    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 37 (Tuesday, February 25, 2025)]
    [House]
    [Pages H831-H834]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

          THREE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RUSSIA'S BRUTAL ATTACK ON UKRAINE

      The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
    January 3, 2025, the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Houlahan) is
    recognized until 10 p.m. as the designee of the minority leader.

                                 General Leave

      Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
    may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
    remarks.
      The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
    gentlewoman from Pennsylvania?
      There was no objection.
      Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, this week marks a very solemn anniversary.
    It is the anniversary of Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine.
      Three years ago, Russia started this war by invading Ukraine, not the
    other way around.
      I repeat: Three years ago, Russia started this war.
      I am utterly disgusted that President Trump would refute this
    absolute truth.
      I am equally horrified by President Trump's characterization of
    President Zelenskyy as a dictator who does not want peace. I was with
    President Zelenskyy just last week in Germany for the Munich Security
    Conference. He is an honorable and earnest leader, a man who has even
    offered to step down from the Presidency if it would guarantee the
    freedom of his people.

                                  {time}  2120

      President Trump's blatant lie and absurd insult is a lie directly out
    of Soviet-style propagandist playbooks. It is Putin who wants to take
    Ukraine's resource-rich land. It is Putin who wants to strip its people
    of their rights and their freedoms, and it is Putin who wants to
    destroy another European democracy. It is Putin who is a cancer on the
    world, a liar, a torturer, a murderer, and a war criminal.
      It is appalling to see our President of these United States, expected
    to be a reliable standard-bearer of democracy, align himself and as a
    result ourselves so closely with our adversaries, even organizing a
    sit-down to determine the fate of Ukraine without Ukraine at the table,
    and without the input of our European allies at all.
      Whatever comes out of these meetings will not be a peace agreement.
    It will instead be a Russian power grab and an appeasement of war
    criminal Putin facilitated by the United States, an illegitimate peace.
    It is all horrifying. It is all infuriating, and it is all antithetical
    to our American ideals.
      As President Trump and his administration publicly trash our allies,
    undermine the strength of NATO, and decimate our international aid
    programs, our adversaries are greedily and happily waiting to fill the
    gaps that this administration is deliberately creating.
      On Monday, the United States joined Russia, North Korea, Belarus,
    Sudan, and Hungary--I will name them again: Russia, North Korea,
    Belarus, Sudan, and Hungary--a group of countries I never would like us
    to be associated with, in voting against the United Nations resolution
    condemning Russian aggression and demanding the immediate withdrawal of
    Putin's forces from Ukraine.
      To quote my Republican colleague and dear friend, Congressman   Don
    Bacon: The Trump administration royally screwed up on Ukraine.
      Another anniversary is fast approaching. Indeed, on April 20 of last
    year, 101 Republicans voted to support Ukraine. I am really glad that
    Representative Bacon is speaking out about President Trump's actions,
    but I wonder where are the rest of his colleagues?
      I hope that the other 100 Members who supported aid to Ukraine in
    April will be as brave as Representative Bacon and speak out against
    this administration's ridiculous and dangerous actions.
      I want to emphasize how important it is that the American people hear
    President Trump's own words, see his own actions, and be appropriately
    outraged.
      President Trump's disavowal of Ukraine and his cozying up to
    dictators puts us here in the United States at risk as well. President
    Trump's turn towards authoritarianism leaves us exposed politically and
    economically.
      Scorned allies could pull out or change their free trade agreements,
    cause shortages in imported goods, including food and oil,
    pharmaceuticals, and more. President Trump campaigned on bringing down
    costs, but his very actions right now are indeed undermining the value
    of the dollar and driving up inflation.
      We have heard over and over again from the American people that the
    prices of essential goods are already too high, and President Trump's
    actions will only hurt our attempts to bring down these costs.
      America's global leadership also helps to keep Americans safe, too.
    President Trump turning his back on Ukraine isolates us and undermines
    our strength, the strength of international institutions, and the
    security networks that work, like NATO.
      This encourages NATO allies to question our own alliance and
    allegiance. It, in turn, causes our allies worldwide to do the same,
    and those who are considering with whom to form alliances, and there
    are many, it causes them as well to turn away from us.
      It gets worse. With President Trump actually allying himself with
    China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, these countries now seemingly
    have America's explicit backing to spread their influence, and in some
    cases to spread their force, like we have seen in Ukraine. This will
    undoubtedly cause people to flee oppressive regimes and create new
    regimes, who will be inspired by this global democratic back slide.
      President Trump claimed he was going to reduce this kind of
    migration, but the political turmoil he is causing will, in fact, make
    it worse, pushing people to seek safety outside of their own home
    country.
      We can't turn our back on Ukraine and the world, and we cannot expect
    that the consequences of that decision will not reach our shores. The
    American way of life is reliant on our global reputation and
    interconnectivity. President Trump is doing his very best to tear that
    all down.
      President Trump must reverse his dangerous position. He must stop
    this gamesmanship, and he must recommit to our longstanding alliances
    instead of realigning ourselves, the United States, with dictators.
      I yield now to my esteemed colleague from the great State of Ohio,
    the very honorable Marcy Kaptur.
      Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman so very much for
    allowing me to speak this evening and to also thank her for her service
    to the United States of America in our military. She knows the cost of
    liberty. There couldn't be a better Member of Congress than Chrissy
    Houlahan, I will tell you that.
      A lot of Americans perhaps in the newer generations don't understand
    what Russia is capable of, so I refer them to two books if they are
    interested, and I hope they are. One is ``Bloodlands'' by Dr. Timothy
    Snyder, now at Yale University, who discusses the history of the region
    that we are talking about and what happened yesterday at the United
    Nations. Another book is ``Red Sparrow.'' I would recommend people
    don't read that in the evening, but during the day because they will
    learn more about how Russia both operates now and has always operated.
      To give a little history, before the collapse of the murderous
    dictatorship that was called the Soviet Union that occurred in 1991 and
    had extended all the way from Russia all the way across Europe to
    Germany to East Berlin, which has been free since 1991, a great
    President, Ronald Reagan, served this Nation. He was elected twice.

