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Ukraine
Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I come to the floor tonight with my colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Jeanne Shaheen, to discuss the critical situation in Ukraine.
Ukraine is an independent country. It is a democracy. It is an ally of ours. It is a country that is currently under siege. There is a threat of invasion by Russia that grows every single day.
Right now, there are more than 130,000 Russian troops under the command of 100 tactical groups surrounding Ukraine. This Russian deployment includes nuclear-capable missiles, rockets, tanks, and artillery, and it is no longer just on the eastern border of Ukraine, where there has been activity before, as we will discuss, but now on the northern border, where Russian combat troops and heavy equipment have moved into the country of Belarus and also in Crimea. Additionally, Russia has now deployed amphibious assault ships and other ships into the Black Sea, to the south, and has positioned its S-
400 missile defense systems, which could stop flights into Ukraine.
So from the east, from the north, and from the south, Ukraine is facing this threat. News accounts say additional equipment is actually being moved to the Ukrainian border, not being pulled away.
While there are differing views on whether Russia has made the final decision as to whether to invade or not, there is no question that they have now amassed the capability needed to conduct a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Let's not forget that Russia has invaded Ukraine twice in the past 8 years, illegally annexing Crimea and inserting troops and offensive military equipment into the Donbas region in the east.
They have also targeted cyber attacks against public and private entities in Ukraine and continue to use information to try to destabilize the democratically elected Government of Ukraine.
By the way, Ukrainians have lost about 14,000 citizens in the last 5 years at the hands of the Russians--14,000--fathers, brothers. That would be, as a percentage of our population, like the United States losing about 115,000 people. That is more than we lost in Vietnam and Korea combined--actually, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. Think how we would feel.
And let's not forget that Russia continues, day by day, to conduct this low-grade but serious war against Ukraine.
We all hope that instead of an invasion, Russia chooses a diplomatic end to this current crisis, but we had better treat this threat of an invasion as a very real and serious possibility. Doing anything else would be irresponsible, given the massive mobilization and the past malign behavior.
And all freedom-loving countries have an interest here. Ukraine is where the cause of freedom is under siege today in our generation.
Eight years ago, Ukrainians made a very deliberate choice. They stood up to a corrupt Russian-backed government, and they turned to the West, to the European Union, to America. They said that they wanted to be like us.
I was in Ukraine in 2014 shortly after what is called the
``Euromaidan,'' the revolution of dignity. The barricades were still there in the center of town. The Maidan is a square that was still occupied by Ukrainian patriots. They sat there in makeshift tents in the cold because they believed that their hard-won freedom was worth defending.
And they did defend it. In the protests against the Russian-backed government, they lost 100 Ukrainian citizens by the security forces of the Russian-backed government. These individuals were called the
``Heavenly Hundred,'' and they are still honored today by memorials at the Maidan. Their freedom came at a high price, and they were willing to defend it then, as they are today.
I was there as an election observer with other American and European officials, mostly parliamentarians from Europe, and we witnessed a fair and robust Presidential election with a huge turnout. I saw their patriotism and national pride.
The Ukrainian people are proud and consider themselves Ukrainian, not Russian. They have been a free and independent country for 30 years, and since the protests in 2014, they have been on a track toward a Western-focused democracy and a free-market economy. It is their choice to be free and independent, and no country--no country--has the right to take that away from them.
I also want to highlight a change since 2014, and that is in the proficiency of the Ukrainian military and the great tragedy that would result from an illegal invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military will stand up, and they are ready. The military of today is a professional force that has been fighting this low-grade war with Russia for the past 8 years. It is not the military they had in 2014. They are, instead, battle hardened today. And thanks to the United States and our allies, including many NATO allies, they are better trained and better equipped than ever before.
I have been to the line of contact in the Donbas region--the line of contact, which is where the Russian troops are on one side and the Ukrainian troops are on the other, firing back and forth periodically. I have seen these troops from Ukraine. They are tough. They know how to fight, and they will fight to defend their country.
