Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee - H.R. 5241, Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act

Hearing

I want to thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for bringing H.R. 5241, the Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act, to the Full Committee for markup. I introduced this legislation with my colleague, Mr. Chabot, and it has broad bipartisan support.

The dangerous precedent set in Crimea cannot be overstated. Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea undermines Ukrainian sovereignty and threatens the stability of European borders. Acquiescence on the part of the U.S. threatens the security of sovereign nations. Who is next? Moldova? Georgia? The Baltic Republics?

Countries seeking to shed authoritarian institutions or pursue democratic reforms have historically been drawn to Western economic prosperity and democratic freedoms like a shining beacon. Cold War era geopolitics dictated that the endgame for the Soviet Union was to extinguish that beacon. In the post-Cold War era, Putin's Russia has once again set its sights anew on the beacon.

When Russian troops were identified as fomenting unrest in Crimea in February of this year, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin adamantly denied involvement. By April, Russia had illegally annexed Crimea, and Putin had come clean about the blatant Russian intrusion, admitting that Russian troops had been deployed to Crimea before the illegal annexation on March 21.

Now, Putin's playbook is being put to in eastern Ukraine. Last week, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg certified a serious Russian military buildup in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and our European allies have issued successive rounds of sanctions and warnings as Russian aggression has mounted and spurred violence and destruction in the region. However, I am stuck in Crimea. The U.S. lacks credibility objecting to Russia's aggression without a firm stance on Crimea.

Congress must make a simple, declarative statement on Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. The Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act does just that. The legislation prohibits any federal department or agency from taking any action or extending any assistance that recognizes or implies recognition of the de jure or de facto sovereignty of the Russian Federation over Crimea, its airspace, or its territorial waters. It authorizes the President to waive such prohibitions if he determines that doing so is vital to U.S. national security interests.

I remember that in the Cold War era, the U.S. had a policy of non-recognition regarding the Soviet Union's illegal annexation of the Baltic Republics. The U.S. recognized neither the de jure nor de facto sovereignty of the Soviet Union over the Baltic Republics. Our policy of non-recognition did not end in 1991 because it had become outdated or failed to recognize the facts on the ground. Although, I can attest that there were some in Washington who believed that the Baltic Republics would forever remain under the dominion of the Soviet Union. The Baltic people gained their independence in 1991 almost 50 years after the Soviet occupation began, and today, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia are NATO allies.

This is an important moment for the U.S. and the rest of the world. We are not seeking a return to Cold War brinksmanship. But all of 20th century history tells us that bullies can never be satisfied by concession.

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