[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 102 (Monday, June 12, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S2038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Ukraine

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, last week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd 
Austin and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, GEN Mark Milley, spoke at 
the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France. In the audience 
were veterans--some were over 100 years old--who stormed those beaches 
79 years ago on D-Day. D-Day was a critical moment in World War II. It 
was the beginning of the liberation of Europe, and it was the beginning 
of the end of Nazi tyranny.
  Looking out over a sea of headstones of fallen American patriots, 
Secretary Austin said:

       It's easy to forget how desperate the battle was . . . but, 
     on D-Day, courage won out over terror, daring over cruelty, 
     and liberty won out over tyranny.

  Today, that same eternal battle is being fought in another place, in 
Ukraine, which has begun a heroic counteroffensive to finally drive out 
Vladimir Putin and the Russian invaders and to preserve democracy in 
that nation.
  Next month, Senator Shaheen of New Hampshire and I will travel to the 
NATO summit in Lithuania. The location--in a nation that was once under 
Soviet occupation--is both historic and poignant. Success in Ukraine's 
counteroffensive and the country's long-term security will once again 
be on top of the NATO agenda. We also will welcome the security 
alliance's newest member, Finland. I hope, by the time we convene in 
Lithuania, Hungary and Turkey will have ratified Sweden's succession 
without any further delay--another plus for the future of the NATO 
alliance.
  Let me also state clearly that I believe Ukraine's future is in the 
European Union and the NATO alliance, and until the day that Ukraine 
can join NATO, the United States and other key allies must help Ukraine 
with security guarantees, as we do with other key non-NATO allies. It 
is clear that Ukraine can never trust Russia. It is in the interest of 
the United States and democracy itself that we ensure Ukraine can 
always defend itself, that any aggressor will think twice before ever 
again trying to threaten its people or its territory.
  President Biden knows what is at stake in this fight against tyranny. 
So do our NATO allies. And I want to particularly note Minority Leader 
McConnell. Echoing Ronald Reagan, Senator McConnell has spoken 
forcefully about the need for continued bipartisan support for Ukraine. 
That is the ultimate strength of the American role in the NATO 
alliance: that we speak with one voice. And, of course, Ukrainian 
President Zelenskyy understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is 
bigger than just his nation; it is literally a battle for freedom and 
democracy themselves.
  In his remarks at Normandy last week, Secretary Austin said:

       Free soldiers will fight more bravely than the armies of 
     tyrants.

  He is correct, but the free people of Ukraine must not be left to 
fight this war alone. The United States and nations of the free world 
must provide the resources and equipment and training necessary for 
them to prevail against Putin and his cowardly enablers. The free 
people and soldiers of Ukraine are fighting today to preserve the peace 
and international order for which those young Americans gave their 
lives at D-Day. We must stand with them with resolve until Ukraine is 
free again.