And Ukraine is a big country. It is a nation of 418 million people. In the capital city of Kyiv, there are almost 3 million people. Think about the humanitarian disaster that will ensue if there is an invasion--millions of innocent civilians displaced from their homes in the dead of a Ukrainian winter, fleeing desperately for safety, while fighting rages around them. This is not a sight anybody wants to see.
By the way, the blood of these innocents will be on the hands of the Russians.
And there will be significant Russian casualties as well, and severe multilateral sanctions that will be devastating for the Russian economy and targeted sanctions that will ensure that the era of Russian oligarchs treating the West as their playground while pillaging their own country of resources and wealth will be no more.
In 2014, the Ukrainian people rejected authoritarianism and chose instead democracy, freedom of speech, freedom to gather, respect for the rule of law, free markets, prosperity. They are not going back.
Despite Russia's underlying efforts to destabilize Ukraine over the past 8 years, the people of Ukraine remain committed to this independent, sovereign, and democratic nation. They don't want State control, repression, and fear. They instead seek liberty and opportunity.
Moscow would have the world believe that somehow this massive, unwarranted Russian buildup is about trying to shore up its border against threats from Ukraine and NATO. This is, of course, patently false and should be rejected out of hand by America and its many allies. Ukraine's military posture has always been defensive. They just want to be left alone. And unlike Russia, Ukraine has upheld its commitments under the Minsk agreements, which were designed to ensure a ceasefire in the Donbas region. NATO is defensive and is no threat to Russian territorial integrity.
It is important to note that Ukraine is not asking for us to fight this war for them. They are asking us for increased lethal military assistance to help them defend themselves should Russia make a mistake and invade Ukraine again. And they are asking all of us to abide by commitments we have made. In 1994, after the Berlin Wall came down, Ukraine signed what is called the Budapest Memorandum. It was a treaty where Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom; that we would all respect the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine and refrain from the threat or the use of force against Ukraine. These are commitments that must be honored.
I know there is a lot that our country and this Congress are divided over today, and we see it played out on the floor and in the media constantly. But I will tell you, Republicans and Democrats alike are united in backing Ukraine in this crisis. That is why it is so important that my colleague from New Hampshire is on the floor with me today. She has been a stalwart. We traveled to Ukraine 2 weeks ago and had the opportunity to meet with the leading officials there, including President Zelenskyy, but also talked to the Ukrainian people. And we let them know that on a bipartisan basis we support Ukraine. We have a bipartisan consensus on the broad structure of sanctions and an aid package for Ukraine.
The sanctions, by the way, would cripple the Russian economy. We have some disagreement perhaps over preinvasion or postinvasion sanctions and how much on each, but we agree on sanctions.
We also agree on assisting Ukraine with further and much needed support: defense against cyber attacks, as an example, that the Russians are already conducting--and we expect more to come--and disinformation attacks coming from Russia. We agree, Republicans and Democrats alike, not just on sanctions but providing more support to Ukraine for these critical areas. And of course we agreed on providing more military assistance to Ukraine so they can defend themselves.
We have come to a consensus on these issues. What we now need is for all of us to work together, including the White House, to ensure that we can step forward and put legislation or a resolution on the floor to ensure that we are doing whatever we possibly can to make it clear what the consequences will be to act as a deterrent to Russia from making a terrible mistake.
This is a critical time for us to act and to lead. It is time for us and the Congress and for this government to speak with one voice. Freedom in Eastern Europe depends on it but so does the cause of freedom all around the world.
I now yield to my colleague from New Hampshire Senator Shaheen.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I couldn't agree more with the comments of my colleague Senator Portman from Ohio.
We are here on the floor today to convey strong bipartisan opposition that exists in this Senate to Vladimir Putin's unprovoked aggression against our partner Ukraine.
Now, like everyone in this body, I have been closely following the deteriorating political crisis that has been fabricated by Russia because, as Senator Portman says, Ukraine has always been defensive. It has not been offensive going against Russia, but Russia intends to further undermine and threaten Ukraine's sovereignty.
