Ukraine is the Scrimmage Line for Liberty
Floor Speech
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight as co-chair and a founding member of the bipartisan, 94-member Congressional Ukraine Caucus. Our caucus supports the immediate consideration of legislation that will provide further supplemental funding for Ukraine to support our partner in liberty against the aggression of Putin's tyranny.
This is a moral struggle for liberty in our era. Liberty faces a new era of conflict being forced upon the free world by a burgeoning axis of tyranny and terrorism, including the likes of Russia, China, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Ukraine is the scrimmage line of that conflict for liberty. Their fight is our fight. The America I know does not cower in the face of tyranny.
Many Americans believe that the history of the struggle against global tyranny ended with the defeat of Nazi Germany and the fall of the Soviet Union. I am here today to tell them that liberty's history is still being written. We face not a new enemy but an old one. This is not a new struggle but one which America and our alliances of free nations have fought for nearly a century. Ukraine has fought for its liberty for centuries.
Let us not forget a key reason why there is a war in Ukraine. When the Soviet Union collapsed, as a newly independent nation in 1991, it became the third largest nuclear power in the world. However, as a responsible nation, Ukraine signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at the behest of the United States and the demand of Russia and gave up its stockpile of nuclear weapons.
In exchange, Ukraine's security was to be guaranteed under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum signed by the United States, Russia, and the United Kingdom. However, Russia, even though it was the recipient of Ukraine's nuclear arsenal, betrayed its commitments when it invaded Ukraine in 2014. We must not betray ours.
Ukraine has been building her fledgling democracy since 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union's tyranny that President Ronald Reagan called the ``evil empire.'' That remains one of the most consequential moments in world history. Liberty won. Ukraine has faced many challenges in her endeavor for liberty as it steadfastly moves to join the European Union of free nations, America's closest allies.
To thwart Ukraine's desire for liberty and independence from Russia's malevolent influence, Putin first invaded Ukraine in 2014, 4 days after Russia's hosting the international Sochi Olympics with all of that fancy publicity. Now, 8 years later, Putin launched his war of unprovoked aggression on Ukraine in 2022. Much of the world was convinced there was no way the Ukrainian David could defeat a Russian Goliath. Ukraine's entire territory encompasses only 3 percent of the territory of Russia and its population is only 25 percent of Russia's, and yet Ukraine fights and fights hard. She has never asked us to fight for her, only for global allies to arm her so she can defend herself. So far, we have done so, and to great effect. We must stay the course, not waiver.
President Zelenskyy, who is again visiting Washington today, and the Ukrainian people have stood up to Putin. Ukraine's valiant soldiers have actually moved their military to liberate 50 percent of all the territory that was once occupied by Russian tyranny and decimated as much as 40 percent of Russia's military capacity.
It is important to put the resources that we have provided for Ukraine's defense against Russia into perspective. To date, Congress, in a repeated bipartisan fashion, has appropriated roughly $113 billion for Ukraine, of which every penny has been accounted for.
Furthermore, we know that at least 60 percent of the money that is appropriated for Ukraine is spent right here in the United States, not in Ukraine, to purchase important commodities. It is funding that is going directly toward bolstering our diminished military industrial base, and our American workforce benefits, including those in Lima, Ohio, which produces the greatest tank in the world, the Abrams tank. Every dollar spent is closely and appropriately accounted for to ensure none of the funds fall into the wrong hands.
During the Cold War, we spent $13 trillion measured in 1996 dollars to combat Russian aggression, equivalent to $26 trillion today. The sum per year that we provide supporting Ukraine is no more than 20 percent of what we spent each year for four decades to contain Russia.
America's alliance with our NATO partners has helped ensure European nations have bolstered our support to Ukraine with their own. As a percent of GDP, 15 European countries have so far provided a higher level to Ukraine than the United States.
This is the costliest war in human casualties and plunder since World War II in Europe, the continent on which over 500,000 U.S. soldiers are buried from World War I and World War II. They bequeathed liberty to us, and we must never fail their memory. The murderous dictatorships of Nazism, communism, and imperialism lay dead, and the 20th century's most consequential achievement was, in fact, that. Now, that cost in blood is being borne by Ukraine and the Ukrainian people alone.