      He correctly identified Russia as the ``evil empire.'' Ronald Reagan
    had been an actor in Hollywood and fought to remove Communists from the
    ranks of the Screen Actors Guild in California, where he met his wife.
    That particular

    [[Page H832]]

    effort by Reagan took great courage because he could have been killed.
    That is what it is like to deal with Russia as the Soviet Union or the
    empire now.
      Another Republican President during my service was George W. Bush. He
    named Russia and North Korea as the ``axis of evil.'' We could add Iran
    and other countries. Never before at the United Nations has any U.S.
    President ever stood with the dictators of Russia.
      Those countries that voted with Russia yesterday are state sponsors
    of terrorism. Russia understands terror. That is what she does. For the
    United States to stand beside Russia, North Korea, and Belarus at the
    United Nations, it is appalling. It is appalling.
      Russia's atrocities go back hundreds of years. During World War II on
    the soils of Ukraine, 14 million people were murdered. This is the
    tradition of Putin. If you do not know that, you are naive. Wake up.
    Wake up.
      Even China abstained from the vote yesterday.
      Aligning with these countries which past Presidents have called the
    epitome of evil on Earth is shocking. The very fundamental purpose of
    this Nation is liberty. That is why we are here. This isn't some game,
    and it is not about strategic metals or very precious items that are
    underground somewhere. It is about something much more precious--
    liberty.
      To see that happen at the U.N. yesterday, I thought, what have they
    been drinking up there?
      Ukraine is the scrimmage line for liberty on the Continent of Europe
    today, and no President of the United States should cavort with
    dictators. We have always been the bastion of freedom. Our people have
    died for it, defending these ideals around the world. Yesterday,
    President Trump cowered and appeased one of the most dangerous
    dictatorships in the world.