This Senate has a long history of supporting an independent and democratic Ukraine. Since Russia's initial invasion in 2014, Congress has provided more than $2.7 billion in security assistance and supported its government in advancing critical reforms to help Ukraine on its journey to greater Euro-Atlantic integration.
I am proud to have been involved in a number of those bipartisan efforts to support Ukraine. As Senator Portman said, last month, we traveled with a bipartisan delegation of seven Senators--four Democrats and three Republicans--to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and other officials. We met with his national security team to discuss the Russian threat and how the United States can help our Ukrainian friends.
The message from the Ukrainians was clear. They see their future in partnership with the West. They share our democratic values, and their people are proud of their hard-won independence.
So it is worth asking, if Ukraine has made its sovereign wish clear that it wants a future with Europe, why does Putin have more than 130,000 troops at its border?
As Senator Portman pointed out so well, it is not just its eastern border with Russia; it is its northern border with Belarus. So it has been said--but I think it is worth repeating--that this unprecedented Russian threat to Ukraine's sovereignty is on Putin. It is on no one else. He has designed this crisis to advance his own revanchist agenda. He wants to reconstruct the Soviet Union and recreate his own sphere of interest, and he wrongfully sees Ukraine as part of this authoritarian future.
But make no mistake, this isn't just about Ukraine. Putin wants to diminish U.S. presence in Europe and to rewrite the European security order for his benefit and in blatant disregard for previous international agreements and treaties that Russia has signed. Senator Portman talked about the Budapest Memorandum. There have been other efforts to try and reduce tensions between Russia and Ukraine by Europe, but Putin has basically thumbed his nose at all of those efforts. He has shown repeated attempts to subvert democratic institutions in the United States, to attack our infrastructure, and to compromise the sovereignty of our allies around the globe.
This is why what happens in Ukraine matters here in the United States. It is important that we stand up for our values; it is important that we stand up to protect our national security; and it is critical that we continue to uphold and protect the transatlantic security order that has given us peace and prosperity for over 70 years, since the end of World War II.
As Putin tries to dismantle and divide the very alliance that has kept us safe for more than 70 years, it is all the more important that we strengthen our resolve through a strong message of unbreakable unity.
It is critical that the Senate take up and pass bipartisan legislation that shows our support for Ukraine and our opposition to Russia and what Putin is doing. I have been working toward this goal. I especially want to commend Senator Portman for his work and leadership because he has also been working toward this goal. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman and ranking member, Senators Menendez and Risch, continue their efforts to find a bipartisan path forward. And I am sure Senator Portman would agree with me that when we say we are committed to doing our part to forge a path forward on this legislation, we mean that is what we want to do; that this is an opportunity for us to show the rest of the world that we are united.
That is why we are here today, to send a strong bipartisan message to Putin, to Ukraine, and to our allies. We must lead by example and convey, as we have done through our Ukrainian partners and our transatlantic allies, that we must not leave any space for Putin to sow further discord.
Therefore, the Senate doesn't really have a choice; we must send a message of strong, unequivocal bipartisan resolve. For many years, Senator Portman and I and others in the Ukraine Caucus have worked closely to support the Ukrainian people. We traveled to Kyiv to ensure the U.S. resolve for our Ukrainian partners was absolute. We teamed up to increase military assistance to Ukraine, and we have spoken to ensure, on the topic of Ukraine, that this Senate speaks with one bipartisan voice.
So today we stand united here on the floor of the Senate to send an unequivocal message to Putin: You will not divide the Senate; you will not divide the United States; and you will not divide the transatlantic alliance.
Diplomacy remains an option, I hope, to deescalate this situation and to pursue a peaceful resolution, but if Putin decides to further invade Ukraine, he will only succeed in uniting us all--Democrats, Republicans, Americans, and the transatlantic alliance--in sending a message of unmistakable resolve against his belligerence. I hope he chooses peace rather than war, but we plan to be ready.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
Mr. PORTMAN. I would like to commend my colleague from New Hampshire for her strong statement. There should be no mistake here. The United States of America is united, as this place is united, the Senate and the House, Republicans and Democrats alike, in standing with Ukraine.
