IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 964 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 
condemns the Russian Government’s gross violations of international 
law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, stands in 
solidarity with the people of Ukraine, and supports the efforts of inter-
national organizations to help people displaced by war and conflict. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 7, 2022 
Mr. ESPAILLAT (for himself, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. CAROLYN B. 
MALONEY of New York, and Mr. KAHELE) submitted the following reso-
lution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the United States condemns the Russian Government’s 
gross violations of international law amounting to war 
crimes and crimes against humanity, stands in solidarity 
with the people of Ukraine, and supports the efforts 
of international organizations to help people displaced 
by war and conflict. 
Whereas the Government of Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, 
has engaged in a military invasion of Ukraine and gross 
violations of international law amounting to war crimes 
and crimes against humanity; 
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Whereas the law of armed conflict, also known as inter-
national humanitarian law, are a set of international 
rules regulating the conduct of armed conflict; 
Whereas the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols 
are the core of international humanitarian law, and many 
rules contained in these treaties are considered customary 
international law, binding on all states, whether or not 
they have ratified the treaties; 
Whereas Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine constitutes an 
international armed conflict governed by international 
humanitarian law as well as customary international hu-
manitarian law; 
Whereas Article 51(2) of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva 
Conventions, prohibits the targeting of civilians, as well 
as ‘‘acts or threats of violence, the primary purpose of 
which is to spread terror among the civilian population’’; 
Whereas Article 76 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva 
Conventions, states that women ‘‘shall be protected in 
particular against rape, forced prostitution, and any 
other form of indecent assault’’; 
Whereas Article 77 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva 
Conventions expresses that ‘‘children shall be the object 
of special respect and shall be protected against any form 
of indecent assault’’; 
Whereas, on June 19, 2008, the United Nations Security 
Council adopted Resolution 1820, noting that ‘‘rape and 
other forms of sexual violence can constitute a war crime, 
a crime against humanity, or a constitutive act with re-
spect to genocide’’, and calls for ‘‘prosecuting persons re-
sponsible for such acts’’; 
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•HRES 964 IH 
Whereas Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International 
Criminal Court defines ‘‘crimes against humanity’’ as 
acts such as murder, extermination, rape, persecution, 
and all other inhumane acts of a similar character inten-
tionally causing great suffering, which are committed as 
part of a widespread or systematic attack directed 
against any civilian population, with knowledge of the at-
tack; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian airstrike hit Kyiv’s 
main television tower, damaging broadcasting infrastruc-
ture, killing at least 5 people, and injuring others; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian airstrike targeted 
Freedom Square in Kharkiv, as cars were stopped at a 
traffic light on their morning commute; 
Whereas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy charac-
terized Russia’s airstrike on Freedom Square as a ‘‘war 
crime’’; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, at the United Nations Human 
Rights Council, Secretary of State Antony Blinken con-
demned Russia for killing civilians, striking ‘‘schools, hos-
pitals and residential buildings’’ in Ukraine; 
Whereas United States ambassador to the United Nations 
Linda Thomas-Greenfield expressed to the United Na-
tions on March 2, 2022, that videos show Russian forces 
moving lethal weaponry into Ukraine, including cluster 
munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under 
the Geneva Conventions; 
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign 
Affairs accused Russian soldiers of raping women in 
Ukrainian cities; 
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•HRES 964 IH 
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, Secretary of State Blinken stat-
ed that the United States has seen credible reports of 
Russia engaging in ‘‘deliberate attacks on civilians, which 
would constitute a war crime’’; 
Whereas Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, states 
that ‘‘civilian hospitals organized to give care to the 
wounded and sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may 
in no circumstances be the object of attack, but shall at 
all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the 
conflict’’; 
Whereas Article 12 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva 
Conventions provides that ‘‘medical units shall be re-
spected and protected at all times and shall not be the 
object of attack’’; 
Whereas, on March 2, 2022, Ukraine’s foreign ministry re-
ported that a Russian missile strike destroyed the 
Pavlusenko maternity hospital; 
Whereas, on March 5, 2022, the World Health Organization 
confirmed several attacks on health care centers in 
Ukraine, causing multiple deaths and injuries; 
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, the Director-General of the 
World Health Organization expressed that ‘‘attacks on 
healthcare facilities or workers breach medical neutrality 
and are violations of international humanitarian law’’; 
Whereas Article 53 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva 
Conventions, prohibits committing any ‘‘acts of hostility 
directed against the historic monuments, works of art or 
places of worship which constitute the cultural or spir-
itual heritage of peoples’’; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, Andriy Yermak, head of the Of-
fice of the President of Ukraine, announced that a mis-
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sile hit the location of the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memo-