                                  {time}  2130

      Mr. Speaker, it is shameful. It is un-American. It is not patriotic.
    It is almost traitorous--maybe it is traitorous to do that. We know
    Russia. We know North Korea. We know Iran. They don't stand for
    liberty. They are part of the new spiderweb of tyranny that is poised
    against us, if anyone is paying attention anywhere in this country.
      The actions to vote with them and against Ukraine is a blotch on
    America's record as a champion for a free world. Most of the world is
    not free. If people haven't traveled to these places, try. They might
    learn something.
      Tomorrow is another day. I urge those who lead foreign policy for
    this administration to remember who we fight for, who our friends are,
    who our allies are, and who our enemies are united against us.
      I also just wanted to place on the record a reminder that when
    Ukraine was beginning to be free after the collapse of the Soviet Union
    in 1991, a great man, Viktor Yushchenko, was President of the young
    Ukraine. What did Putin do? Putin had him poisoned. Yushchenko survived
    somehow when they flew him to Europe and they tried to pump him out
    with some kind of horrible, strategic metal that he had been made to
    swallow when he ate with the dictators who continued to control Russia.
    Putin had just killed Alexei Navalny in a terrible Arctic prison
    because he wanted to run against Putin.
      That is how someone gets elected in Russia. Kill the opposition. My
    friends, pay attention. Be informed. If we want to understand how a
    tyranny operates, look at the film on YouTube. It takes 30 minutes. It
    is called, ``Freedom Means Never Surrender.'' It is a documentary about
    how a tyranny functions. It just won the Telly Award. Take the time to
    do it. Recall the preciousness of the liberty we enjoy.
      Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman very much for allowing us to
    speak on this Special Order.
      Ms. HOULAHAN. The gentlewoman is very welcome. It is my privilege.
      Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.
      The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania has 28
    minutes remaining.
      Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Virginia
    (Mr. Vindman).
      Mr. VINDMAN. Mr. Speaker, 3 years ago this week, Russia launched an
    unprovoked invasion on Ukraine. We are entering the fourth year of war
    in Ukraine and 11 years of war on Ukraine since the invasion in Crimea
    and the Donbas.
      In the past few days, the fact of this major invasion has sadly been
    disputed. It is important that history represent the truth. Whether it
    is Putin or anyone else, including in our government, that says Russia
    is not the aggressor and that Ukraine is responsible for the invasion,
    they are lying.
      Yesterday's anniversary reminds us that the Ukrainian people continue
    to suffer, but I know that they will remain strong and resilient. This
    is not a regional fight. Ukraine's sovereignty is a U.S. national
    security issue. We must hold the line in Ukraine now or we may have
    American boots on the ground, fighting in Europe in a few years. That
    is my fear.
      We do want peace, and yet this administration has begun negotiations
    from the weakest possible position. Before we even get to the table,
    Ukraine has been excluded from NATO. Territorial concessions were
    granted to Russia, and Ukraine didn't even have a seat at the table.
    This is what they get for a sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of their
    people, cities destroyed across Ukraine.
      The Trump administration must increase pressure on Russia if we are
    truly interested in peace. With Russia, in particular, weakness invites
    aggression, and easing up on Russia only makes Ukraine's fight harder.
    We must stand firm.
      I spent 25 years in the Army, defending America's national security
    interests at home and abroad. When I retired a little over 2 years ago,
    I traveled to Ukraine 14 times investigating war crimes. I traveled to
    Kharkiv, 20 miles from the Russian border. I traveled to Zaporizhzhia,
    20 miles from the Russian front. I traveled to Mykolaiv and Chernihiv,
    cities that have appeared in the news, devastated by Russian attacks.
      Those people are resilient. They are fighting for their freedom, much
    like we fought for our freedom almost 250 years ago. We are going to
    celebrate that anniversary in one short year. Can we imagine what it
    would have been like if France did not intervene on our behalf? We have
    a portrait there, the Marquis de Lafayette, that stood with us shoulder
    to shoulder. The French spilled blood on our battlefields.
      We weren't even asked to do that. We were asked to provide some
    material support, 31 tanks, a couple hundred of our armored vehicles,
    and some money. Granted, we have to watch how we spend our money. We
    have an obligation to the American people. We also have to recognize
    where our national security interests lie. I think for some reason we
    have forgotten the fact that we spent 80 years defending an
    international order that our grandfathers fought for and died on
    European battlefields for. I can't explain it.
      They know that in Ukraine because that is what they are fighting for.
    They know that if they give up, the Russians will occupy. In those
    occupied areas, they have already deported tens of thousands of
    children to be reeducated and taken away from their family. They put
    the Ukrainian people in camps.
      Russia is basically like a boa constrictor, slowly digesting chunks
    of Ukraine. If we pause now without security guarantees, they will be
    back at it in a few years just like they were after Crimea, like they
    were in Georgia, and like they were in Moldova.
      We have to be clear-eyed about that in our interests. In Virginia's
    Seventh District, my voters expect me to stand up for American values,
    and that is exactly what I am doing by speaking out today.
      That is why I will keep fighting for strong U.S. leadership all
    around the world. That includes Ukraine's sovereignty, for our own
    country's national security interests, and for the values that keep and
    have kept America strong.

