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ORDER FOR RECESS
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess, under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Portman.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Ohio.
Ukraine
Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I come to the floor today for the 12th consecutive week while the Senate has been in session to talk about the illegal, unprovoked, and brutal assault on Ukraine being carried out by Russia.
We started these discussions before this latest invasion even occurred; and, unfortunately, every week, as I talk about it, there are more and more examples of brutality as the Russians continue to bomb innocent civilians in Ukraine. Also, we have been able to talk about some progress that we have made in helping Ukraine, and that has been very effective in helping Ukraine help itself.
This is a classic fight for freedom. The importance of our humanitarian aid, our weapons, and our material support have all been in that cause, and the impact cannot be overstated. Since February 24, when the invasion began, we have provided $13.6 billion in U.S. taxpayer funds for military, humanitarian, and economic aid for Ukraine. By the way, it has made a huge difference in keeping Ukraine from being totally overrun by Russia. You will remember that the Russian objective here, in looking at this map, was to take over the entire country. In starting with Kyiv, remember that they surrounded Kyiv at one point. Now they have been pushed out altogether.
The Russians have now been forced to just focus here, in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine, where there continues to be very fierce fighting. These darker red sections are sections that the Russians took back in 2014. The lighter red are the sections of Ukraine they are trying to take now. The blue, you can see here, is where the Ukrainians have made progress, including around Kharkiv, which is a major city here in Eastern Ukraine. You can see where there is quite a bit of blue--in fact, in one case, all the way to the Russian border where the Ukrainians have pushed back the Russians.
So our support has made a difference. But that support--the $13.6 billion in aid--has now been depleted, and it is necessary for us to re-up, including in just providing basic munitions so that the Ukrainians can continue the fight with ammunition but also in providing heavier weapons because, down in this area, that is what is required. As the Russians use more and more artillery and other heavy weapons to try to push back the Ukrainians' positions, the Ukrainians must respond in kind.
Without the support that we have provided, Russia would have destroyed a lot more of Ukraine; they would have killed a lot more innocent civilians; and they would have achieved a victory. It would have been damaging, of course, to Ukraine and its people but also damaging to us and our national interest and a safer world because, had they been successful, there would have been a much more dangerous and volatile world in its thinking that an authoritarian country could just come into a peaceful, democratic neighbor and take over another country.
Again, the fighting continues, but we, along with so many of our allies--over 40 countries--over 40 countries--have stepped up to say: We are with you, Ukraine. You are an independent, sovereign country. You are an ally, and we want to support you.
They have never asked for us to do the fighting for them, by the way, but they have asked for us to help them have the tools to be able to survive and to be able to push back against the brutal Russian assault.
The administration has now submitted what is called a supplemental request for funding. The House passed it last week 368 to 57--strong bipartisan support. Last night and earlier today, we had the first of two procedural votes on the Senate's action on this same supplemental spending bill. The votes were 81 to 11 last night and 88 to 11 earlier today--again, strong bipartisan support for this funding. This package includes $40 billion--nearly $40 billion--for munitions, for weapons, for training to stop Russia.
It also provides funds for humanitarian aid. Remember, there have been millions of refugees both internally and who have left the country. There are about 5 or 6 million refugees still out of the country and at least 7 or 8 million refugees inside the country. So this has been an unprecedented level of humanitarian aid that has been needed but also economic support to a country that has been devastated--literally flattened--in many areas by this Russian assault.
There are also funds to support our troops, who are in the countries neighboring Ukraine, joining other NATO forces. That funding is also in here. Some of these troops came from Germany, and some came from the United States, but it is an effort to be sure that we are supporting and bolstering these other countries in the region--Romania, Slovakia, Poland, and the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia--to be sure that they are not going to be subject to the same attacks. Those preventive measures have been put in place, and that is also costly. Forty billion dollars is a lot of money, and we have to be sure that it is spent wisely and is not wasted.