The fact remains that if America were to end its support of Ukraine, Russia would be able to defeat it. Putin is not counting the numbers of rubles or Russian lives he is spending on this conflict. What he is counting are the number of votes for Ukraine that remain in this U.S. Congress. He knows that American support will decide the victor of this conflict. So should we.
If Putin succeeds in Ukraine or if we grow tired of a forever war we are not even fighting in, then we allow tyranny to ascend over liberty. Putin has made clear he would then test our resolve over smaller, much harder-to-defend NATO members, a move that would force the United States and our NATO allies into direct war with Russia. America and the free world have much at stake.
As one European ambassador reminded me, there is an old saying that states: If you think you are an isolationist, if you take no interest in foreign affairs, take my word, foreign affairs will find you.
We face a choice now. America can repeat the mistakes of the 1920s by withdrawing our nearly century-long support for liberty, inevitably forcing the free world to pay a higher price for freedom as tyranny deepens its roots in our world, or America must take a stand now and provide further funding for Ukraine to help secure liberty for a new generation.
I call upon the Speaker and my colleagues in the House to choose the path of liberty.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers).
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), the esteemed ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley).
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson), and I thank him for his leadership on his side of the aisle.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur for her leadership in promoting the bipartisan remarks tonight, which reinforce what former Chairman Greg Meeks has already stated, and that is that there is overwhelming bipartisan support, Democrats and Republicans, for the people of Ukraine as they will achieve victory over war criminal Putin.
I support the supplemental with clear consistency. There should be security for all borders--American borders, Ukrainian borders, Israeli borders, and Taiwanese borders--to achieve peace through strength to prevent global conflict.
On February 24, 2022, war criminal Putin launched a full-scale mass murderous invasion of sovereign, democratic Ukraine, claiming Ukraine does not exist. Patriotic Ukrainians, even grandmothers, raced to arm themselves and protect their land and families.
The world underestimated the resolve of Ukrainians. I was in Kyiv in December 2021, prior to war criminal Putin's murderous invasion, when the planning for resistance and guerilla warfare was anticipated to be overwhelmed. Ukraine valiantly fought back for freedom and proved the world wrong.
I visited again in May of this year and saw firsthand courageous Ukrainians led by the very courageous Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukrainians are the front line in a conflict we did not choose as dictators with rule of gun invade democracies with rule of law. The axis of evil fights first for the death of Ukraine and then the death of Israel, and then they chant ``death to America.''
All Americans should know that we have a treaty obligation to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine. In 1994, with the signing of the Budapest Memorandum between the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees and territorial integrity.
A consequence now, sadly, is that other countries will not give up nuclear weapon capabilities because Russia violates every treaty it signs.
It is not realistic to believe that any peace can be achieved without full Ukrainian victory, which is territorial integrity.
I appreciate that President Donald Trump worked to avoid the war criminal Putin invasion by providing Javelin missiles to Ukraine, placing American troops in Poland, and stopping the Nord Stream II pipeline, which financed the dictatorship in Moscow.
Just as America would fight for territorial integrity, as there is no State that we would abandon, there is no State that would abandon a county.
We know that appeasement to invaders would actually promote something warned by Speaker Mike Johnson. Speaker Johnson states that Putin would continue his deranged dream of a resurrected Soviet Union, threatening Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, and NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, along with all the countries of Central Asia.
The Republican tradition has been bipartisan for peace through strength with Eisenhower-Nixon, reinforced by Barry Goldwater and: Why not victory over communism? He also explained the alternative of victory is defeat. Then there was the ultimate Ronald Reagan expression to our enemies: ``We win. You lose.''
This is why it is so critical that we commit today to protecting the borders of America, Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan for peace through strength.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes).