      On this anniversary we must reaffirm our commitment that we stand
    against autocrats and dictators like Russia and North Korea and that we
    stand with Ukraine on the right side of history.
      Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Hawaii (Mr.
    Case).
      Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in condemning what can
    only be seen as sheer desertion--yes, I used the word ``desertion''--of
    Ukraine

    [[Page H833]]

    by this President, and I deeply regret, at least to date, by my
    Republican colleagues in Congress.
      The dictator of Russia, as has already been pointed out, has not seen
    a better day at least since the successful death of Alexei Navalny.
    Let's be clear. Putin is not the only dictator--and for the third time
    I use the word ``dictator''--who is dancing today.
      Let's just take one example. For the dictators of Iran, this betrayal
    is a bright light in a dim room. They want nothing more than a stronger
    and resurgent and unchecked Russia because that brings them renewed
    hope to their singular focus of the destruction of Israel.
      By the way, I say very directly to our friends of Israel, wherever
    they are--and many of them were in the Capital today--if they do not
    call out this abandonment of Ukraine now, they have learned nothing
    from 1939 Czechoslovakia.
      There is one dictator in our world who is cheering the loudest of
    all, and that dictator is the general secretary of the Chinese
    Communist Party. This is the world he covets. This is the world that he
    has worked for. This is the world that turns the lock and opens the
    door on his ambitions. This is the world of a weakened, isolated
    America that nobody trusts. This is a world in which this country walks
    away from proven international rules-based orders that have kept the
    peace and stability for three generations now. This is a world he hopes
    for that has forgotten that true peace and prosperity are built on both
    strength and democratic values.
      Yes, the desertion of Ukraine and its sheer ripple effects shows Xi
    that he finally has the willing partner he has sought, even more than
    Putin himself. He has a partner equally committed to an ad hoc
    transactional foreign policy where all that really matters is power,
    money, and leverage, that alliances, principles, and loyalty are
    disposable, as if that ever alone would buy lasting peace. There is no
    example in world history that it does.

                                  {time}  2140

      Our President says: Don't worry. We have an ocean between us and
    Ukraine, so what is to worry about?
      No doubt, in time, he will assert the same thing about my ocean, the
    Pacific Ocean, between us and the People's Republic of China. He will
    say that that ocean offers the same illusion of insulation from the
    world of reality.
      Tell that to Japan or Taiwan or South Korea or the Philippines. Tell
    them that that ocean protects them. Tell that to the ASEAN countries,
    Australia and New Zealand, Singapore, India, the island nations of the
    Pacific. Tell that to the citizens of the American homeland in the
    Pacific: Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American
    Samoa.
      Just try to tell the rest of our world and country that the outcome
    in Ukraine has nothing to do with the geopolitical challenge of our
    time, the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. Tell that to anybody,
    and you truly live in denial of the world today and the lessons of
    history.
      The PRC knows history, and they already have an edition of the
    People's Daily, their leading newspaper, already printed up as a gift
    for the President's trip home when he surely visits shortly. The
    headline of People's Daily in Mandarin reads: Peace in Our time.
      Those are the unavoidable broader stakes of betraying Ukraine today.
    I know my Republican colleagues know this. I know this because I have
    heard them say it repeatedly over 3 years. I have heard them say it in
    committee. I have heard them say it on this floor. I have heard them
    say it in public, but where are they now?
      Did something in the world change in the last week or two? Was there
    some fundamental shift in our understanding of this world, in our
    alliances, in our commitment to loyalties and principles and values in
    addition to strength?
      I don't think so, and I don't think anybody else thinks anything has
    changed, other than a President who wants to go in a different
    direction. That President has no effective check and balance on this
    tragic mistake, except for the majority in the House and the Senate.
      I really hope for my Republican colleagues in this body because I
    don't hold that hope for the administration of the Presidency. I do
    hold that hope for my colleagues. I hope they find their way back soon
    through the fog into reality again before it is too late.
      Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York
    (Mr. Kennedy).
      Mr. KENNEDY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I begin by thanking my friend
    and colleague, Representative Houlahan, for convening this Special
    Order.
      Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support our ally, Ukraine, and speak up
    against the grave threat the Trump administration's support for Russia
    poses to democracy at home and abroad.
      Yesterday marked 3 years since Russia's unprovoked and brutal
    invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation. We have since witnessed
    incredible bravery from the Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines to
    the families who have endured unimaginable loss yet continue to fight
    for their homeland.
      My community of Buffalo knows what it means to stand together in
    times of hardship. We are a city that welcomes, embraces, and lifts up
    those in need. I stood arm in arm with western New York's Ukrainian
    community in Niagara Square, designated Ukraine Freedom Square, just
    outside Buffalo City Hall days after Russia's invasion.
      What I said then is just as true today: The United States of America
    must always stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression.
      Buffalo is known as the City of Good Neighbors, and that spirit has
    been evident in the way our community has opened its doors to Ukrainian
    refugees, providing shelter, education, and hope for a better future.
      Members of this body, both Democrats and Republicans alike,
    understand that this is not just Ukraine's fight. This is a battle
    between democracy and tyranny, between freedom and oppression.
      That is why this body has come together on numerous occasions to pass
    legislation to help the people of Ukraine resist the Russian invasion
    and defend their homeland. We continue to do this because we know that
    if Russia succeeds, it sets a dangerous precedent for dictators around
    the world, and it threatens the security of our NATO allies.
      When the President of the United States chooses to spread the same
    false Russian propaganda as Vladimir Putin, absolving Russia for its
    responsibility of starting the war and defaming the democratically
    elected President of our ally, we should have the courage to stand up
    and call it what it is: a bald-faced lie.
      It is shameful when we, the shining city upon a hill, as President
    Reagan put it, oppose a United Nations resolution condemning Russia and
    supporting Ukraine. The rest of the world should look to us as a model
    of democracy. Instead, we are enabling a dictator.

