[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 20, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3011-S3012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 236--CALLING FOR THE RETURN OF ABDUCTED UKRAINIAN 
 CHILDREN BEFORE FINALIZING ANY PEACE AGREEMENT TO END THE WAR AGAINST 
                                UKRAINE

  Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. Klobuchar, Ms. Ernst, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
Wicker, Mr. Fetterman, and Mr. Scott of Florida) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 236

       Whereas the United States Government is working to bring an 
     end to Russia's war against Ukraine and restore peace in 
     Europe;
       Whereas, as of April 16, 2025, Ukrainian authorities have 
     received at least 19,546 confirmed reports of unlawful 
     deportations and forced transfers of Ukrainian children to 
     the territory of the Russian Federation, the Republic of 
     Belarus, or Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory;
       Whereas, as of April 16, 2025, Ukraine and its partners 
     have managed to return 1,274 abducted Ukrainian children from 
     the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, or occupied 
     Ukrainian territory;
       Whereas Russia's abduction and Russification of Ukrainian 
     children demonstrates the

[[Page S3012]]

     intent of the Government of the Russian Federation to erase 
     the Ukrainian nation and identity;
       Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has 
     changed its adoption laws since the full-scale invasion of 
     Ukraine in 2022 for the purpose of forcibly adopting children 
     abducted from Ukraine in order to raise them as Russian 
     citizens, erased of their Ukrainian names, language, and 
     identity;
       Whereas, on June 16, 2022, Russian authorities announced 
     that children born in occupied Ukrainian territories after 
     the February 24, 2022, invasion will be deemed Russian 
     citizens, in violation of Ukrainian law and the Fourth Geneva 
     Convention;
       Whereas the Department of State's 2024 Trafficking in 
     Persons Report found that Russia recruits or uses child 
     soldiers as defined under the Child Soldiers Prevention Act, 
     is documented as having a state-sponsored policy or pattern 
     of human trafficking, and is among the worst hubs for human 
     trafficking in the world;
       Whereas the United States has sanctioned at least 32 
     individuals and three entities of the Russian Federation and 
     its occupying forces and the Republic of Belarus for being 
     involved in the abduction and re-education of Ukrainian 
     children and human rights violations of Ukrainian minors;
       Whereas Maria Lvova-Belova, Children's Rights Commissioner 
     for the President of Russia, admitted to abducting and 
     forcibly transferring Ukrainian children and facilitating 
     forced adoptions to Russian families;
       Whereas the unlawful deportation or transfer of protected 
     people constitutes a grave breach of the Geneva Convention 
     (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time 
     of War, Article 147, done at Geneva August 12, 1949;
       Whereas forcibly transferring children of one group to 
     another group is a violation of Article II(e) of the Genocide 
     Convention, of which the Russian Federation is a party; and
       Whereas hundreds of thousands of children still reside in 
     the occupied territories of Ukraine, where they face attempts 
     at Russification by occupation authorities; Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the Government of the Russian Federation's 
     abduction, forcible transfer, and facilitation of the illegal 
     deportation of Ukrainian children;
       (2) notes with concern that the invasion of Ukraine by the 
     Russian Federation has significantly increased the risks of 
     children being exposed to human trafficking and exploitation, 
     child labor, sexual violence, hunger, injury, trauma, 
     deprivation of education and shelter, and death;
       (3) supports bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful and 
     just conclusion; and
       (4) urges that all Ukrainian children abducted by the 
     Government of the Russian Federation be returned before 
     finalizing any peace agreement.

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