I am glad to see we were able to get some changes in the administration's request to task the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and USAID inspectors general--from all three of those entities--with the oversight of the spending and provide them with sufficient resources to do that. So these inspectors general from those three entities are there to ensure the money is properly spent.
Additionally, the funds in this bill for urgent budget support to Ukraine's government will be subject to especially stringent oversight mechanisms. These funds will be placed in a separate, auditable account, and their use will be governed by a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine. The MOU will describe strict guardrails for transparency and accountability that will ensure that these funds are not diverted to corrupt interests but, instead, are used to help the Government of Ukraine provide for its people in their hour of need. I am glad that language was included and added to the supplemental.
The supplemental bill also mandates that the use of these funds will be notified to Congress. I think this is very important. Most of our foreign assistance to other countries is subject to strict notification requirements like these. It is only appropriate these funds have a similar mechanism in place. If Congress is going to appropriate these large amounts of taxpayer dollars to support Ukraine, I think it is essential that we have sufficient congressional oversight. We have strong bipartisan support for this funding in the House and in the Senate but also the assurance that we will have effective oversight of our assistance to Ukraine. By the way, effective oversight also will require us to have a diplomatic presence in Ukraine--a permanent one--
to help ensure that these funds are spent properly--the military funds, the humanitarian funds, and the economic aid.
I have been calling for the administration to reopen our Embassy in Kyiv, which is here--the capital city--for the past several weeks. I hope we do that as soon as possible. My understanding is that the team in Kyiv, which has been mostly in Poland and sometimes goes to Lviv, wants to get back to the capital. There are, probably, a couple dozen countries--I heard Israel moved their Embassy back today--that have already moved back to Kyiv. It is time for us to do so as well. We understand it is dangerous, and we respect the service of those Foreign Service Officers, but we have got to be sure that they are there to provide a clear line of communication with the Ukrainians and ensure that this $40 billion in funding is properly spent but also ensure that we are able to have a go-between at a high level, which is one reason we need to get our Ambassador over there to Ukraine as soon as possible. The good news is we had a good hearing with that Ambassador just last week, and my hope is that we can get her moving even later this week.
With regard to the funding--the $40 billion--in helping, again, to continue to push back so that Russia doesn't turn the tide, that funding, I hope, will be sent this week. What you just heard from the majority leader is that he has set up a vote for Thursday, which would be a cloture vote. Then, hopefully, we will have the final vote that day, too. Cloture is the next procedural vote. Let's not slow this thing down on either side of the aisle. Let's get this done. I wish we had gotten it done last week, and we should have. Every day that we delay means we are putting at risk more Ukrainian civilians and putting at risk more of the Ukrainian military because they don't have the munitions for existing weapons, because they don't have the heavy weapons they need to be able to counter the Russians. So this is not a time for us to play partisan politics. It is a time for us to get this assistance to the President's desk. Hopefully, he will sign it immediately and begin to re-up this commitment we have made to help Ukraine defend itself.
As you probably know, it took the constant urging from this Congress, on a bipartisan basis, to get the administration to finally begin to provide the level of lethal support that the Ukrainians have needed to survive this war against Russia. Some of us were pushing for more before this latest invasion as well, but we cannot afford to backslide now. It is really important that we continue to help them to be able to defend themselves. Again, we are not alone in this. There are many countries around the world, including, obviously, the other NATO allies who are also helping out.
I understand there is only enough existing Presidential drawdown authority--that is the authority they are using for the munitions and the weapons--to do one more partial transfer of arms. So this is urgent to get it done now. This supplemental will fix that problem. It raises the Presidential cap to $11 billion in the drawdown authority. It also provides $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is a program that I co-
wrote back into law in 2015. This money will fund training, equipment, and advisory efforts to boost Ukraine's combat capacities; to professionalize its military further; and to bring it up to NATO standards.
