IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 963 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives condemning the Russian 
Federation, President Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian Security 
Council, the Russian Armed Forces, and Russian military commanders 
for committing flagrant acts of aggression and other atrocities rising 
to the level of crimes against humanity and war crimes against the 
people of Ukraine and others. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 7, 2022 
Mrs. SPARTZ (for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 
HARRIS, Mr. HILL, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. TIMMONS, Mrs. 
WAGNER, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. OWENS, Mr. MOORE of Utah, Mr. DIAZ- 
BALART, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BANKS, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. 
MCKINLEY, Mr. GIBBS, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. MEIJER, Miss GONZA´LEZ- 
COLO´N, Mr. MANN, Mr. BURGESS, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. 
VAN DREW, Ms. SALAZAR, Mrs. WALORSKI, Mr. LATURNER, Mr. C. 
SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, Mr. COSTA, Mr. BERGMAN, Mrs. BICE of 
Oklahoma, Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. WEBER of Texas, 
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. ELLZEY, Mrs. 
HARSHBARGER, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. ALLEN, Mr. ROUZER, Mrs. MILLER 
of West Virginia, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. TONY GONZALES of Texas, Mr. 
BALDERSON, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. 
HERN, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. GARCIA of Cali-
fornia, Mr. GIMENEZ, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. BUDD, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, 
Mr. KATKO, Mr. LOUDERMILK, Mr. MOONEY, Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, 
Mrs. STEEL, Mr. JACKSON, and Mr. CALVERT) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives con-
demning the Russian Federation, President Vladimir 
Putin, members of the Russian Security Council, the 
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•HRES 963 IH 
Russian Armed Forces, and Russian military com-
manders for committing flagrant acts of aggression and 
other atrocities rising to the level of crimes against hu-
manity and war crimes against the people of Ukraine 
and others. 
Whereas the United States of America has a responsibility to 
uphold the values of freedom, democracy, and human 
rights across the globe; 
Whereas there are several universal declarations promoting 
human rights, laws of war, and upholding the dignity of 
individuals; 
Whereas the United Nations Charter Preamble states that 
member nations ‘‘reaffirm faith in fundamental human 
rights [and] in the dignity and worth of the human per-
son’’; 
Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Pre-
amble states that ‘‘Member States have pledged them-
selves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, 
the promotion of universal respect for and observance of 
human rights and fundamental freedoms’’; 
Whereas the Russian Federation joined as an original mem-
ber of the United Nations as the former Union of Soviet 
Socialists Republics on October 24, 1945, and as such 
has a duty to abide by the conditions of the United Na-
tions Charter; 
Whereas the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an inter-
national tribunal that seeks to uphold the rule of law, es-
pecially in areas where no rule of law exists, by inves-
tigating and trying individuals charged ‘‘with the gravest 
crimes of concern to the international community: geno-
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cide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime 
of aggression’’; 
Whereas the ICC recognizes the grave breaches of the 1949 
Geneva Conventions as constituting a war crime, includ-
ing ‘‘wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, includ-
ing biological experiments, wilfully causing great suf-
fering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive 
destruction and appropriation of property, not justified 
by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wan-
tonly’’; 
Whereas the ICC also recognizes other serious violations of 
the laws and customs applicable in international armed 
conflict as war crimes, including ‘‘[i]ntentionally directing 
attacks against the civilian population as such or against 
individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities’’ 
and ‘‘[i]ntentionally directing attacks against civilian ob-
jects, that is, objects which are not military objectives’’; 
Whereas President Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian 
Security Council, and President Putin’s military com-
manders have severely undermined the international rule 
of law through their various actions; 
Whereas, prior to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, President 
Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation has a long 
history of committing acts of aggression, human rights 
violations, and acts that constitute war crimes within the 
Russian Federation and around the globe, including in 
Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, and Syria; 
Whereas, beginning in 1999, the Russian Federation engaged 
in the indiscriminate use of force against the people of 
