Strongly supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to freely determine their future, including their country's relationship with other nations and international organizations, without interference, intimidation, or coercion by other countries.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 726) strongly supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to freely determine their future, including their country's relationship with other nations and international organizations, without interference, intimidation, or coercion by other countries.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous materials in the Record.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, this is a historic moment for Ukraine. It has withstood invasion by Russian forces, their illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea, the arming of separatist militias by Moscow, the cutoff of natural gas and imposition of trade barriers aimed at undermining Ukraine's economy. They have suffered under a Russian propaganda offensive designed to sow fear and exploit division, and they have had many other assaults along the way.

I had an opportunity--myself and Eliot Engel of New York--to travel to Ukraine, along with Jim Gerlach. We are happy to have Mr. Gerlach and Marcy Kaptur with us today. They are the authors of this resolution, a resolution in support of Ukraine. I will lay out what we saw both in western Ukraine and in the east, because we traveled across that country.

But before I do that, let me point out that thousands and thousands of Ukrainians have been killed by the fighting in the east and hundreds of thousands have been made refugees.

But Ukraine still stands. It stands unbowed, more determined than ever to secure its independence and its sovereignty and its territorial integrity. This resolution that the House clearly has before it states unambiguously our support for Ukraine in its effort.

The United States, our European allies, and many other countries have made clear that we will not allow Russia to bludgeon--bludgeon--Ukraine into submission, because that is exactly what they attempted to do. We have opposed tough sanctions on Russia. We have provided extensive assistance to help Ukraine through this very difficult time. Its military needs to be bolstered. And we are supporting the establishment of a democratic system representing all of the people of Ukraine.

Importantly, yesterday, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law granting greater autonomy--including Russian language rights--to those in the east. A strong democracy respectful of individual rights is the best counter to Vladimir Putin's very autocratic ways.

Ukraine faces many challenges, including growing economic problems, the possibility of a gas shortage this winter, and a never-ending onslaught of propaganda. We will continue to assist Ukraine, but it is vital that in Ukraine--and we carried this message when we were in country--they implement the far-reaching economic and structural reforms necessary to enable that country to grow.

Ending Russia's ability to use its oil and natural gas as a weapon has got to be a priority. There are many steps that Ukraine itself can take, beginning with reforming its energy sector to expand its own production of energy and, of course, to increase efficiency. The United States and other countries, especially Ukraine's neighbors in Europe, can help by making alternative supplies available to that country.

You notice that the Polish engineers have reverse-engineered those pipes so

that gas can come into Ukraine. Western Ukraine has tremendous possibilities for oil shale. We met when we were in Azerbaijan with the government there that is building a pipeline into Central Europe, and we know that a lot more can be done in order to get gas into Ukraine.

The U.S. can take a major step forward by removing the restrictions we have imposed on ourselves that severely limit the export of our abundant supplies. We have got a glut on our market. Frankly, this is a way to create jobs here, this is a way to help our balance of payments. Let's sell this to Ukraine because they deeply need it. And, frankly, the prices in the east are very, very, high and this will give us a new market.

And the other body could act on legislation this House has passed to revamp U.S. international broadcasting so there is an effective counter to Moscow's never-ending propaganda. This is legislation that I and my colleague Eliot Engel have authored in order to make certain that the people in Ukraine and, frankly, that Russian-speaking populations everywhere, can hear the truth about what is happening inside their own countries, as well as an appeal to political pluralism and tolerance and all of the values that the international community should share.

In April, Ranking Member Engel and I led a delegation, as I mentioned, to the Ukraine to see for ourselves the situation on the ground, including in the east in Dnipropetrovsk, in eastern Ukraine, which borders the region controlled by the separatists. There and in Kiev, we had extensive discussions with a range of senior officials, including Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, about the situation in their country. We also spoke with leaders of the civil society community: women's groups, lawyers' groups, Jewish groups, Tatar groups, Russian- speaking communities. All strongly supported a united Ukraine; all opposed Russian intervention. All shared with us that at the end of the day they wanted Ukraine whole, they wanted Russia out.

We met with Mr. Poroshenko prior to his election and assured him of strong U.S. support. Now the entire Congress will demonstrate that continuing commitment when the President of Ukraine addresses the joint session tomorrow. The message will be heard loud and clear, not just in Ukraine, not just in Kiev, but also in Moscow and around the world, that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine now and always.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gerlach), cochairman of the House Ukraine Caucus and the author of the resolution we have before us.