That was very important to have them as prepared as they are. Over the past 7 years, it has helped turn Ukraine's army into a powerful, professional fighting force that has proven to be at least Russia's equal on the battlefield. The bravery and determination of these troops is the single most important weapon they have, but the training and the equipment and the munitions and so on are essential for them to be able to take that bravery and that perseverance and that commitment and to be able to be such an effective fighting force.
Additionally, the supplemental includes $4 billion in Foreign Military Financing to provide Ukraine with the American-made weapons and equipment that its troops need. It also has $3.9 billion to support enhanced U.S. troop deployments to Europe, such as the 82nd Airborne, which is here in Poland. I got to see them when I was over in the region recently. They are doing an amazing job in ensuring that there is protection for Poland against the possibility that Poland could be dragged into this conflict, but it is also to help ensure that the arms transfers are occurring from countries all over the world. All of this vital funding will ensure that we can continue to support Ukraine and our other Eastern European allies who are threatened by Russian aggression. We just can't allow any gap in this support.
We must not adjourn this week until we are finished with this. So the vote is supposed to be on Thursday, and I hope it is; but until we have the final passage of this measure and it goes to the President's desk, we cannot leave this week. In my view, Congress must stay in session.
At this time in this war, it is also time for us to take a breath and hold the administration accountable for giving us a long-term strategy so that we in Congress can be a bigger part of the conversation about how to move forward. I think that is not unreasonable, given where we are. And a number of us, on a bipartisan basis, are calling for that. Give us a long-term strategy so we know where we are.
I know there have been concerns that we have been spending a lot of money on weapons and equipment from our military stockpiles to Ukraine without adequately refilling our own supplies. But this supplemental funding bill--and one reason it is a higher number--fixes that. It provides $9 billion to replenish our stocks with Javelins, Stingers, howitzers, rifles, vehicles, and other equipment needed to keep America safe. So part of the funds we are providing here are for Ukraine, but really they are for updating our own stockpiles. That is good for our own military.
I am also aware of a concern that some of our manufacturers cannot make these weapons fast enough for both the stockpiling for our weapons and providing weapons to Ukraine. This supplemental bill addresses that, too, providing $600 million to ease chokepoints in our industrial supply chain. That will ensure that we have the capacity to produce enough missiles to simultaneously help keep Ukrainians in the fight and keep our stockpiles full.
Last week, at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I asked the Assistant Secretary of State for Europe, Karen Donfried, what the administration's definition of ``victory'' was, and she said: Well,
``that is for the Ukrainians to define.''
Well, I guess that is fair, but the Ukrainians have already defined what victory looks like for them. They want all of their territory back. It is their sovereign territory that Russia has already taken--
the darker red--and wants to take now in the lighter red and wants to go even farther. That is what the Ukrainians say victory looks like.
Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said that ``victory for us in this war will be the liberation of the rest of our territories.''
On Saturday, the Foreign Ministers of the G7 countries--those are the biggest economies of the world except for China. Those are our allies in all of this. Our Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, was there, and he endorsed this view, saying in a statement that ``[w]e will never recognize borders that Russia has attempted to change by military aggression.''
I appreciate the Secretary of State saying that, and I hope the rest of the administration adopts that position.
During recent testimony, LTG Scott Barrier of the Defense Intelligence Agency called the war situation a ``stalemate.'' While this is not optimal, it is giving the Ukrainian forces time to regroup forces in this area and to be able to train on some of the new Western weapons we and our allies have donated. Soon, more of our 155-
millimeter ``M Triple 7'' howitzers, as an example, will be deployed to the frontlines. This will give the Ukrainians the capability to outrange the Russians, when they could sit back and use the artillery to push the Russians back without being in danger themselves. And when combined with surveillance, including surveillance drones, this will allow the Ukrainians to even the odds on the battlefield. That is all arriving now and beginning to come, and that is good news to report tonight. It is going to make a big difference.