Chechnya, including the use of cluster munitions against 
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civilians, resulting in 50,000 Chechens, mostly civilians, 
dead or missing; 
Whereas, during the Russian Federation’s invasion of Geor-
gia in 2008, Russian Armed Forces engaged with cluster 
munitions in indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks 
that resulted in the death of civilians; 
Whereas President Vladimir Putin violated the sovereignty of 
Ukraine and used military force to seize control and un-
lawfully occupy Crimea and eastern Ukraine, indiscrimi-
nately targeting and killing thousands of innocent civil-
ians since 2014; 
Whereas the Russian military was deemed responsible for 
shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern 
Ukraine on July 17, 2014, which resulted in the death 
of 298 civilians; 
Whereas rebel forces supported by the Russian Federation 
were deemed responsible for a missile attack on January 
24, 2015, in Mariupol, Ukraine that indiscriminately tar-
geted civilians, resulting in the death of at least 30 and 
injuring many more; 
Whereas, in 2016 and 2017, Russian aircraft deployed 
‘‘bunker-busting’’ and incendiary bombs capable of de-
stroying military installations on civilian structures in 
Aleppo, Syria, resulting in the death of hundreds of civil-
ians; 
Whereas President Vladimir Putin is complicit in war crimes 
and human rights violations in Syria through his con-
tinuing political, financial, and military support for Presi-
dent Bashar al-Assad; 
Whereas intelligence assessments have concluded Vladimir 
Putin and his regime have destroyed the rule of law in 
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Russia and engaged in countless crimes against human-
ity, including ordering the poisoning of Alexi Navalny, 
the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, and the false 
imprisonment and torture ultimately leading to the death 
of Sergei Magnitsky; 
Whereas President Vladimir Putin, in February 2022, initi-
ated a premeditated, unprovoked, unjustified, and unlaw-
ful war against the sovereign nation of Ukraine; 
Whereas, in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin and 
Russian Federation forces targeted and reportedly killed 
more than 300 civilians, to include children, while engag-
ing in Ukrainian urban centers, causing chaos and fear 
among Ukrainian citizens; 
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the Ukrainian Ambassador 
to the United States, Oksana Markarova, claimed Presi-
dent 
Vladimir 
Putin 
ordered 
the 
deployment 
of 
thermobaric weapons and cluster munitions to be used in 
the northeastern towns of Okhtyrka and Karkhiv; 
Whereas Ukraine has twice submitted to the jurisdiction of 
the ICC for the purposes of prosecuting war crimes com-
mitted within its territory due to the Russian occupation 
of Ukraine; 
Whereas Lithuania and Canada, members to the authorizing 
treaty of the ICC, have called on the ICC to open an in-
vestigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia; 
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the Prosecutor of the ICC, 
Karim A.A. Khan QC stated that the ICC would open a 
third investigation against Russia for alleged war crimes 
and crimes against humanity committed during the Rus-
sian invasion into Ukraine, which began on February 24, 
2022; 
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Whereas Ukraine has also filed a claim in the International 
Court of Justice (ICJ) instituting proceedings against the 
Russian Federation for genocide; and 
Whereas the United States Government should use its voice, 
vote, and influence to pursue war crimes allegations 
against Vladimir Putin and his military commanders in 
international institutions of which it is a member and en-
courage other allies and partners to express the same: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) strongly condemns the ongoing violence, war 
crimes, crimes against humanity, and systematic 
human rights abuses continually being carried out 
by the Russian Armed Forces and their proxies and 
President Putin’s military commanders, at the direc-
tion of President Vladimir Putin; 
(2) encourages member states to petition the 
ICC and the ICJ to authorize any and all pending 
investigations into war crimes and crimes against 
humanity committed by the Russian Armed Forces 
and their proxies and President Putin’s military 
commanders, at the direction of President Vladimir 
Putin; 
(3) supports any investigation into war crimes, 
crimes against humanity, and systematic human 
rights abuses levied by President Vladimir Putin, the 
Russian Security Council, the Russian Armed 
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Forces and their proxies, and President Putin’s mili-
tary commanders; 
(4) encourages the United States Government 
and partner nations to use their voice, vote, and in-
fluence in international institutions in which they 
are members to hold President Vladimir Putin, the 
Russian Security Council, the Russian Armed 
Forces and their proxies, and President Putin’s mili-
tary commanders accountable for their sponsorship 
of ongoing violence, war crimes, crimes against hu-
manity, and systematic human rights abuses; and 
(5) stands with the people who have been af-
fected by the brutality of the Putin regime. 
Æ 
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