Floor Statements

Mr. President, I come to the floor again today to update people on what is happening in Ukraine as Russia continues its illegal, unprovoked, and brutal assault on that country and talk more about what we can do here in the Congress and as Americans to help the people of Ukraine during this desperate hour. This will be the 16th consecutive week I have come to the floor to discuss the invasion while the Senate has been in session.

We are now on the 118th day of this war on Ukraine. In response, the bravery and effectiveness of the Ukrainian defenders has been unbelievable, truly impressive, but not surprising because they are fighting to defend their homeland, their families, and their freedom.

They have shown again and again the power that comes with that. Just 4 days ago was another example of Ukrainian tenacity and success against a much bigger and better armed Russian army. Last Friday, Ukrainian military officials announced that they struck and sunk a Russian vessel in the Black Sea using two Harpoon anti-ship missiles supplied by the West. The ship was carrying personnel and anti-aircraft equipment to Snake Island, which the Russians invaded early on and used as an outpost to assist in their blockade of Ukraine.

This action marks the first time that Ukraine has destroyed a Russian vessel with a new, Western-supplied armament. It is an example of what we can do, the United States and other allied countries, 42 of us who are helping Ukraine, giving them the tools they need to defend their homeland.

By the way, the Ukrainians have now sunk so many Russian ships that the head of the Odessa Oblast military administration remarked that Ukraine is creating ``an underwater brigade at the bottom of the Black Sea.''

Despite these successes in the Black Sea, Russia has taken the upper hand in the critical area east of Ukraine called the Donbas. The Donbas region is this area of Ukraine in eastern Ukraine where Russia has really focused its forces. Previously, you recall they took Crimea in 2014, and they took a part of the Donbas--Donbas and Donetsk areas. Now they are trying to take the entire Donetsk region and more.

Although the Ukrainians are fighting valiantly in this area of the Donbas, they are simply being outgunned by the Russians, who have longer range and very accurate Russian missiles. The stakes are really high right now. The fate of a sovereign country to remain free hangs in the balance. But not only that, if Vladimir Putin is successful here in the Donbas in taking more than he already controls, I think it would be naive to believe he will stop there. Based on his own words, he won't stop there. The Baltics could be next. He already has a puppet dictatorship here in Belarus. These countries--Baltics, Poland, Romania, where I was recently, Moldova--they are all concerned and rightly so. We cannot allow him to achieve these goals.

Last Wednesday, the Senate Ukraine Caucus, which I cofounded along with Senator Dick Durbin, hosted six members of the Ukrainian Parliament, or Rada, leaders in the Parliament who came to talk to us, along with Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova. They offered a very blunt view of the current war, which we have now heard many times over these past several weeks.

Ukrainian soldiers are fighting very hard to defend their homeland, but Russia is incrementally advancing, killing 100 to 500 Ukrainian soldiers every day, as well as dozens of civilians, and destroying cities in the Donbas area with a steady barrage of missiles. Russia is sitting back and firing these guided missiles with impunity because the shorter range Ukrainian missiles can't reach them.

The delegation of Ukrainian Parliament leaders included David Arakhamia, one of Ukraine's lead negotiators with the Russians. He told us the Russians are essentially delaying negotiations until Russia has secured control over this whole area of the Donbas, and then they will pretend to engage in negotiations while taking that time to recover their combat power and prepare for yet another offensive.

Russia must not be allowed to continue to gain ground in the Donbas. We have to get the Ukrainians what they need to protect themselves, the weapons and equipment they need to be able to succeed so they can have negotiations with the Russians but on their terms, not the Russians'.

There is a solution to the Ukrainians being outgunned. Over the past several years, Ukrainian officials have specifically requested the advanced weapons rocket artillery systems. The United States operates one such system. It is called the HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. We have hundreds of these in our inventory, many of which are not with Active units. They are superior to Russian artillery in almost every respect--mobility, reload time, accuracy, and most importantly, range. Yet, during Ukraine's hour of need, it has taken us too long to respond, and we are providing too few units to make a serious impact.

Three weeks ago, the administration did announce they would send HIMARS to Ukraine but just four units.

With the time it takes to train Ukrainian soldiers on how to operate this platform, the systems will not be combat ready until at least this week, according to press reports. So we announced it a few weeks ago, but every day brave Ukrainians have been dying and Donbas cities have been systematically destroyed and the countryside has been conquered step-by-step.

We must act more quickly, and we must do more. The Wall Street Journal editorial board recently expounded on this argument in very stark terms when they said:

How many rocket systems do our friends need? [Well] a . . .

military adviser [from Ukraine] told [a reporter recently]:

``If we get 60'' systems ``then the Russians will lose all

ability to advance anywhere, they will be stopped dead in

their tracks. If we get 40 they will [be able to] advance,

albeit very slowly with heavy casualties; with 20 they will

continue to advance with higher casualties than now.''

