[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 95 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1933]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 124. Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Ms. Collins) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 3746, to
provide for a responsible increase to the debt ceiling; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PROVISION OF
SECURITY ASSISTANCE TO UKRAINE.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) The Russian Federation has failed to abide by the
Belovezh Accords (also known as the ``Minsk Agreement''),
signed in Minsk, Belarus, on December 8, 1991, by the leaders
of the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the Republic of
Belarus, in which those leaders agreed to have ``respect for
state sovereignty'' and renounce ``the use of force and of
economic or any other methods of coercion''.
(2) The Russian Federation has failed to honor its
commitment under the Memorandum on security assurances in
connection with Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signed at Budapest,
Hungary, December 5, 1994, in which the Russian Federation
agreed to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine in exchange for
the removal of nuclear weapons from Ukraine.
(3) The Russian Federation illegally annexed Crimea in 2014
and forces backed by the Russian Federation continue to
occupy Eastern Ukraine.
(4) The further invasion of Ukraine by the Russian
Federation that began in 2022--
(A) threatens the safety, security, and sovereignty of
Ukraine;
(B) is destabilizing to the region; and
(C) poses a risk to the economy of Ukraine and may deter
future investments in Ukraine by foreign countries.
(5) Through the invasion, the Russian Federation has
indiscriminately attacked civilian targets, resulting in the
death of at least 8,490 civilians and injury of at least
14,244 civilians, and has made thinly veiled threats to
impose additional death and destruction on members of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if the Russian
Federation so desires.
(6) In May 2023, the Russian Federation announced it was
moving ahead with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons
to the Republic of Belarus, which would be the first
deployment by the Russian Federation of such weapons outside
of Russia since 1991.
(7) The security assistance provided by the United States
has been used to maximum effect and allowed Ukraine to fight
back against the Russian Federation's unprovoked invasion of
the sovereign territory of Ukraine.
(8) It is imperative to continue to provide security
assistance to Ukraine at this crucial inflection point in the
war as Ukraine prepares to launch its counteroffensive
against the Russian Federation.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
Congress--
(1) affirms it is in the national security interest of the
United States to provide security assistance to Ukraine and
calls on the United States Government to continue to provide
such assistance to ensure the sovereign territory of Ukraine
is liberated from the Russian Federation and its proxy
forces;
(2) supports providing additional funding to Ukraine
through future supplemental packages to ensure Ukraine has
the resources it needs to ensure and sustain its liberation
from the Russian Federation; and
(3) calls on Congress to appropriate all funds needed to
increase the production of and replenish United States
inventories that have been provided to Ukraine.
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