In fact, we have recently seen just how effective artillery can be in Ukraine. We just learned yesterday that last week, as a Russian battalion tactical group was attempting to cross a river in Ukraine, called the Siverskyi Donets River, Ukrainian artillerymen sighted them and opened fire. Over the next several minutes, under a Ukrainian bombardment, it is estimated that Russian forces suffered almost 500 casualties--including killed, wounded, and missing in action--and also lost almost 80 vehicles, including infantry fighting vehicles and T-72 main battle tanks.
This map shows images of the actual bridge and what actually happened. Here is the attack. Here are some of those Russian tanks we talked about and other armored vehicles. Here is what is left of the bridge. Here are some more images of the road coming in and some of the vehicles that were destroyed.
The pontoon bridge they had been using to cross the river right here, you can see, was totally destroyed, sending some vehicles plunging into the water below. This Russian advance was completely halted at immense cost.
Again, it makes a difference if you have these weapons and you have the surveillance. You have the ability to do this. It was such a significant defeat for Russian forces that even the pro-Russian military bloggers--who have toed the Kremlin line for the war thus far--have now begun to publicly question the competency of the Russian military leadership on social media.
This is precisely why we and other countries need to keep sending heavy weapons and ammunition, including artillery and better artillery, so the Ukrainians can continue to inflict defeats like this on the Russians and push them out of their territory.
The Ukrainians are succeeding, first, because of their bravery, their tenacity, their skill but also because the United States and our allies are placing in their hands the tools they need to succeed.
Let's not forget that President Putin said he launched this war because Ukraine had NATO aspirations and that a NATO country on their border was a threat. I think he thought that this would be intimidating to NATO and would split NATO. Now, because of the invasion, Finland and Sweden have applied for NATO membership. President Putin thought it would split NATO; instead, NATO is actually getting stronger.
America and the world should recognize this is a major shift in the power structure of Europe. This is a big deal. Finland, Sweden--Sweden has been traditionally neutral--and other European countries now see clearly the threat posed by Vladimir Putin and his desire to recreate the Soviet Socialist Republic.
Earlier in the conflict, Putin threatened both Finland and Sweden with ``grave consequences'' if they sought to join NATO. Does this sound familiar? It is the same thing he said about Ukraine.
Remember, Finland shares a border with Russia, about 810 miles. To the Finns, the threat of Russian troops is very real, and it is on their border. Finland is not dependent on Russia, as some other nations are. In fact, they barely get 5 percent of their energy from Russia, and they are working to even cut that amount down further. Good for them. They are not afraid of Russia. They would rather see the benefits of a defensive alliance based on common, shared democratic values. That is what NATO is about. It is not offensive; it is defensive. And that is what Finland and Sweden both see.
We should be encouraged by Finland's increased military spending, which they just increased to about 2 percent of their GDP. That is the NATO target of 2 percent. I commend Finland for that. They need to set an example for other members of the alliance.
They also just augmented their air force, and they are among Europe's most effective and largest Armed Forces per capita. They are able to mobilize an army of 280,000 troops and 600,000 reservists. Sweden also increased its military spending this year for the biggest increase in 70 years.
This is all positive because it puts actions behind the words and sends the message to Russia, to Vladimir Putin, that freedom-loving countries are not going to stand idly by while allies are invaded or intimidated. All we want to do is live in peace, but we are not going to stand by while this aggression occurs.
The Senate has a role to play here because these two countries, Sweden and Finland, will be coming before the U.S. Senate to be confirmed as members of NATO. We should do so as soon as we possibly can.
In addition, the administration should press other countries to approve this very quickly. I heard today that the Turks may have some concerns about it based on other issues. I hope no country stands in the way of this. This will make NATO a more effective fighting force. It would augment NATO's ability to be able to be an effective, again, peaceful, defensive alliance.
In addition, the administration should press the world to approve NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, a move that would strengthen the security structure and posture for free nations, free nations around the globe.
I have talked about a variety of sanctions in my remarks over these past 12 weeks, and I won't go over all those sanctions. There are trading sanctions. They are eliminating Russia's preferred tax status. There are banking sanctions and, of course, energy.
