[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12711]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        THE HUNGRY RUSSIAN BEAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, in the sky above eastern Ukraine, a 
surface-to-air missile was launched, and it destroyed a Malaysian 
civilian airliner. The dastardly deed killed--rather, murdered--298 
people.
  It appears the missile and launcher were Russian. The individuals 
shooting down the plane were so-called ``Russian-backed separatists'' 
in Ukraine. Apparently, the crash, which is a crime scene on the 
ground, is controlled by pro-Russian sympathizers, and it has been 
compromised by unknown malcontents.
  It seems to me the Russian emperor, Putin--the Napoleon of Siberia--
has his pitiful, complicit fingerprints all over this Lusitania-type 
incident. This is the latest in a series of aggressive acts by the 
Russian bear. In 2008, the Russians invaded the sovereign nation of 
Georgia. The bear gobbled up one-third of the nation. The world leaders 
protested loudly, but they were glad it wasn't their homelands. Then 
the world moved on.
  Madam Speaker, the Russian tanks are still in Georgia. I have seen 
them.
  Then the bear hibernated and woke up hungry in 2013 and invaded 
Crimea--a part of the country of Ukraine--to satisfy its appetite for 
more aggression. Now the Russians unlawfully occupy Crimea. The world 
leaders, once again, voiced opposition but went back to their policy of 
appeasement.
  But Crimea did not fill the belly of the bear. So, still hungry, the 
bear of the north moved into eastern Ukraine and looked for more prey. 
It subversively has supported insurrection against the Ukrainian 
Government to gain more territory. Reports indicate Russian special 
forces are playing the role of pro-Russian separatists. Battles are 
being fought. People are dying. Russian imperialism persists in its 
aggression.
  Then, recently, the Malaysian airplane was shot down over Ukraine. 
Also, in the last 24 hours, two Ukrainian military jets were shot down 
by Russian-backed rebels. The world leaders are self-righteously 
outraged. However, nothing has stopped the Russian bear.
  What will the heads of state do? Will the leaders continue to take 
the position that, since the bear hasn't eaten them, they will do 
little but pontificate and hope the bear's appetite is satisfied?
  Maybe the bear will hibernate again, Madam Speaker, but when it wakes 
up, like it always does, it will wake up hungry. Then, when it roars, 
who will be devoured next, the rest of Ukraine?--or maybe Moldova or 
Latvia or Estonia or Poland?--or just another innocent group of men, 
women, and children on a civilian airline?
  Only Putin knows what the awakening roar of the Russian bear will 
bring to the rest of humanity. Appeasement certainly doesn't seem to be 
working, and it is not the answer to stopping aggression.
  Madam Speaker, is there not one bold Churchill to be found amidst the 
overpopulated, boastful Chamberlains among us?
  And that's just the way it is.

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