Mr. Speaker, I have the right to close, so I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The Ukrainian people have had a long, turbulent history of struggle. It is important to remember that when that vote for independence came, it passed overwhelmingly across Ukraine.

For me, I think the most memorable point of that trip was standing with Mr. Engel in the synagogue--it was Passover--adjacent to the largest community center, Jewish community center in all of Europe.

Eliot Engel, whose four grandparents all came from Ukraine, spoke to the hopes that the American people have for a Ukraine which is a Ukraine that embraces tolerance, political pluralism, freedom, a Ukraine in which the persecution of people is a thing of the past but in which the future lies with the democratic ideals that we share, a Ukraine independent, a Ukraine free of threat, free of outside influence.

These are the hopes embodied in this resolution because the Ukrainian people have withstood these enormous pressures. They have endured this great suffering. They know there are many challenges still to overcome before they can rest secure. But the Ukrainians that we spoke with told us that among the most important things sustaining them throughout this difficult time is the knowledge that we in the United States stand with them.

Tomorrow, President Poroshenko will address this joint session of Congress here; and by granting him, his

country, this honor and by adopting this resolution today, we will demonstrate our continuing commitment to Ukraine and to helping its people achieve the freedom, achieve the security and prosperity that they so rightfully deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in strong support of this resolution.

Tomorrow, we will welcome the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, to address a joint session of Congress. It is fitting that the leader of the Ukrainian people will speak in this Chamber where over the centuries our own democracy has grown and thrived.

Today, we know that freedom and democracy in Ukraine are under threat. So with this resolution we will send a clear signal to President Poroshenko and to the people of Ukraine that we stand by them. America stands with them.

I visited Ukraine a few months ago with my friend, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Royce. Everywhere we went we heard the same thing: the people of Ukraine do not want Russian interference in their country.

Ukraine is an independent Nation--it is not part of another country-- and the people of Ukraine have a right to make a determination for themselves as to what their policies would be without intimidation from Mr. Putin or anybody else.

This hit home, especially for me, when I visited a synagogue in eastern Ukraine. My four grandparents were born in Ukraine.

Two older men at this synagogue approached me to talk about the Russian threat. Over the last century, their eyes have seen the tide of history roll in and out of Ukraine.

They had fought against Hitler's army, they had lived under the yoke of Soviet tyranny, they had witnessed democracy spread across Eastern Europe, and, now, they were looking East at a new threat on the horizon. ``Don't abandon us,'' one of them said. ``America is very, very important.''

If anything, that threat has only grown worse in recent months. Separatist forces, bolstered by President Putin, continue to wreak havoc across eastern Ukraine. Russian weapons have brought down a plane full of innocent civilians. Thousands of Russian troops have spilled over the border, trampling on Ukrainian sovereignty.

Mr. Poroshenko comes to us with his country on the brink. With this measure, we say to him, ``We support Ukraine. We support the right of Ukraine to determine its own future.'' We are also saying to our friends and allies around the world that this Russian aggression must not stand and that democracies must unite to meet this challenge.

Finally, we are saying to Mr. Putin, ``If you continue to threaten your neighbors, if you continue to sow unrest, if you continue to defy the will of the global community, you will isolate your country, and your actions will have consequences.''

I should also add that I think the credibility of the NATO alliance is really hanging in the balance. For the past 20 or 25 years, we have proceeded on the fact that Russia was not a threat and that Russia, indeed, in many ways, was a partner.

That is no longer, unfortunately, the situation. Russia is an adversary, and the NATO alliance has to adjust to that. The equation that NATO has to adjust to has changed because of the actions of Mr. Putin in Ukraine.

We have to make sure that our NATO allies feel strengthened. We have to make sure that the countries bordering Russia and the rest of Europe feel that they are not being intimidated, and countries like Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova ought to be free to exert their independent thinking and what they feel is best for their country and not be intimidated by Mr. Putin.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, let me first of all echo what Mr. Pascrell just said. I want to commend Mr. Gerlach, Ms. Kaptur, and Mr. Levin for this.

I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin), the coauthor of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur). She and I traveled to Ukraine together many years ago on my first trip there.

