Recognizing the sovereignty of Ukraine and the unbreakable spirit of the people of Ukraine.

Bill: 118-hres-227
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Kean, Thomas H. [R-NJ-7]
Introduced: 2023-03-14
Policy area: International Affairs
Latest action: action_date: 2023-03-14
text: Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2023-03-14
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">This resolution demands that Russia respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as immediately withdraw its military forces from inside Ukraine. Affirming strong support for continued U.S. support to Ukraine, the resolution also calls on allies and partners in Europe to increase national defense spending, supports robust transparency and accountability mechanisms for U.S. assistance to Ukraine, and condemns Russian war crimes.&nbsp; </p>

tv_txt: IV 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. RES. 227 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 14, 2023 Mr. Kean of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick , Ms. Kaptur , Mr. Lawler , Mr. Keating , and Mr. Quigley ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs RESOLUTION Recognizing the sovereignty of Ukraine and the unbreakable spirit of the people of Ukraine.

Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Government of the Russian Federation launched an unprovoked, full-scale, military invasion against Ukraine in direct violation of international law; Whereas this full-scale assault is a continuation of the Government of the Russian Federation’s illegal invasion and occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and part of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014; Whereas contrary to the expectations of the Russian Federation, Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv did not fall in a matter of days, and Ukraine has prevented Russia from achieving its objectives of conquering Ukraine and installing a puppet government; Whereas Russia’s invading forces have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocity crimes in Ukraine, including rape, torture, murder, the forcible deportation of children, and the targeting of civilian critical infrastructure; Whereas the Russian Federation has deployed troops to Belarus, using the country as a staging ground for attacks into Ukraine and making the Lukashenka regime complicit in Russia’s war against Ukraine; Whereas Russia’s full-scale invasion has created immense humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and, as a result, over 8,000 civilians have died, roughly 5,400,000 people have been internally displaced, and 17,600,000 people are in need of humanitarian aid; Whereas Russia’s war has also triggered an immense human and economic toll felt well beyond Ukraine’s border, including a massive influx of over 8,100,000 Ukrainian refugees in Europe and an exacerbation of global food insecurity; Whereas, since February 2022, Congress has appropriated over $113,000,000,000 in humanitarian, economic, and military assistance for Ukraine and other countries impacted by the conflict, and related funding, which totals just 0.4 percent of the United States gross domestic product (GDP); Whereas our European allies and partners have committed more economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine than the United States; Whereas, as a share of GDP, assistance reportedly provided to Ukraine by Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Sweden, and Greece is higher than that provided by any other country including the United States, and many other European countries have provided an amount of assistance comparable to the United States as a share of their GDP; Whereas, as a share of a country’s defense budget, 12 countries have provided more military aid to Ukraine than the United States; Whereas the United Kingdom has provided the second-most military assistance to Ukraine after the United States and was the first country to pledge Western main battle tanks, provide significantly longer range missiles, and train Ukrainian pilots on advanced Western fighter jets; Whereas Poland has been a regional leader in supporting the people of Ukraine, including by processing the border crossing of over 9,900,000 refugees from Ukraine and facilitating their onward movement to other European countries, caring for over 1,500,000 Ukrainian refugees currently residing in Poland, providing training for Ukrainian soldiers in Poland on various weapons systems, including Leopard 2 tanks, and being the third-largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine; Whereas, as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland have applied for NATO membership which would greatly bolster the security and strength of the alliance; Whereas European countries have generously accepted and cared for over 7,800,000 Ukrainian refugees who have fled from Russia’s war, including more than 4,000,000 Ukrainians who have registered for temporary protection in the European Union (EU), at an estimated cost of $18,000,000,000 in EU funding and billions more in funds from individual EU member states; and Whereas the Ukraine Oversight Working Group, led by the inspector generals (IGs) from the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the United States Agency for International Development, is following a coordinated Joint Plan to ensure transparent oversight of and accountability for the United States assistance to Ukraine, and the IGs have completed 14 reviews and have 64 ongoing or planned reviews related to the United States Ukraine response: Now, therefore, be it

That the House of Representatives— (1) demands that the Government of the Russian Federation respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as immediately withdraw all of its forces from inside the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine; (2) affirms its strong support for continued United States support to Ukraine, specifically the transfer of lethal aid to enable Ukraine to liberate its sovereign territory and win the war as soon as possible; (3) appreciates those United States allies and partners that have provided significant support to Ukraine and urges their continued and increased assistance to Ukraine; (4) calls on allies and partners in Europe to increase national defense spending in order to bolster trans-Atlantic security; (5) affirms the importance of robust transparency and accountability mechanisms for United States assistance to Ukraine to ensure its proper and effective use; and (6) condemns Russian war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocity crimes in the strongest terms and calls for accountability for those involved, including at all levels of Russian leadership.