We are providing four.

When I met with the Rada, they told me that they would need at least 48 advanced rocket artillery systems to have a meaningful impact. So, again, so far we have only provided four. My hope is, based on conversations I have had with the administration, that more are coming. But any new units announced won't reach the battlefield

with trained crews for roughly 3 weeks. Defense officials know that we need to move more quickly, and I hope we will.

I am pleased to report that the Brits, the UK, and also the Germans have offered their own rocket systems similar to ours--in fact, the British system is bigger than ours--but only three apiece.

To address this, today I sent a letter with my colleagues Senators Durbin, Blumenthal, and Grassley to Secretary of Defense Austin urging the administration to rapidly send significant amounts of these advanced rocket artillery systems to Ukraine, working with our allies.

In our inventory, we have hundreds of these HIMARS, and getting these systems to Ukraine could be a game changer. We need to send them more quickly so they have a fighting chance in this war.

With these systems in their arsenal, I believe the Ukrainians could turn the tables on the Russians, just like they have done in so many other places. Remember, in Kyiv, the success there. In Kharkiv, they are having some success pushing back the Russians there.

Even here in the eastern part toward Kherson, they are having some success, but they need help here with regard to these artillery systems. It is an artillery battle.

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board went on to say:

The stakes are high, [but not just] for Ukraine. If the

Russian military mops up the Donbas, Vladimir Putin will have

grabbed more land that he can sell at home as a victory. He

can then regroup and push south[east] toward Odessa--

Down here--

robbing the Ukrainians of their coast line and building a

bridge to Transnistria in Moldova.

Up here.

Europe will be less secure, and Mr. Biden will bear some

responsibility.

The editorial continued with the threat to other nations, saying:

Skeptics of U.S. aid to Ukraine like to say we can't

support the country forever. But that's all the more reason

to get Kyiv the right weapons sooner and in enough numbers so

Ukraine can stop and then roll back Russian advances. That's

the only way to get Mr. Putin to the negotiating table with

any hope of a cease-fire on Ukrainian terms favorable to

Mr. President, I want to thank my colleague from Delaware via Columbus, OH, for his comments, and I want to talk for a moment about what we did today in the U.S. Senate. We passed legislation very important to our veterans that has to do with expanding VA veterans' healthcare coverage but specifically addresses the problem of our veterans who have been exposed to burn pits--toxic burn pits that have resulted in terrible illnesses, including cancer and others.

The legislation we passed is named the Heath Robinson PACT Act. And people may wonder: Well, who is Heath Robinson? Why is it named after him?

Heath Robinson was from Pickerington, OH, which is a small community outside of Columbus, OH. He enlisted in the Ohio National Guard. He became a sergeant first class. He did tours of duty in Kosovo and also in Iraq. He was with the 285th Area Support Medical Company and was a two-time Ohio Army National Guard NCO of the Year in 2012 and 2013--so a very distinguished career in the military.

In 2020, he died of cancer. And when you talk to the medical professionals, they say that his exposure to burn pits

is what resulted in his cancer developing and in the end of his life way too soon.

So his widow Danielle, who some people may remember was at the State of the Union up in the Gallery, and his mom Kathi and his daughter Brielle have been tireless advocates for addressing this burn pit issue, trying to stop the burn pits from being used but, of course, addressing the consequence of these burn pits. And they have channeled their grief in a constructive way, which is to encourage Congress to pass this legislation that we passed today. So many other veterans who have been exposed to burn pits will now get their healthcare because of their work and because of the tribute that is being paid to their father and husband and son, Heath Robinson.

So that is who Heath Robinson is, and that is why it was important to name that legislation today after him.

Mr. President, I am also rising today to ask unanimous consent from my colleagues to pass other legislation, S. 2129, a bipartisan bill that I have coauthored with my colleague from Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown. It honors a young man named Otto Warmbier, and it counters North Korea's censorship and surveillance state.

Otto Warmbier was a native of my hometown in Cincinnati, OH, and his wonderful family are dear friends. He was a young man of great spirit, great intellect, and great promise. He was a student, a star at the University of Virginia.

In 2015, he went to North Korea with a tour group. It was a cultural visit with people from the United States, from Europe, looking to see what North Korea was like. They were there for a very brief period of time, but at the end of that brief visit, as he was waiting in line at the airport to leave with fellow members of the tour, North Korean security officials grabbed him and pulled him out of line.

He was detained, and then eventually he was sentenced for 15 years on trumped-up charges relating to whether or not he tried to take down a poster that was a political poster--15 years. Otto Warmbier, again, a young man of great promise, was unjustly convicted and imprisoned. And during a 17-month period of imprisonment, captivity, he was badly mistreated by the North Koreans, to the point that when he was returned to the United States in 2017, he came back in a comatose state from which he never recovered.

