Title: Expressing gratitude on behalf of the people of the United States to the journalists and news staff who are risking injury and death, are subject to grave threat, and have sacrificed their lives, to chronicle and report on the ongoing war in Ukraine resulting from Putin's invasion.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution expresses that the House of Representatives

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 987 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 987

 Expressing gratitude on behalf of the people of the United States to 
 the journalists and news staff who are risking injury and death, are 
subject to grave threat, and have sacrificed their lives, to chronicle 
    and report on the ongoing war in Ukraine resulting from Putin's 
                               invasion.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 16, 2022

   Mrs. Hinson (for herself and Mrs. Bustos) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing gratitude on behalf of the people of the United States to 
 the journalists and news staff who are risking injury and death, are 
subject to grave threat, and have sacrificed their lives, to chronicle 
    and report on the ongoing war in Ukraine resulting from Putin's 
                               invasion.

Whereas Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991, 
        and that independence was reaffirmed in a popular referendum on December 
        1, 1991;
Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian military invaded the sovereign 
        country of Ukraine under the direction of the President of the Russian 
        Federation Vladimir Putin, carrying out attacks on cities with ballistic 
        missiles, heavy artillery, and tanks;
Whereas the Geneva Conventions' Protocol I includes the Protection of Victims of 
        International Armed Conflicts, prohibiting attacks on civilian persons 
        and populations, and defines journalists and war correspondents as 
        civilians;
Whereas the Russian Federation was an original signatory to the Geneva 
        Conventions, until Putin removed the Russian Federation from Protocol I, 
        which protects civilians, in October 2019, demonstrating a clear 
        disregard for innocent life;
Whereas, as of March 15, 2022, a total of 691 civilians, including children, are 
        recorded as having been killed during the Russian Federation's invasion 
        of Ukraine;
Whereas journalists and news staff are on the ground in Ukraine reporting 
        freelance and for global networks and media, and are working on 
        documentary efforts to record the ongoing humanitarian crisis and war 
        caused by Putin's invasion of the sovereign country of Ukraine;
Whereas many of the journalists and news staff covering the war in Ukraine are 
        American citizens or working for American news agencies;
Whereas indiscriminate shelling by Russian Federation forces has gone so far as 
        to shell humanitarian corridors, maternity hospitals, schools, and other 
        primarily civilian locations;
Whereas journalists and news staff are on the ground along Russian-targeted 
        humanitarian corridors and in major cities across Ukraine;
Whereas dozens of members of the free press have been murdered or injured by 
        Putin's forces as of March 15, 2022, with more casualties and injuries 
        likely;
Whereas, on March 1, 2022, Ukrainian-based journalist and camera operator 
        Yevhenii Sakun was killed when Russian forces shelled a television tower 
        in Kyiv, Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 13, 2022, American documentarian and film director Brent 
        Renaud was shot in Irpin, Ukraine, and later died of his wounds;
Whereas, on March 15, 2022, Ukrainian Fox News journalist Oleksandra Sasha 
        Kuvshinova was killed in Horenka, Ukraine, when her vehicle was struck 
        by incoming arms fire;
Whereas, on March 15, 2022, Irish Fox News cameraman and photographer Pierre 
        Zakrzewski was killed in Horenka, Ukraine, when his vehicle was struck 
        by incoming arms fire;
Whereas, on February 26, 2022, Danish journalist Stefan Weichert was shot and 
        wounded while reporting near Okhtyrka, Ukraine;
Whereas, on February 26, 2022, Danish journalist Emil Filtenborg was shot and 
        wounded while reporting near Okhtyrka, Ukraine;
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, British Sky News chief correspondent Stuart 
        Ramsay was shot and wounded when his car was ambushed by Russian 
        soldiers in Kyiv, Ukraine;
Whereas, on February 28, 2022, British Sky News camera operator Richie Mockler 
        was shot and wounded when his car was ambushed by Russian soldiers in 
        Kyiv, Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 13, 2022, American journalist Juan Arredondo was shot and 
        wounded while reporting in Irpin, Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 15, 2022, American Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was 
        wounded when his vehicle was struck by incoming arms fire in Horenka, 
        Ukraine;
Whereas, on March 6, 2022, Swiss journalist Guillaume Briquet was wounded and 
        robbed by Russia soldiers who shot at his car on the road to Mykolaiv, 
        Ukraine;
Whereas it is possible that additional Ukrainian and foreign press have been or 
        will be injured and killed so long as Putin's forces continue their 
        brutal attack on civilians;
Whereas all civilians, including journalists and news staff, should be spared 
        violence by military forces;
Whereas Putin and his cronies have demonstrated complete disregard for innocent 
        life, Ukraine's sovereignty, the right to free speech, and the rights 
        and value of a free press;
Whereas Putin is engaged in a propaganda war, as well as a military war, and the 
        Russian Federation continues to push a false narrative about their 
        presence in Ukraine;
Whereas the United States supports a free and fair press and rejects any and all 
        propagandist efforts by the Russian Federation to cover up and hide the 
        truth behind Putin's invasion;
Whereas journalists and news staff on the ground in Ukraine who are reporting 
        the truth to the world, including American journalists and news staff, 
        are instrumental in combating false propaganda pushed by Putin and his 
        cronies; and
Whereas despite the overwhelming threat and risk to their lives and the 
        sacrifices already made, journalists and news staff continue to report 
        bravely from Ukraine: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) declares its gratitude on behalf of the people of the 
        United States to the journalists and news staff who continue to 
        put themselves in harm's way to report on the humanitarian 
        crisis and ongoing war on the ground in Ukraine following 
        Putin's invasion;
            (2) remembers the journalists and news staff who have lost 
        their lives or been severely injured reporting from Ukraine, 
        and conveys the sympathies and appreciation of the people of 
        the United States to their families for their sacrifice;
            (3) condemns Russian President Putin, Belarussian President 
        Lukashenko, and their officials for authorizing and executing 
        attacks on innocent Ukrainian civilians, residential areas, and 
        humanitarian corridors, resulting in the loss of life of 
        civilians, including journalists and news staff; and
            (4) honors the contributions of journalists and news staff 
        reporting from the war in Ukraine as essential in the ongoing 
        struggle for the rights of a free press and free speech 
        internationally, pivotal in pushing back against false 
        propaganda by tyrants, and crucial to informing Americans and 
        the world of the horrors being wrought against the Ukrainian 
        people.
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