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn), who is one of our preeminent leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr). Kentucky and Ohio have sent so many soldiers to war, and we know we both benefit from their valorous service.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his words.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer). Our distinguished leader, Congressman Steny Hoyer, has spent hours and hours and days and weeks and months working on the issues of liberty across the European Continent.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his decades of leadership.
Madam Speaker, may I ask how much time remains.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), who is the Speaker Emerita of the United States House of Representatives.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman and I thank every Member, on both sides of the aisle, that have spent this much time today in furtherance of this very noble objective so Ukraine wins and wins soon.
Madam Speaker, I now yield to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, a very hardworking member of our caucus.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California, Congressman John Garamendi, a leader on so many fronts here in the Congress, including Ukraine.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Cincinnati, Ohio, Congressman Greg Landsman, a distinguished Member of our Congress.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Steve Cohen, who is such a phenomenal leader in the law and on almost every subject we deal with here.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
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Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas, Ms. Sheila Jackson Lee, who has been at almost every meeting we have held on Ukraine and then we will yield to Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, a leader on both sides of the aisle.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her great leadership.
Madam Speaker, I stand here for the children. We must stand for the children. A little boy riding with his grandmother, Oleksandr Ivanov, was killed by the Russians and more children have been killed in all the conflicts that are going on.
We must move forward so that the humanitarian aid comes along with the aid that is needed to fight the Russians who have lost 87 percent of their military since they started. This can be winnable for the children. We need humanitarian aid in all the wars that are now going on, and I want to stand for that fight. The bill named after Oleksandr Ivanov is to protect our children wherever they are, humanitarian aid and war aid to ensure that the children are our priority. I hope that this fight will be won, and we will win for democracy and we will win for our children.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to support Ukraine as it stands up to tyranny and defends their sovereignty in the face of Russia's continued, unprovoked aggression. But I rise for the children in all wars--and I ask and demand humanitarian aid for children in all the wars.
We must send the unmistakable message that in the 21st Century, a dictator cannot conquer or carve up neighboring territories.
On February 24, 2022, Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, launched a premeditated war against Ukraine in an attack on democracy and a grave violation of international law, global peace, and security.
The war in Ukraine continues to severely impact people's lives and damage civilian infrastructure, triggering evacuations from front-line areas and driving humanitarian needs.
According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, as of July 2023, there are a recorded 5.1 million internally displaced people in Ukraine, 6.2 million refugees from Ukraine globally, and 17.6 million Ukrainian people in need of humanitarian assistance.
The unjust and brutal war has put millions of Ukrainian women and children at risk of trafficking. Millions of children have been deprived of their education and are experiencing trauma, and according to a report by Yale University, more than 6,000 children are in Russians custody.
According to a report by Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL), at least 6,000 children from Ukraine ages four months to 17 years have been held at camps and other facilities within Russia- occupied Crimea and mainland Russia since Russia's full-scale invasion began.
Forcibly transferring children of one group to another group is a violation of Article II(e) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948 and the Geneva Convention IV, including articles 24, 25, 50, 78 and 82.
Today, I call my colleagues to action and ask that they join me in seeking liberty and justice for all those in Ukraine.
Ukrainian children are being forcibly taken to Russia and put up for adoption into Russian families in an apparent effort to assimilate them, a practice that genocide scholar Timothy Snyder has said could be considered genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General has confirmed more than 17,000 cases of Ukrainian children abducted to Russia. But the number is likely much higher.
The U.S. State Department has said it has reliable information that Russian authorities have deliberately separated Ukrainian children from their parents during so-called ``filtration'' procedures and abducted others from Ukrainian institutions before putting them up for adoption inside Russia and estimates that the number may be as high as 260,000.
This is only the first step in what appears to be a deliberate Russian policy.
Once Ukrainian children arrive in Russia--or in Russian-controlled part of Ukraine such as Crimea--they are put into Russian orphanages. After a short period, they are given Russian citizenship.
This is done because Russian law allows for the adoption of foreign children.
Last Spring Putin signed decrees streamlining the process for children to receive Russian citizenship and for adoption.
Families are also given financial incentives to adopt children.