She is also the cochair of the Ukrainian Caucus and has long been an advocate for a free and independent Ukraine.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), a very important and valued member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I will close and say that this is a very important and timely resolution.

When Chairman Royce and I visited Ukraine a few months ago, we had the good fortune to meet with many Ukrainian officials and people running for President. Mr. Poroshenko, who will address us tomorrow in joint session, was one of them.

I can tell you that Chairman Royce and I both were very impressed with Mr. Poroshenko. We really felt that there was great hope for Ukraine and thought that he was the likely winner. Everything that he has done, in my opinion, since he has won just reaffirms our initial feeling about him.

I was very happy that Ukraine signed the European Union Association Agreement yesterday. It strikes a very good balance but moves Ukraine closer to the West where the people want it.

I can tell you that when we went to Ukraine and we stood in Maidan Square where the protests happened, you really felt--it was a palpable feeling--that you were part of history, people, average Ukrainians, coming up to us in the street thanking the United States of America for its strong support of Ukraine and for the independence of Ukraine.

Now, the resolution--and I think it is important to highlight certain things--says that the United States is strongly committed to the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the United States strongly supports the right of the people of Ukraine to freely determine their future, including their country's relationship with other nations, without interference, intimidation, or coercion by other countries.

It also talks about Crimea, and I think that that should not be forgotten. Mr. Connolly is quite right. The taking of part of another country through military force cannot be fathomed and we cannot look the other way. We need to very strongly condemn it. Crimea is part of Ukraine, not part of Russia.

So what we have here in this resolution--and I again want to commend Mr. Gerlach and Ms. Kaptur and Mr. Levin and all the people who put it together--is a commonsense resolution that says that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine and stands with the right of the people of Ukraine to determine its own future.

This is a very important resolution. It is a very timely resolution, and I would urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, not too long ago--several years ago-- several of us walked into this very, very historic room. The President of Ukraine at that time was President Yushchenko. A lot has happened since that ``Orange Revolution.'' A lot has happened to Ukraine.

We see in Ukraine a democratically elected Mr. Poroshenko, who will be here tomorrow, walking down the same aisle in a very, very different political environment.

I rise in support of House Resolution 726, supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to freely determine their future. That is what this resolution is all about. We must make clear our position that Russia's actions over the past year to intimidate and bring violence and death to the people of Ukraine, as well as the victims of Malaysia Flight 17--lest we forget--is behavior that is unacceptable to the entire international community.

Ukraine is a sovereign nation. That either means something or it doesn't. It has borders. It has a democratically-elected government. It has the right to govern itself as it sees fit.

Mr. Putin doesn't understand the concept of a sovereign nation. It is like he is living in a time before Westphalia. When the people of Ukraine decided they wanted to further integrate with Europe, he sent an army to invade. That was his answer.

My congressional district in northern New Jersey is home to many Ukrainian Americans. They are proud American citizens. They are proud of where they came from. They are proud of the culture and proud of this culture in this great Nation. They refuse to let Russia bully their homeland. They know how to assimilate Ukrainian Americans in the United States. They are proud Americans.

While we have already put tough multilateral sanctions on Russia, we need to do more. We wish Russia no harm, but we are not going to be dictated by Mr. Putin's dream whims.

I am pleased that we have a cease-fire that appears to be holding, but we don't know for how long. Russia needs to immediately withdraw any military assets it has in Ukraine, and the militias in the east should be disarmed.

We should provide Ukrainians with defensive arms so that they can defend their country in sovereignty. This is how you treat an ally, not with words. I am pleased this resolution calls for the President to do just this.

We cannot let up on this pressure, Mr. Speaker, on Mr. Putin. After Ukraine, he has his eyes set on allies in the Baltic States.

We know Ukraine is not a part of NATO, at least not yet. Do we have a specific treaty with Ukraine? No, we don't, but they are our allies. That much means something.

The United States of America stands with the people of Ukraine today, and we will continue to stand with them in the future. I thank Mr. Gerlach from Pennsylvania for putting this resolution forward, as well as Marcy Kaptur from Ohio; Mr. Levin from Michigan; and, of course, Mr. Engel is always there to do the right thing in international discourse.

I am honored to be here today to present this, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I give particular thanks to Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for their great support and cooperation for this resolution and for Ukrainian people themselves; also, a special thanks to my colleagues in the House, Congresswoman Kaptur, Congressman Levin, and Congressman Pascrell, for your terrific support on these important issues involving our two countries.

