[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3651-3652]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                UKRAINE

  Mr. MURPHY. Madam President, I am on the floor to talk about the 
ongoing crisis in Ukraine. I am pleased to have Senator McCain on the 
floor because it is very hard to describe the sensation both he and I 
felt at the end of the last year when we got the chance to travel to 
the Maidan--Independence Square--in Kiev and speak to about 1 million 
people. It is even harder to describe the sensation of hearing that 
group of people yelling back to us in unison:

       Thank you, U.S.A. Thank you, U.S.A.

  But that was the reality we were able to experience.
  It is important to note that Senator McCain and I didn't go to the 
Maidan that day to advocate for President Yanukovych's removal even 
though the end of that process resulted in that fact. In actuality we 
spent 2 hours that night meeting with Yanukovych, pleading with him to 
reverse course on his decision to abandon plans to join the EU so that 
he could win back the support of the hundreds of thousands of people 
who had gathered on that square to support our European integration and 
domestic political reforms. But President Yanukovych didn't listen, and 
instead he lost his legitimacy as a ruler when he turned his security 
service on his own people, resulting in the murder of over 100 
Ukrainians who simply wanted to compel their leader to follow the 
wishes of the Ukrainian people.
  I was proud to author a resolution that passed unanimously in this 
body that declared our support for the ability of Ukrainians to 
peacefully air their grievances against their government and to oppose 
the use of force against them. Then, I was equally proud to join 
Senator McCain and some others in a bipartisan call for sanctions 
against Yanukovych when he began his murderous crusade against the 
protesters. I was even prouder of President Obama, who through the 
State Department sent a clear, unwavering message to the Ukrainian 
people that the United States stood with them in their desire to see a 
better future for Ukraine, aligned with Europe and the West.
  This strong bipartisan approach here in America to the Maidan 
movement helped the people of Ukraine as they charted their own path 
toward a new government. We didn't dictate the terms of Ukraine's 
future; we simply supported the right of the people to determine it for 
themselves.
  But now, despite the success of the Maidan, the crisis in Ukraine has 
changed its face. It hasn't dissipated. And today Secretary Kerry was 
greeted in Kiev by Ukrainians pleading for the continued support of the 
United States.
  Having been so clear-voiced in our support of the Ukrainian people 
thus far since the protests began last November, now is the moment when 
Democrats and Republicans should stand united in this Congress so that 
years from now, when a group assembles in Kiev marking the anniversary 
of this grave crisis, they will celebrate Ukraine's political 
sovereignty and economic rebirth with more chants of thanks to the 
United States.
  In what shape should this support come?
  First, we need to stand together in the next week to deliver serious 
financial assistance to a Ukrainian economy that is weak and is growing 
weaker as this crisis persists. A $1 billion aid package is a good 
start, but our real work must happen within the structures of the IMF, 
which can provide potentially tens of billions of dollars necessary to 
fully right the Ukrainian economic ship. While Ukraine does need to

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undergo economic and budget reforms from within, I would caution the 
IMF to be gentle in the timing of the conditions applied to this aid. 
Difficult steps need to be undertaken to right-size gas prices and trim 
budget deficits, but Ukraine should be given a long enough lease so 
that these necessary reforms don't strangle a nation today dealing with 
threats to its very existence.
  Second, Crimea. Russia has invaded Ukraine, make no mistake. They 
have done so in violation of the United Nations charter and the very 
accord they signed in 1994 guaranteeing Crimea's territorial security. 
No doubt Vladimir Putin was sore at losing his erstwhile ally in the 
Ukrainian President's office. No doubt he didn't like the fact that the 
United States voiced its strong support for the right of a sovereign 
Ukraine to make independent decisions about its future partnerships. No 
doubt he is infuriated that the Ukrainian people are now on their way 
to getting their way. But this is not a schoolyard. You don't get to 
push weaker kids around just because you don't like them. This is the 
21st century.
  The reason we belong to organizations such as the United Nations or 
the reason we negotiate treaties such as the Budapest memorandum is 
because now we understand, after centuries of European war, how 
destabilizing this kind of behavior is.
  The irony for Russia, of course, is that this invasion demonstrably 
weakens, not strengthens, their nation's position in the world. Let's 
say for argument's sake that the end result of this crisis is a Crimea 
that is more closely aligned with Russia than with Ukraine. What does 
that accomplish for Russia? Well, it will have won the occupation of 2 
million Ukrainians while the majority of the other 43 million continue 
to orient themselves permanently toward the European Union.
  If the United States and Europe make good on sanctions threats, which 
I hope we will, it will devastate the Russian economy, leaving millions 
of Russians out of work and adding political instability to Putin's own 
land at a time when he really can't afford much more instability, and 
it will make Russia an international pariah, shunned by the 
industrialized nations that help form the future path of global, 
political, and economic values.
  Given this reality, why did Putin do it? He didn't do it to protect 
Russians in Ukraine because the only threat to their safety is due to 
the military crisis of Russia's own making. He did it because, like the 
schoolyard bully, he doesn't see past his own nose. He believes that he 
wins by temporarily flexing his muscles and by capturing the world's 
attention. He doesn't look to the long-term, potentially dire 
consequences to his own political standing and to his own people. He 
pulls punches because it feels good today no matter how bad it will 
hurt tomorrow.
  But that being said, no matter the irrationality of Moscow's 
behavior, we need to make sure in the case that Russia does not correct 
its mistake, and correct it soon, the consequences do hurt. I believe 
Congress should authorize broad authority for President Obama to enact 
strong sanctions on Russia through penalties to its banks, its oil 
companies, and its political and economic elite. I believe the 
President should only be allowed to use this authority in the case that 
this illegal incursion into Ukraine continues and that we should give 
Moscow the opportunity to reverse course or join with the international 
community to address their concerns about the safety of Russian 
citizens in Ukraine.
  Let's give Russia a chance to make this better and deliver a clear 
message of the consequences if they don't. This, of course, can't 
happen without the support of our European allies. As chairman of the 
Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, I will be on the 
phone this week with European Parliamentarians urging them to join us 
in proposing new sanctions on the Russian economy.
  I know there is hesitance in Europe due to the integration of Russia 
into the European economies, but this crisis should, frankly, matter 
more to Europe than it matters to us. Five years ago it was a laughable 
proposition that Russia would invade Ukraine, but it is happening now. 
It may be unthinkable today that Russia, in 5 years, is going to move 
on a NATO ally, but if this aggression goes unchecked, then the future 
can be very perilous, even for our friends in Europe.
  Finally, a word on the politics of this crisis. I have listened to 
some of my good friends on the Republican side try to score political 
points in connection with the Russian move on Crimea, trying to paint 
this somehow as Obama's fault. This is a ridiculous contention. Putin 
marched into Georgia in 2008 under a Republican President, who many of 
my Republican colleagues considered to be strong on foreign policy, and 
now he is doing it with a Democrat in office. President Obama is 
considering steps in response that seemingly weren't even considered in 
2008.
  What has me feeling even more suspect of the criticisms of President 
Obama is there doesn't seem to be any real difference between what the 
Republicans want the President to do and what he is actually doing. It 
is easy to say it is Obama's fault, but history tells us otherwise, and 
these political attacks mask the fortunate fact that there is pretty 
solid bipartisan agreement on what to do next.
  Ukraine can remain whole and free and it can stay on a path to join 
Europe. When that day emerges from the smoke and the fire of the 
crisis, if we play our cards right, then they will have America and our 
European allies to thank, in part, for that new day.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.

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