      Just think about the company that we are keeping with this U.N. vote.
    The only other countries to oppose this resolution were Russia, North
    Korea, and Belarus, all dictatorships.
      Since when does the United States side with dictators? I suppose when
    we have a President who says he wants to be one.
      Turning our back on Ukraine goes against everything Americans have
    fought and died for since we declared our independence from a monarch
    in England. Supporting Russian aggression against Ukraine sends a
    dangerous message to our allies around the world: The United States is
    no longer a reliable friend. You are on your own.
      I have news for you. We are much better than this as a country. This
    isn't just about democracy. It is also about our national security and
    our credibility on the world stage. The world is a safer place and the
    American people are more secure when we stand united with our allies,
    uphold our commitments to global peace and stability, and lead with
    strength, diplomacy, and integrity.
      Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I very much thank all of my colleagues for
    joining us and meeting here tonight.
      This evening, we heard about the damage that President Trump's
    actions have done to our Nation's security. If our Nation turns its
    back on Ukraine, we heard about what comes next: Our ally Taiwan left
    in greater jeopardy to a Chinese invasion; our allies elsewhere left
    looking for security and other

    [[Page H834]]

    trading opportunities; and worst of all, our enemies worldwide left
    emboldened by Trump's isolationist actions.
      The American people should be worried tonight. History has shown us
    that when America is isolated, we are less safe.
      I very much hope that my Republican friends, the 101 of them, now 100
    of them, who very recently voted in support of this nation in its fight
    for their democracy and, as a consequence, all of our democratic
    values, will stand up to our President and will help us, the United
    States, change our course and, as a consequence, the world change its
    course for safety and freedom, as well.
      Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
      The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
    engaging in personalities toward the President.
      Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, like Hitler, Mussolini, and
    Saddam Hussein before him, Vladimir Putin should be called what he is:
    a dictator.
      Over the past 20 years, Putin has systematically ended free and fair
    elections, crushed independent media, quashed protests, and killed,
    jailed, or exiled political opponents.
      Three years ago, Putin invaded Ukraine, showing complete disregard
    for European borders, UN and NATO doctrines, and human rights.
      For three years, the Ukrainian people have faced deliberate killings,
    rapes, and the abduction of their children.
      The United Nations has found evidence of Russian war crimes, and the
    International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir
    Putin, accusing him of being responsible for the abduction of Ukraine
    children.
      Under Putin's rule, Russian intelligence operations pose one of the
    most aggressive and sophisticated threats to our national security.
      And yet--the White House is now parroting Putin's talking points,
    alleging that Ukraine started the war when we all know that Russia,
    unprovoked, invaded Ukraine.
      President Trump has described Putin as a ``genius'' and ``very
    savvy,'' and last week he called Ukrainian President Zelensky a
    ``dictator.''
      Under Donald Trump, the United States has turned its back on Ukraine
    and our NATO allies, while cozying up to an authoritarian.
      Under Donald Trump, America's long-held reputation as a defender of
    democratic ideals and state sovereignty, a credible and reliable
    partner who will assist others in need and stand up for our allies, is
    now a crumbling illusion.
      Our country was created on the principle that it would not be ruled
    by an all-powerful king but instead maintained by a system of checks
    and balances to prevent tyrannical rule and provide power to the
    people.
      But now, Donald Trump is ceding power to an unelected billionaire at
    home and appeasing a Russian dictator abroad.
      I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to open their
    eyes and rediscover their spines.

                              ____________________