Europe, unfortunately, is continuing to buy Russian gas and oil. They say they are going to stop buying Russian coal by August. I hope that is true. But they now send about $870 million a day to Russia. Think about that, $870 million a day to help fund the war machine. One reason Russia's economy hasn't totally collapsed is because of that--because it is still getting a lot of receipts for energy not just from China and India, which we all know about and we regret, but also from the EU countries that are way too dependent on Russia.
We are not as dependent, so it is easy for us to cut off their oil and gas supplies, which we did, to our credit. But we need to back up those European nations now with some of our own. We have plenty of gas in this country; as an example, natural gas that can back up what Russia is providing now, and we have a loose agreement to do so. We had to tighten that agreement and ensure we are not sending these millions--hundreds of millions of dollars every day to Vladimir Putin to fund his war machine, especially when Russia not only continues its onslaught on Ukrainian defensive combatants but also on noncombatants. We need to act. What they are doing is committing war crimes. We have all seen them. We all know that.
I have called on the International Criminal Court, which, by the way, has announced an investigation to follow in Ukraine's footsteps and take the next step to begin an actual war crimes tribunal. We know enough now. We continue to hear about this every day. And every day we don't act, the stories get worse. I think this could be a deterrent if we moved forward more aggressively.
Six million Ukrainians have been forced out of their country. And according to UNICEF, thousands of innocent Ukrainians have been killed, including hundreds of children. Since February 24, Russian troops have engaged in rape and other forms of sexual violence across Ukraine. These victims--Ukrainian women and girls--have been cruelly targeted. We have a moral obligation to step up here. The whole world does.
I was glad to hear that a court in Kyiv began hearings last Friday on a case against Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin, the first Russian soldier to go on trial for alleged war crimes. He is accused of shooting and killing a 62-year-old civilian man in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Sumy in late February, just a few yards from his home. Apparently, this has all been recorded.
But this is just a drop in the bucket. Ukraine's prosecutor has said her office is currently investigating more than 10,000 alleged war crimes by Russian forces involving more than 600 suspects. It will take a vast amount of time and resources to hold these criminals to account, and the United States should help Ukraine in this regard.
I am glad that the supplemental funding bill before the Senate right now includes funding to do just that: $400 million to investigate and document war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. My hope is that holding these Russians accountable will have this strong deterrent effect.
To Russian commanders and to Kremlin officials who are backing this brutal and unjustified war, the message is very simple: The world is watching. They are watching you. The world is watching for war crimes, and they are being recorded. You have a choice: Say no to the orders to attack and kill your innocent neighbors in Ukraine, your neighbors who only want to live in peace.
By the way, there is a special designation in U.S. law for countries that provide support for international terrorism. They are called state sponsors of terrorism. In my view, Russia has now earned that notorious designation. We should vote on that here in the U.S. Senate and further isolate Russia from the community of nations.
The Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, along with three of our other colleagues, went to Kyiv over the weekend to meet with President Zelenskyy. In that meeting, he reports that the issue of Russia being designated as a state sponsor of terrorism came up. And he agreed, as the Republican leader here in the U.S. Senate, that we should move forward with that legislation.
Speaker Pelosi has also been to Kyiv for the delegation. I am glad they both went, and I hope both of them will agree on that designation, which is something that President Zelenskyy has asked for, and also, again, to ensure that we not only provide this aid package as soon as possible this week but we continue to provide whatever help is necessary for our allies in Ukraine.
I close tonight with a few thoughts on our leadership not abroad, but here at home, and not the leadership of the U.S. Government, but instead the leadership of the people of America because it is not just the U.S. Government that is supporting Ukraine in its hour of need.
Since this terrible conflict began, everyday Americans across the country have stepped up to provide much needed assistance--humanitarian assistance, economic aid.
