[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2025)]
[House]
[Page H665]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         STANDING WITH UKRAINE

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, today, I stand with the long-suffering 
people of Ukraine. Theirs is a valiant fight to reclaim their 
territory, their sovereignty, their security, and their destiny.
  Vladimir Putin brutally invaded 11 years ago with no provocation. 
Russia must be pushed back inside its own borders, and today, Secretary 
of Defense Hegseth stood on territory freed by 400,000 American 
soldiers, whose graves mark liberty's greatest victory over tyranny 
across Europe. Their sacrifice birthed the free world.
  General Omar Bradley, one of our Nation's most beloved and great 
generals, created NATO. He would have been astounded at what Hegseth 
did in stating: It is unrealistic for Ukraine to return to its pre-2014 
borders.
  Why would Hegseth take Russia's side with its war criminals and 
murderous plunder of a free people? Why would he do that?
  Ukraine's President Zelenskyy has consistently emphasized Ukraine's 
position that no peace negotiations with Russia are possible before the 
complete restoration of Ukraine's stolen territory and return to 
Ukraine's 1991 internationally recognized borders. The free world must 
achieve that.

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