And if there were to be another invasion, the consequences would be devastating for Russia. It would also, by the way, be harmful to the stability of Europe and the cause of freedom all around the world because then you would have an authoritarian country coming into a democratically elected smaller country and invading it, as Russia has already done in Crimea and parts of Donbas.
So this effort tonight on the floor is simply to make it very clear that regardless of what legislative vehicle we end up choosing or resolution or other, there is no question that we are united, both Republicans and Democrats, in doing what is nonpartisan, which is standing up for freedom, which is what America has traditionally done.
I thank my colleague.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Would my colleague yield for a question?
Mr. PORTMAN. Absolutely.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Because as he points out, if Putin does invade Ukraine, as he said, it would be devastating for Ukraine, for those of us who believe in freedom, and the right of each individual country to determine their own future; but this would also be the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II; is that correct?
Mr. PORTMAN. That is correct. And if there is an invasion, it would be the first time since 1945 that we have seen this kind of malign behavior--not just an invasion but even the proof we have seen of the so-called hybrid attacks, the cyber attacks, the disinformation attacks, which is why so many in Europe are alarmed, particularly in the Baltics and Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, Romania. Countries that are right on the border, they realize that this is not going to end in Ukraine if this is what happens. It will send a message that we no longer have this post-World War II security system in place in Europe that has kept the peace.
So my hope is that we will continue to see not just unity here on the floor of the Senate and in the House and in the White House to stand up for Ukraine but among our allies because all of us are engaged in this.
And I must say I think what Russia and Vladimir Putin have done quite well in the last several weeks is unify the transatlantic alliance in ways I have rarely seen it. So NATO is stronger than ever because the Secretary General of NATO talked about this. He sounds exactly like we do, meaning that this shall not stand and cannot happen. So I think this is going to bring us together.
But deterrence is what we are all about--a peaceful resolution, a backing off, and the ability to allow a free and independent people of Ukraine to have their sovereignty and territorial integrity respected.
Now, may I ask my colleague from New Hampshire a question?
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Absolutely.
Mr. PORTMAN. We have seen here on the floor of the Senate lots of back-and-forth and partisanship. I made the assertion earlier that I see colleagues on both sides of the aisle being unified on this. I certainly feel that way with my Republican colleagues. Can the Senator speak to it as to her Democratic colleagues?
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Certainly, the Presiding Officer would agree with me that in the Democratic caucus we are also united with the Republican caucus in wanting to support Ukraine to ensure that they can determine their own future and to hold Vladimir Putin accountable.
As you say, hopefully, diplomacy will win out, and there will be some way in which we can work with Vladimir Putin to address some of his concerns. We are certainly not going to allow Putin and Russia to determine Ukraine's future--to say to Ukraine ``You can't join NATO'' or to say to Europe and NATO ``You can't expand into Europe if countries want to join.'' Hopefully, he will choose a path that is going to be good not just for Europe and the United States and Ukraine but for Russia, because, as the German Chancellor said to us last week when he met with a number of Senators: In the long run, this will not be good for Russia--for its energy future--because Europe is going to get off Russian energy a lot faster if Russia invades Ukraine, and it is not going to be good for Russia's standing either in Europe or in the world.
So, hopefully, Putin will choose the reasonable approach, which is that he will choose diplomacy and not choose war.
It is our job--that of the transatlantic alliance and those of us here in Congress--to hold Putin accountable if he makes the wrong choice, to make sure that we put in place crippling sanctions, that we provide the assistance that Ukraine needs in fighting Russia, and that we make it clear to the world that the world order that we have defended for the last 70 years we are going to continue to defend.
Mr. PORTMAN. Well said.
I yield the floor.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 29
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
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