The Ukrainian defenders, the refugees, and the first responders are deeply grateful. In March, in Ohio, Governor Mike DeWine sent out a request for surplus or expired personal protective gear to provide to Ukrainian territorial defense forces that had asked for them. I am proud to say that Ohio answered that call.
Altogether, more than two dozen law enforcement agencies across Ohio have donated 2,000 pieces of personal protective gear, including 71 vest carriers, 45 helmets, and 1,880 pieces of body armor. With the help of the Fund to Aid Ukraine, a nonprofit located in Parma, OH, this badly needed equipment will soon make its way into the hands of brave Ukrainian defenders who are fighting for their lives as they endure Russia's brutal onslaught.
This organization has now given 24 pallets of supplies and over 7 tons of medical supplies to Ukraine as well. I am grateful to them and for all the law enforcement agencies that sacrificed their time and resources to organize this effort to provide personal protective gear.
In addition, MedWish International in Cleveland, which is a highly effective nonprofit I met with last month, has partnered with United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio, headed by Marta Liscynesky, to provide individual first aid kits and other medical equipment to Ukrainian first responders, defenders, and civilians. And Cleveland-based KOACORE has delivered 17,000 individual first aid kits to the frontlines. With this donation, Ukrainian first responders running into the rubble of schools, apartment buildings, and homes will be able to save more lives.
When I was on the Polish-Ukrainian border in March, I saw Marta, who set up United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio, and also another Ohio friend, Andy Futey, who is president of the Ukrainian World Congress; and I got to see them in action delivering these humanitarian supplies to refugees and helping to organize the effort.
I saw how this affected refugees at the border. They came up to us with tears in their eyes, almost all women and children--the men had been left behind to fight--and they pleaded with us to continue the help. They pleaded with us to, as they said, ``close the skies,'' to stop these bombs--just constant bombardment of their families. They talked about how their homes had been destroyed, how members of their families had been killed or maimed, how the unspeakable crimes being committed by these Russian soldiers were something that many of these families had endured.
We didn't have all the answers. We haven't closed the skies. But we did say, ``The American people are with you,'' and talked about some of these incredibly generous Americans who have stepped forward.
As the Russian forces intentionally target these Ukrainian civilians to spread fear and panic, this display of generosity from the people of Ohio and the people of every State represented here in this body reassures these Ukrainians that we have their back, that America--not just our American Government but America, the people of America--care. I am proud of that. I am proud of how people have given their time and resources to help those in need.
In Cincinnati, my hometown, we organized a fundraiser last week for what is called World Central Kitchen and the good work that they are doing all throughout Ukraine and in the border areas. This fundraiser went to support World Central Kitchen's work and the Kharkiv sister city efforts. Cincinnati and Kharkiv are sister cities. I was involved in that group a few decades ago, and I remember that, at the time, we were so proud to be a sister city to Kharkiv because it resembled Cincinnati in many ways--a beautiful city with a river running through it, like the Ohio River runs through Cincinnati.
Today, Kharkiv has been nearly flattened. It has been nearly totally destroyed. But, as we talked about in this map, look at what is happening. They are pushing the Russians back from Kharkiv. And they will rebuild, and it will be beautiful again.
I saw the good work that World Central Kitchen does when I was on the Ukrainian-Polish border. Chef Jose Andres, here from Washington, DC, and his brainchild, World Central Kitchen, is doing amazing work. I volunteered with a few colleagues, serving food to refugees at one of his 60 popup restaurants in the border regions. There are dozens more in Ukraine itself.
There is much more to be done to help Ukraine get through this, to help them defend themselves, to help them push back the Russians, to help them deal with the humanitarian crisis, to help them rebuild, to help them survive this brutal Russian onslaught and rebuild their homeland, which they love so much.
And we are inspired to do more, both because this is in our national security interest--Vladimir Putin's victory is our loss--and because we are inspired by the resiliency and fortitude of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian people. They have truly shown the rest of the world what bravery and patriotism is all about.
I yield the floor.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 84
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