IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 726 

Strongly supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to freely determine 

their future, including their country’s relationship with other nations 

and international organizations, without interference, intimidation, or 

coercion by other countries. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 

Mr. GERLACH (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, and Mr. LEVIN) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Strongly supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to 

freely determine their future, including their country’s 

relationship with other nations and international organizations, without interference, intimidation, or coercion 

by other countries. 

Whereas the United States is strongly committed to the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of 

Ukraine; 

Whereas the United States strongly supports the right of the 

people of Ukraine to freely determine their future, including their country’s relationship with other nations and 

international organizations, without interference, intimidation, or coercion by other countries; 


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Whereas the Russian Federation has undertaken a campaign 

of political, economic, and military aggression against 

Ukraine; 

Whereas the Russian Federation’s forcible occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea, its continuing support for 

separatist and paramilitary forces in eastern Ukraine, 

and its invasion of and military operations on Ukrainian 

territory represent gross violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity and a 

violation of international law, including the Russian Federation’s obligations under the United Nations Charter 

and its commitments as a participating State of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; 

Whereas the Government of Ukraine continues to exercise extraordinary restraint in response to the invasion of its 

territory by several thousand military personnel of the 

Russian Federation, who are engaged in offensive military operations in support of separatist forces, the illegal 

occupation and annexation of Crimea, and the tens of 

thousands of Russian Federation military personnel positioned offensively on the Ukrainian-Russian border since 

March 2014; 

Whereas the forcible occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and its continuing support for separatist and paramilitary forces in eastern 

Ukraine are violations of its obligations under the 1994 

Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, in which 

it pledged to respect the independence and sovereignty 

and the existing borders of Ukraine and to refrain from 

the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity 

or political independence of Ukraine; 


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Whereas the Russian Federation has provided military equipment, training, and other assistance to separatist and 

paramilitary forces in eastern Ukraine that has resulted 

in ongoing conflict that is responsible for over 3,000 

deaths, hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees, and 

widespread destruction; 

Whereas the Ukrainian military remains at a significant disadvantage compared to the armed forces of the Russian 

Federation in terms of size and technological sophistication; 

Whereas the United States strongly supports efforts to assist 

Ukraine to defend its territory against military aggression by the Russian Federation and by separatist and 

paramilitary forces; 

Whereas Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a civilian airliner, was 

destroyed by a Russian-made missile provided to the separatist forces by the Russian Federation, taking all 298 

innocent lives on board; 

Whereas the Russian Federation has used and is continuing 

to use coercive economic measures, including the manipulation of energy prices and supplies as well as trade restrictions, to place political and economic pressure on 

Ukraine; 

Whereas visa, financial, and other sanctions imposed by the 

United States, the European Union, and other allies and 

partners have placed significant pressure on the Russian 

Federation and its leadership but have not been sufficient 

to end its political, military, and economic aggression 

against Ukraine; 


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Whereas the President of the United States has authority to 

impose stronger sanctions against the Russian Federation and its leadership; 

Whereas an aggressive Russian propaganda effort through 

the dissemination of false information is intended to 

stoke ethnic divisions and incite violence, thereby posing 

a direct threat to the peace and stability of Ukraine; 

Whereas on April 3, 2014, the President signed Public Law 

113–96 for the purpose of bolstering the resources of the 

Broadcasting Board of Governors to counter Russian 

propaganda and provide the people of Ukraine and the 

surrounding regions with access to credible and uncensored sources of information; 

Whereas the United States remains committed to Ukraine’s 

democratic development and to the establishment of a 

government that includes and respects representatives 

from all regions of Ukraine; 

Whereas the United States is committed to assisting the Government of Ukraine ensure that the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26, 2014, are free, fair, and 

held in all regions of Ukraine in full accordance with 

international standards; 

Whereas the United States strongly supports the development 

of a prosperous market economy in Ukraine; 

Whereas the United States strongly supports the implementation of economic reforms in Ukraine, including in the fiscal, energy, pension, and banking sectors, among others; 

Whereas the United States supports the development of 

Ukraine’s trade and economic ties with other countries 

and especially the European Union following the signing 

of an Association Agreement on June 27, 2014; 


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Whereas the United States strongly supports energy diversification initiatives to reduce Russian control of energy 

supplies to Ukraine and other European countries, including the development of domestic sources of energy, 

increased efficiency, and substituting energy obtained 

from Russia with imports from other countries; 

Whereas the terms of the cease-fire announced on September 

5, 2014, are being violated by the Russian Federation 

and the separatist and paramilitary forces it supports; 

Whereas this cease-fire, if its terms are fully met by all parties, may be a first step toward the reestablishment of 

stability that must include the full withdrawal of Russian 

forces from Ukrainian territory, the establishment of 

Ukraine’s control over all of its international borders, the 

disarming of the separatist and paramilitary forces in the 

east, an end to Russia’s use of its energy exports and 

trade barriers to apply economic and political pressure on 

Ukraine, and an end to Russian interference in Ukraine’s 

internal affairs; 