In Russian custody, Ukrainian children are subjected to reeducation programs meant to ``Russify'' them, told that their parents no longer want them, and convinced that their future lies in Russia.
Disgustingly, Russian propaganda cynically portrays its adoption of Ukrainian children as an act of generosity that gives new homes to helpless orphans.
Russian state media shows local officials hugging and kissing newly arrived Ukrainian children and handing them Russian passports.
Many of these children are not orphans at all.
Ukrainian institutions also house children whose parents were not in position to take care of them for a period of time or who had special needs.
Once adopted, children's names and dates of birth are often changed, making it extremely difficult to find them and reunite them with their families in the future.
We need to act now to stop the abduction and forced assimilation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
We need to raise our concerns loudly and often and speak out to counter the disgusting Russian propaganda that would use children in this way.
We should consider whether there is a need to establish a registry to record data on children believed to have been taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territories to assist law enforcement and also future family reunification in the future.
Of course, any such system must protect children's personal information.
In addition, we should also look at what role international organizations might play in tracking and rescuing these children, including the Red Cross.
Further, Ukraine's children are suffering serious injury and trauma due to Russia's genocidal war on Ukraine.
According to the United Nations, almost two-thirds of the country's children have been displaced.
Thousands have been injured and, although UNICEF has said more than 1,000 children have been killed, that number is likely much, much higher as there is no reliable way to verify how many civilians have been killed in the most decimated areas of Ukraine, like Mariupol, where, just as one example, Russian forces bombed a theater housing hundreds of civilians despite clear markings that children were present.
In addition to the immediate dangers of war, the effects of war on children could have lasting consequences.
Many Ukrainian children have witnessed unimaginable violence, including the murders of their own parents or family members.
They have had to endure the stress of being under almost constant bombardment, in fear of their safety.
Others have experienced hunger, cold, and weeks spent hiding in wet, frigid basements without daylight or fresh air and without sanitation or healthcare.
This constant stress takes a heavy toll on the youngest victims of war.
Moreover, disruptions to education may never be fully recovered.
In this regard, I would like to recognize the Ukrainian government's exceptional campaign to keep children linked to their schools by mobilizing the remote learning infrastructure built up during the COVID-l9 pandemic, as well as the many European countries which have opened their schools to Ukrainian refugee children.
Children--and their families--need support to heal from the trauma they have experienced.
There are organizations on the ground providing psychological treatment, art therapy, humanitarian aid, and for some even new homes.
We all need to support such programs and to act now to ensure their continued action and expanded reach.
The longer children go without receiving treatment for their trauma, the longer it will take to heal.
There is also significant concern for the physical, mental, and psychological well-being of women in Ukraine.
Amnesty International reports that women in the country face grave risks, an increased burden of caring responsibilities and immense stress and hardships when living in war zones.
Amnesty International's Secretary General explains that ``Time and time again, women bear the brunt of war's brutality. They are consistently on the frontlines of conflict--as soldiers and fighters, doctors and nurses, volunteers, peace activists, carers for their communities and families, internally displaced people, refugees, and too often as victims and survivors.''
Women confront increased sexual and gender-based violence and perilous health conditions, while being forced to make life and death survival decisions for their families.
At the same time, women are often excluded from the decision-making processes and their rights and needs remain unprotected and unmet.
While many women in Ukraine have joined the resistance to Russian aggression, very often caregiving responsibilities for children and family members fall disproportionately on women.
Managing these caregiving responsibilities is especially difficult in the perilous conditions of the conflict.
A woman living in the conflict zone in Donetsk Oblast, told Amnesty International how the invasion has impacted her as a mother and caregiver for her parents: ``All changed for the worse. Men [from the family] are at war, women are left alone, many with small children on their backs without any income. There is no help--no physical help, no financial aid.''
The invasion has also had a distinct detrimental effect on women's mental, physical and sexual and reproductive health.
For menstruating women and girls, limited supplies any increased prices for menstruation management products are forcing them to choose between food and sanitary products.
I am especially concerned about reports of rape and sexual assault committed by Russian troops, not only of women, but also of children and men.
