[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.
____________________