This resolution sends an unmistakable message to the Russian Federation and to the entire world that this House stands united with the people of Ukraine. During the last 10 months, no other ally has experienced more internal upheaval or a more imminent threat to its sovereignty than our friends in Ukraine.

Last November, the people of Ukraine flooded the Maidan in Kiev to peacefully protest a corrupt and arrogant regime.

For nearly 3 months, Ukrainians risked their lives--and more than 100 civilians died--while ushering in a new era and a new system of governance, an era in which elected leaders will be accountable and transparent; honor the fundamental human rights all Ukrainians have, regardless of their political affiliation; and bolster alliances with the United States and European Union to foster greater economic opportunity and prosperity.

The smoldering fires of the Maidan had barely been extinguished, however, when a new threat emerged on Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally occupied and then annexed Crimea. He emboldened and equipped separatists who have been fomenting discord through eastern Ukraine.

Clearly, what Putin has in mind for Ukraine is not a new era of openness, liberty, and opportunity, but, rather, a return to a bygone era of political intimidation and coercion, and Putin's gambit to reassert Russian influence has exacted a lethal toll.

The United States estimates 3,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed

since April as a result of the clashes in eastern Ukraine, but, through all of these challenges, Ukrainian people have not wavered in their desire to remain independent and restore stability to their system of governance and an economy ravaged by the excesses of the previous regime.

I believe the people of Ukraine deserve our moral and material support as their country continues to confront challenges from within its borders and from its belligerent neighbor, and that support must include defense articles, services and training, and intelligence information that will allow Ukraine to effectively defend its territory and maintain its sovereignty.

I truly believe that an independent and democratic Ukraine enhances the security of the United States and offers greater economic opportunity for citizens in both countries; therefore, I ask my colleagues to pass this resolution and reaffirm the United States' commitment to supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to independently determine their future free from intimidation and free from outside influence.

I would like to thank Ranking Member Engel so very much for yielding me the time, as well as Chairman Royce for his leadership and willingness to do all that was necessary to bring this bill to the floor today and to join Jim Gerlach, Sander Levin, Bill Pascrell, all very, very valued members of the Ukrainian Caucus.

We rise as colleagues in support of H. Res. 726 as we continue to strongly support the right of the people of Ukraine to freely determine their own futures, their sovereignty, without outside interference and, God forbid, further bloodshed or loss of life.

The brave people of Ukraine continue to face incredible challenges, not only an assault on their borders by Russia, but reforming their own government and their judiciary to develop a rich civil society with the rule of law.

The task that lies ahead for Ukraine is daunting but beckons liberty forward. This is Ukraine's moment in modern history. I expect her to become one of the greatest nations in Europe.

While the situation remains unstable, there are clear signs of hope, the ultimate reflection of the intrepid soul of the Ukrainian people who have endured history's raw edge. Just yesterday, Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, signed the landmark and long-awaited European Union Association Agreement, a brave step forward. We recall it was this desire for a closer association with Europe and the West on the part of the Ukrainian people that was ultimately responsible for the start of the crisis which persists today.

As a great nation--the name Ukraine means ``borderland''--Ukraine should reach west and east and north and south. It is just that vast a land and its potential unlimited.

But in trying to accomplish that effort with Europe, what began as a peaceful protest in Kyiv, the capital, ended in bloodshed, first at the hands of the former corrupt Yanukovych regime, and now at the hands of Russian agitators under the directives and support of Russia's President, Vladimir Putin.

Still, we look forward to tomorrow's historic joint meeting of our Congress here in this House in honor of President Petro Poroshenko's first official visit to the United States. We must heed President Poroshenko's words and take into great consideration any request he makes of us, a vital friend and ally.

We continue to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and her people, and the passage of this bill, H. Res. 726, on the eve of President Poroshenko's visit aims to further illustrate the special friendship and bond our two countries share.

Were it not for Ukrainian Americans in our country and other Americans who had endured under the Soviet mantle for some generations, the visit here would not have as deep a meaning. We share Ukraine's struggle.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this bill's passage. I thank all of those-- Ranking Member Engel; Chairman Royce; my colleague as cochair of the Ukrainian Caucus, Jim Gerlach; Sander Levin and Bill Pascrell--for making this moment possible.