Gender-based violence is aggravated and intensified for those living in the conflict-affected regions for many reasons.
These include the lack of security, the absence or erosion of the rule of law, the pervasiveness of impunity for the perpetrators, and lack of trust in the occupying authorities, as well as the stigma attached to disclosing experiences of sexual and gender-based violence.
This is not only an effort to humiliate and terrorize, but also could amount to genocide as some women report being told by their tormenters that they would be raped until they could no longer have Ukrainian children.
Russia must be held accountable for their heinous actions and the war crimes they have committed against the women, children, and people of Ukraine.
I urge Congress to act to protect the safety, security, and well- being of the people of Ukraine, especially vulnerable populations like women and children.
Congress cannot remain complicit in the face of Russian aggression.
We must act to defend the rights and freedoms of Ukraine's children and all its people.
To hold accountable those who have committed these atrocities and have put the lives of thousands of Ukrainian women and children at risk, I introduced H.R. 5800, the Oleksander Ivanov Act. H.R. 5800, THE OLEKSANDER IVANOV ACT
This bill will help rescue and support the children of Ukraine from Russian aggression and to prevent human trafficking in refugee flows.
Specifically, under this bill, the United States will:
Support programs for trauma treatment and healing, rehabilitation and where necessary prostheses, for Ukrainian children affected by the war including nationwide educational programs of psychological support to address emotional trauma and stress for all of Ukraine's children, integrated into school curriculum and offered through clinical and social services.
Support programs to rebuild the education system in Ukraine and education for Ukrainian child refugees, in cooperation with other countries, international organizations, and civil society.
Support the development of a unified and consolidated searchable registry of missing Ukrainian children in order to facilitate identification of children and family reunification. The registry should ensure strict data protection and availability in the Ukrainian, Russian, and English languages. In addition, the public should be made aware of its existence and use.
Support the creation of a unified central emergency call center hub linked to law enforcement in Ukraine and in other countries to enable reporting on and interventions on behalf of missing children originally from Ukraine and suspected cases of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, including online, of children originally from Ukraine.
The bill will also undertake new global actions to protect refugees and combatting human trafficking by:
Supporting the creation of an international mechanism to facilitate vetting of volunteers and other non-governmental front-line responders working with refugees or with victims of other major crises or natural disasters by government authorities or law enforcement. Such an international vetting system could include internationally recognized certifications verifying individuals who have been recently cleared to work with refugees.
Supporting efforts to only allow appropriately vetted and credentialled individuals (such as described above) access to refugees.
Continuing to support efforts by the Ukrainian government to increase collaboration with their European counterparts on anti-trafficking investigations and increased awareness efforts.
Supporting the development of robust child protective mechanisms for vulnerable children, including those from Ukraine, in Ukraine and in countries that have received Ukrainian refugees, that include social assistance and protection to help prevent human trafficking and sexual abuse of Ukrainian children.
And working with Ukrainian authorities to ensure that law enforcement officials stationed at major border crossing points during a refugee crisis are appropriately trained to prevent human trafficking and support other measures to monitor for indications of human trafficking targeting refugees in areas surrounding border crossings.
Further, my bill directs sanctions to hold Russia responsible for its actions against the children of Ukraine by doing the following:
Imposing financial blocking and visa sanctions on any foreign person or organization that the President or Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determine are responsible for engaging in or facilitating the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine or for their forced assimilation, adoption, or placement in a foster home, and engaging in or facilitating the human trafficking of Ukrainian refugees.
The actions laid out in this bill would represent a major step forward for the children of Ukraine, illustrate America's strong stance against Russian aggression, and protect the most vulnerable during this time of conflict and crisis.
Holding Russia accountable for war crimes is crucial.
There can be no impunity for these heinous crimes.
And so today, I call on my colleagues to join me in continuing our support for a victorious Ukraine, and to put an end to these heinous crimes Russia continues to commit.
It is important that we continue to do everything we can to help Ukraine succeed on the battlefield and protect its people, and we cannot under any circumstances allow America's support for Ukraine to be interrupted.
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