, ``We have learned that we cannot live alone, at peace; that our 
own well-being is dependent on the well-being of other nations far 
away. . . .
  ``We have learned the simple truth, as Emerson said, that `The only 
way to have a friend is to be one.' We can gain no lasting peace if we 
approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear.''
  Just as the world has borne witness to Putin's relentless violence, 
we have seen the resilience and determination of the Ukrainian people. 
Their fight is the reason we formed the United Nations and NATO in the 
first place. Quite simply, they have earned that support.
  As President Zelenskyy said:

       Aid is not charity, it is an investment in the global 
     security and democracy.

  He is right.
  Our efforts to defend Ukraine are to protect Ukraine's right to self-
determination and protect the future of democracy around the globe.
  We are, indeed, facing a turning point in this war, and I am reminded 
of Winston Churchill's words after Britain's victory in the second 
battle of El-Alamein: ``Now this is not the end. It is not even the 
beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.''
  We are today at the end of the beginning of Putin's campaign in 
Ukraine and his efforts to recreate the Soviet Union. We must be united 
in our efforts to defend Ukraine and democracy.

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