rial complex, a place where thousands of Jewish people 
were killed between 1941 and 1943; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, a Russian missile hit Freedom 
Square in the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine, causing severe 
damage to an opera house, concert hall, and government 
offices; 
Whereas Article 15 of Additional Protocol II to the Geneva 
Conventions, establishes that installations containing 
dangerous forces, including nuclear electrical generating 
stations, ‘‘shall not be made the object of attack, even 
where these objects are military objectives, if such attack 
may cause the release of dangerous forces and con-
sequent severe losses among the civilian population’’; 
Whereas, on March 3, 2022, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy 
accused Russian forces of ‘‘nuclear terror’’ because ‘‘Rus-
sian tanks are shooting at the nuclear blocks’’ in the 
Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, Europe’s largest nu-
clear power station; 
Whereas, on March 3, 2022, the United States embassy in 
Ukraine called the Russian attack on the Ukrainian nu-
clear plant in Zaporizhzhia a ‘‘war crime’’; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, President Zelenskyy expressed 
to the European Parliament, ‘‘we are fighting for our 
rights, for our freedoms, for life, for our life, and now we 
are fighting for survival’’; 
Whereas, on March 2, 2022, the United Nations General As-
sembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia for its 
military invasion of Ukraine and demanded that the Rus-
sian Federation immediately, completely, and uncondi-
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tionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory 
of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders; 
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, the United Nations Human 
Rights Council adopted a resolution establishing an inde-
pendent international commission of inquiry to inves-
tigate any violations of human rights resulting from the 
Russian Federation’s military invasion of Ukraine; 
Whereas, on February 25, 2022, the Russian Federation 
threatened Sweden and Finland with military and polit-
ical repercussions if they join the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization, a military alliance committed to the collec-
tive defense of members against attacks; 
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Refugees stated that 1,500,000 refugees 
have fled Ukraine, making this the fastest growing ref-
ugee crisis since World War II; 
Whereas the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is helping to 
coordinate Ukraine’s requests for assistance and is sup-
porting Allies in the delivery of humanitarian and non-
lethal aid; 
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, the United Nations World 
Food Programme launched an emergency operation to 
provide food assistance for people fleeing Ukraine to 
neighboring countries; 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, the United Nations High Com-
missioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson, Shabia 
Mantoo, announced that the UNHCR is coordinating the 
refugee response with other United Nations agencies and 
nongovernmental organization partners, in support of na-
tional authorities helping people fleeing Ukraine; 
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•HRES 964 IH 
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, the United Nations and humani-
tarian partners launched coordinated emergency appeals 
for a combined $1,700,000,000 to urgently deliver hu-
manitarian support to people in Ukraine and refugees in 
neighboring countries; 
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, Secretary of State Blinken stat-
ed that energy independence and energy security is ‘‘crit-
ical to maintaining one’s sovereignty and independence’’; 
and 
Whereas, on March 4, 2022, international law experts, in-
cluding an American lawyer who served as a prosecutor 
during the Nuremberg trials, Benjamin Ferencz, called 
for the creation of a Special Tribunal for the Punishment 
of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, similar to 
the International Military Tribunal set up by the Nurem-
berg Charter in 1945: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) forcefully condemns the continued use of 
unlawful and indiscriminate violence against civilian 
populations by the Government of Russia, its allies, 
and any other parties to the conflict; 
(2) urges that the global community hold Vladi-
mir Putin and the Russian Government accountable 
for war crimes committed during the military inva-
sion of Ukraine; 
(3) urges the United States and its allies to 
continue providing defense security assistance and 
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humanitarian aid to Ukraine as Ukrainians valiantly 
defend themselves against Russia’s military invasion; 
(4) supports the continued use of sanctions 
against Russia and its allies until Russia ends its 
military 
invasion 
and 
unequivocally 
recognizes 
Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and po-
litical independence; 
(5) urges the United States to increase support 
for international organizations, such as the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, helping 
Ukrainians 
fleeing 
conflict 
and 
more 
than 
82,000,000 people around the world forcibly dis-
placed due to persecution, conflict, violence, and 
human rights violations; 
(6) urges the United States to treat all forcibly 
displaced people with dignity and abide by the Pro-
tocol Related to the Status of Refugees, ratified by 
the Senate in 1968, and thereafter considered the 
‘‘supreme Law of the Land’’ under article VI, sec-
tion 2 of the Constitution; 
(7) urges the United States and members of the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to 
meet NATO’s funding needs to ensure the ability to 
provide collective defense and innovation; 
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(8) urges NATO to maintain its commitment to 
innovating and work toward solving and dealing with 
emerging and disruptive technologies; and 
(9) stands in solidarity with the people of 
Ukraine who are fighting for their freedom and de-
mocracy, Slava Ukraini, glory to Ukraine. 
Æ 
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