Whereas the political, military, and economic aggression 

against Ukraine by the Russian Federation underscores 

the enduring importance of the North Atlantic Treaty 

Organization as the cornerstone of collective Euro-Atlantic defense; and 

Whereas the United States reaffirms its obligations under the 

North Atlantic Treaty, especially Article 5, which states 

that ‘‘an armed attack against one or more’’ of the treaty 

signatories ‘‘shall be considered an attack against them 

all’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 


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1 (1) strongly supports the right of the people of 

2 Ukraine to freely determine their future, including 

3 their country’s relationship with other nations and 

4 international organizations, without interference, in5 timidation, or coercion by other countries; 

6 (2) calls on the President to continue to work 

7 with our allies and partners in Europe and other na8 tions around the world to reaffirm the sovereignty, 

9 independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine 

10 and to refuse to recognize the illegal annexation of 

11 Crimea by the Russian Federation; 

12 (3) strongly condemns the continuing political, 

13 economic, and military aggression by the Russian 

14 Federation against Ukraine and the violation of its 

15 sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity; 

16 (4) states that the military intervention by the 

17 Russian Federation is a breach of its obligations 

18 under the United Nations Charter and its commit19 ments as a participating State of the Organization 

20 for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and is a 

21 violation of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Se22 curity Assurances, in which it pledged to respect the 

23 independence and sovereignty and the existing bor24 ders of Ukraine and to refrain from the threat of 

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1 ical independence of Ukraine; and poses a threat to 

2 international peace and security; 

3 (5) demands that the Russian Federation re4 move its military forces and military equipment from 

5 the territory of Ukraine, including equipment pro6 vided to the separatist and paramilitary forces; 

7 (6) demands that the Russian Federation end 

8 its political, military, and economic support of sepa9 ratist and paramilitary forces in Ukraine; 

10 (7) demands that the Russian Federation and 

11 the separatist and paramilitary forces it supports 

12 end their violations of the cease-fire announced on 

13 September 5, 2014; 

14 (8) calls on the President to cooperate with al15 lies and partners in Europe and other nations 

16 around the world to impose visa bans, targeted asset 

17 freezes, sectoral sanctions, and other measures on 

18 the Russian Federation and its leadership sufficient 

19 to compel it to end its violation of Ukraine’s sov20 ereignty and territorial integrity, to remove its mili21 tary forces and equipment from Ukrainian territory, 

22 and to end its support of separatist and paramilitary 

23 forces; 

24 (9) calls on the President to provide the Gov25 ernment of Ukraine with defense articles, services, 


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1 and training required to effectively defend its terri2 tory and sovereignty; 

3 (10) calls on the President to ensure the deliv4 ery of urgently needed assistance to Ukraine and to 

5 ensure that all future assistance will be rapidly deliv6 ered; 

7 (11) calls on the President to provide the Gov8 ernment of Ukraine with appropriate intelligence 

9 and other relevant information to assist the Govern10 ment of Ukraine to defend its territory and sov11 ereignty; 

12 (12) calls on the President to work with the 

13 Government of Ukraine, our allies and other nations, 

14 and international organizations to ensure that the 

15 multinational team investigating the destruction of 

16 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is able to conduct an un17 restricted investigation, guarantee the repatriation of 

18 remains and personal effects from the crash site, re19 port its findings free of outside political influence or 

20 intimidation and to ensure that those directly and 

21 indirectly responsible for this tragedy are brought to 

22 justice; 

23 (13) calls on our European allies, and other 

24 countries and international organizations, to join the 

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1 ment of Ukraine to ensure that the parliamentary 

2 elections scheduled for October 26, 2014, are free, 

3 fair, and held in all regions of Ukraine in full ac4 cordance with international standards; 

5 (14) calls on the President to expand United 

6 States international broadcasting efforts to Russian7 speaking audiences in Ukraine and both inside and 

8 outside of Russia and include a broad spectrum of 

9 communications mediums to provide high-quality 

10 programming content, independent journalism, and 

11 credible information to counter Russia’s propaganda; 

12 (15) calls on Ukraine and other countries to 

13 support energy diversification initiatives to reduce 

14 the ability of the Russian Federation to use its en15 ergy exports as a means of applying political or eco16 nomic pressure, including by promoting increased 

17 natural gas exports from the United States and 

18 other countries; 

19 (16) strongly supports the efforts by President 

20 Poroshenko and the people of Ukraine to establish 

21 a lasting peace in Ukraine that includes the full 

22 withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine’s terri23 tory, the establishment of Ukraine’s control over all 

24 of its international borders, the disarming of the 

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1 cies to reduce Russia’s ability to use energy exports 

2 and trade barriers as weapons to apply economic 

3 and political pressure on Ukraine, and an end to 

4 Russia’s interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs; 

5 and 

6 (17) reaffirms the commitment of the United 

7 States to its obligations under the North Atlantic 

8 Treaty, especially Article 5, and calls on all Alliance 

9 member states to provide their full share of the re10 sources needed to ensure their collective defense. 

Æ 


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