[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 1789]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 68--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
 JANUARY 24, 2015, ATTACKS CARRIED OUT BY RUSSIAN-BACKED REBELS ON THE 
 CIVILIAN POPULATION IN MARIUPOL, UKRAINE, AND THE PROVISION OF LETHAL 
             AND NON-LETHAL MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO UKRAINE

  Mr. JOHNSON (for himself and Mrs. Shaheen) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                               S. Res. 68

       Whereas Russian-backed rebels continue to expand their 
     campaign in Ukraine, which has already claimed more than 
     5,000 lives and generated an estimated 1,500,000 refugees and 
     internally displaced persons;
       Whereas, on January 23, 2015, Russian rebels pulled out of 
     peace talks with Western leaders;
       Whereas, on January 24, 2015, the Ukrainian port city of 
     Mariupol received rocket fire from territory in the Donetsk 
     region controlled by rebels;
       Whereas, on January 24, 2015, Alexander Zakharchenko, 
     leader of the Russian-backed rebel Donetsk People's Republic, 
     publicly announced that his troops had launched an offensive 
     against Mariupol;
       Whereas Mariupol is strategically located on the Sea of 
     Azov and is a sea link between Russian-occupied Crimea and 
     Russia, and could be used to form part of a land bridge 
     between Crimea and Russia;
       Whereas the indiscriminate attack on Mariupol killed 30 
     people, including 2 children, and wounded 102 in markets, 
     homes, and schools;
       Whereas any group that fires rockets knowingly into a 
     civilian population is committing war crimes and is in 
     violation of international humanitarian law;
       Whereas, even after the Russian Federation and the Russian-
     backed rebels signed a ceasefire agreement called the Minsk 
     Protocol in September 2014, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, 
     General Philip Breedlove, reported in November 2014 the 
     movement of ``Russian troops, Russian artillery, Russian air 
     defense systems, and Russian combat troops'' into Ukraine;
       Whereas, on January 24, 2015, NATO Secretary General Jens 
     Stoltenberg stated, ``For several months we have seen the 
     presence of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, as well as a 
     substantial increase in Russian heavy equipment such as 
     tanks, artillery, and advanced air defense systems. Russian 
     troops in eastern Ukraine are supporting offensive operations 
     with command and control systems, air defense systems with 
     advanced surface-to-air missiles, unmanned aerial systems, 
     advanced multiple rocket launcher systems, and electronic 
     warfare systems.'';
       Whereas, on January 25, 2015, after Russian-backed rebels 
     attacked Mariupol, European Council President Donald Tusk 
     wrote, ``Once again appeasement encourages the aggressor to 
     greater acts of violence; time to step up our policy based on 
     cold facts, not illusions.'';
       Whereas, on November 19, 2014, at a Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate confirmation hearing, Deputy National 
     Security Adviser Anthony Blinken stated that the provision of 
     defensive lethal assistance to the Government of Ukraine 
     ``remains on the table. It's something we're looking at.'';
       Whereas the Ukraine Freedom Support Act (Public Law 113-
     272), which was passed by Congress unanimously and signed 
     into law by the President on December 18, 2014, states that 
     it is the policy of the United States to further assist the 
     Government of Ukraine in restoring its sovereignty and its 
     territorial integrity to deter the Government of the Russian 
     Federation from further destabilizing and invading Ukraine 
     and other independent countries in Central and Eastern 
     Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia; and
       Whereas the Ukraine Freedom Support Act authorizes 
     $350,000,000 in fiscal years 2015-2017 for the President to 
     provide the Government of Ukraine with defense articles, 
     defense services, and military training for the purpose of 
     countering offensive weapons and reestablishing the 
     sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including 
     anti-tank and anti-armor weapons; crew weapons and 
     ammunition; counter-artillery radars; fire control and 
     guidance equipment; surveillance drones; and secure command 
     and communications equipment: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the attack on Mariupol by Russian-backed 
     rebels;
       (2) urges the President to provide lethal and non-lethal 
     military assistance to Ukraine as unanimously supported by 
     Congress in the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014 (Public 
     Law 113-272);
       (3) calls on the United States, its European allies, and 
     the international community to continue to apply economic and 
     other forms of pressure on the Russian Federation, especially 
     in the form of sanctions, if the Government of the Russian 
     Federation continues to refuse to cease its aggression in 
     Ukraine;
       (4) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
     immediately end its support for the rebels in eastern 
     Ukraine, allow Ukraine to regain control of its 
     internationally-recognized borders, and withdraw its military 
     presence in eastern Ukraine; and
       (5) expresses solidarity with the people of Ukraine 
     regarding the humanitarian crisis in their country and the 
     destruction caused by the military, financial, and 
     ideological support of the Government of the Russian 
     Federation for the rebels in eastern Ukraine.

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