[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 202 (Wednesday, December 3, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8473-S8474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Ukraine
Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, 4 years ago, on February 4, 2022, Vladimir
Putin initiated his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The question that
Ukraine faced then was this: Could they defend themselves? Could
Ukraine hold against a far more powerful enemy?
Most thought the answer to that was no, including our own Central
Intelligence Agency that predicted that Kyiv would fall in a matter of
weeks.
The questions the United States faced at that time were: Would we
choose, the United States of America, to aid a sovereign country that
was defending itself from a brutal attack by an aggressor? Would the
United States remain steadfast with our European allies in defending a
world where borders cannot be changed by force, where nations do not
invade and seize territory of their weaker neighbors, and where might
does not make right?
Nearly 4 years later, we face the same question today. We faced that
question within those 4 years. We have seen the bravery, the
resilience, and the effectiveness of the Ukrainian people who are
standing up to the Putin aggression. What Ukraine has done is create
the largest army in Europe. With approximately 1 million in arms, what
the Ukrainians have done is build a remarkably adaptive military
fighting machine with innovation that would rival Silicon Valley. Long-
range Ukrainian-designed drones and cruise missiles are now striking
thousands of miles into Russia against oil facilities and strategic air
force bases. Ukrainians have changed naval warfare. With their stealthy
naval drones, they have pushed the feared Russian Navy out of Crimea.
Ukraine is now producing close to 100 percent of its own drones. More
than 200 new homegrown Ukrainian tech startups are producing millions
of drones annually, all while they are being bombarded by Russia.
Also, we have seen in those 4 years that our European allies have
stood strong and rallied to help Ukraine. In many cases, the European
countries together, on a per capita basis, have contributed more to
Ukraine than even the United States. While it is true that the United
States has been, by far, the largest single nation contributor, Europe
overall, our allies, have contributed more in both military aid and
financial aid.
Even our own defense has benefited. We have now two new allies in
NATO, Sweden and Finland--also, the contributions of our allies.
Denmark gave Ukraine advanced F-16s that are shooting down Russian
drones and cruise missiles. Italy gave Ukraine critical air defense
missiles and artillery systems. Greece is contributing to regional
economic integration by signing an agreement just last month to supply
American LNG to Ukraine. These are just a few of the coordinated
actions taken by the United States and its allies.
On the other hand, when we see what Russia has done, what Putin has
done, we see that Putin's war plan is to directly target civilians,
including innocent women and children, and send soldiers into the meat
grinder of certain
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death where there have been, by many reports, over a million
casualties.
Last week, Putin launched over 600 drones against civilians in Kyiv
on a single night, and the objective was to kill civilians, especially
women and children. Not since the Blitz of London in 1940 has a
European capital faced such a ruthless campaign of airborne terror that
was directed at civilians.
Next to me here is a photograph of the graves of three children from
a single family who were killed by Putin's campaign of terror. These
kids were among the more than 600 Ukrainian children who were killed
recently by Russian strikes. Three graves. Parents, neighbors--everyone
knows that their kids could be next.
On this question of the United States coming to the aid of Ukraine, I
want to acknowledge the leadership of many of my Republican colleagues,
especially Senator McConnell, who stood firmly and immediately in favor
of protecting Ukraine and standing up for American principles; Senator
Wicker, our Armed Services Committee chair; and others, a few of whom I
mentioned.
It was under Republican leadership and support that the Senate passed
the Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act into
law. And that law states explicitly that it is ``under the direction of
President Putin'' that the Russian military has committed war crimes,
including targeting of civilians, killing noncombatants, deportation of
civilians, and hostage-taking.
Recently, it was reported that the Russians have made some
incremental gains in the past few months. But the reality is that the
Russian troops are creeping forward at the cost of thousands of Russian
casualties. According to some reports, Russia has suffered up to a
million casualties in the Ukrainian battlefield.
Putin is completely indifferent to the suffering of his own people
and the violence he is inflicting on innocent people in Ukraine. And
after the thousands of Iranian drones launched every week by Russia at
Ukrainian civilians, they don't really point to military effectiveness.
They point to military desperation on the part of Russia.
Ineffective on the battlefield, the Putin war plan is to target
civilians and try to wear down Ukraine's morale. But I can tell you,
last week, I was on a bipartisan delegation led by Senator Rounds and
Senator Shaheen at the Halifax Security Conference, and we heard
directly from Ukrainian members of Parliament. They are fighting. It is
hard, but they are not giving up. The question before us is not whether
Ukraine will persevere; it is whether the U.S. support will persevere.
I believe--I think many of us in this body believe--that we must
stand firm against Putin and his lawless aggression. And if he is
successful in Ukraine, he will be emboldened to continue his march
through Moldova and America's Baltic and Nordic allies on Russia's
borders: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.
Some asked if can we afford to continue to support Ukraine. My view:
We can't afford not to. But also, when you look at the economic cost,
which is real, it is modest. It is about 0.2 percent of our gross
domestic product. Is that such a large amount of money that we can't
invest it for the security of our country and our allies in Western
Europe, which we fought for in World War II?
The question before this U.S. Senate right now is not whether Ukraine
is going to hang in there and fight. They proved again and again that
they will hang in and fight. If Ukraine won't falter in that fight, the
United States must also persevere.
In addition to us continuing our support, there are three pieces of
legislation that we could take up on this floor that would make a
significant difference right away: No. 1 is the bill led by Senator
Graham and Senator Blumenthal. It has 85 cosponsors, and it would
impose sanctions to stop customers like India and China and Brazil from
buying Russian oil. And the argument Senator Graham makes that I think
is very compelling is, you go after the customers, and you squeeze the
finances of the Russian war machine. We have 85 cosponsors. Let's take
it up, and let's pass it.
The second bill--the State Sponsor of Terrorism bill designation for
Russia--is related to the fact that Russia did something that is
absolutely unconscionable: They kidnapped children. Over 20,000 kids
have been taken hostage and delivered to other families in the occupied
territories and in Russia itself. That is so unimaginable. Let's go at
that directly.
Third, let's take up legislation here similar to legislation pending
in Europe where Russian assets--about $5 billion in this country, about
$300 million in the European Union--are seized and are used for the
reconstruction of Ukraine since the aggressor, Russia, is the acting
party that did all that damage.
I believe we must renew our commitment to the Ukrainian people. I
believe we must stay the course. This year, we are celebrating the 80th
anniversary of the end of World War II, when the United States advanced
a foreign policy principle that borders cannot be changed by force. We
have seen decades of unprecedented prosperity, and we have seen decades
without another World War conflagration.
We have an opportunity today to stand up and protect that legacy for
this century by recommitting to the Ukrainian people that we will stand
in support of that principle, in support of their freedom, and in
support of our security.
I yield the floor.