Otto Warmbier died almost exactly 5 years ago today, June 19, 2017. He was 22 years old, with his whole life ahead of him. So 5 years ago, life changed forever for Otto's friends, for his parents, his classmates. His service, his funeral was extraordinary, the outpouring of love.

His parents, Fred and Cindy, have taken their grief and done something very constructive with it. They have focused on exposing what North Korea is really like and also ensuring that, to the extent possible, North Korea is held accountable for this atrocity. No parent should have to endure what they went through.

I have worked with Senators Brown, Coons, Tillis, Van Hollen, and Hagerty, as well as the Warmbiers, as well as the Biden administration, on this legislation. It is called the Otto Warmbier North Korea Censorship and Surveillance Act. It would authorize sanctions against any foreign individuals involved in censoring the North Korean people's access to information on behalf of the Kim Jong Un regime.

Of course, the North Koreans aren't getting the truth because information is censored. So it is very important to get whatever real news you can into the country. When that happens, what you find out is that people leave North Korea and then work against the regime. But so many people don't have access to that information.

So this bill authorizes the U.S. Agency for Global Media to find new and creative ways to circumvent North Korean censorship and provides $10 million annually for the next 5 years to counter North Korea's repressive censorship and surveillance state, including something very practical and needed, which is repairing the antennas that have been used for this purpose that were damaged in a typhoon years ago and have never been fixed because we haven't had the funding.

This bill has adequate funding to put in place the infrastructure that is now going to be necessary to effectively send true, accurate information to North Korea to counter North Korean propaganda for the sake of the people of North Korea.

Together, this Chamber can send a bipartisan message to the world that we will not stand for the censorship and the repression of the North Korean regime. So I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. It is something we have worked on carefully. We have gotten technical assistance from the administration. It is something that I hope we can pass here this evening and then we can, in turn, get it passed in the House of Representatives and get it to the President for his signature.

So, Mr. President, I would now like to call up this legislation. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 159, S. 2129.

I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute amendment be agreed to and that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time.

I know of no further debate on the bill, as amended.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, this is an important day for Otto Warmbier's family, for so many people who care about the repression and the lack of information going into North Korea, and I thank my colleagues for supporting this legislation.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, are we in legislative session?

Mr. President, for the 15th straight week, while the U.S. Senate has been in session, I come to the floor to talk about what is going on in Ukraine. This is the war that Russia continues to wage against the people of Ukraine. I am going to talk about what has happened in the last week--some of it is very concerning--but also about what we can do right now to help more, to help our ally Ukraine, to help President Zelenskyy and his duly elected government, and to help the people of Ukraine.

Last week, I talked about a grim milestone, 100 days of this war. It is becoming a war of attrition. The Russians expected a quick victory, you remember. That didn't happen. Now they are grinding it out in one area called the Donbas region. And unfortunately, they are making some incremental progress there. In a minute, I will have a map here to show you where the

Donbas region is. But that is where the focus is right now. That is where the Russians are grinding it out.

The fate of Ukraine, its future, may be decided here in the next few months or maybe even weeks, given what is happening in the Donbas. The Russians have regrouped, and they are using their superior weapons, particularly long-range artillery. The Ukrainians, although they are fighting valiantly, just don't have that longer range artillery to be able to counteract what Russia is doing. So the Russians are sitting back with this long-range, more accurate artillery. They are hitting Ukrainian positions, taking out Ukrainian cities, flattening them. And then the Ukrainians can't reach them because they don't have artillery that is long range.

There has been some Ukrainian progress in the past week. If you look at this map, you can see that in the northeast, around Kharkiv--up here, you see this light blue--Ukrainians have made some progress. In fact, in one case, they actually pushed the Russians back to the Russian border.

They also made some progress here in the south. And you see the city of Kherson, that was one of the first big cities that the Russians took during this most recent attack. The Ukrainians are now moving toward that area. That is positive news.

But, frankly, one reason they are making the progress is the Russians are all focused right here. This is the Donbas region we talked about earlier, and this is where the Russians are making incremental progress and killing, frankly, a lot of Ukrainian civilians but also Ukrainian soldiers.

Russia is grinding it out, as I said earlier, meaning that they are using their superior artillery fire. They have more troops. They have more weapons. But the Ukrainian defenders are fighting hard. They are making the Russians pay for every single inch of territory that is being taken. This is particularly true in Severodonetsk, which is right in here.

In Severodonetsk, there is an ongoing battle tonight as we talk. The Russians are engaged in urban combat there, and the Ukrainians have fiercely defended their homeland. But I will say, the Russians are still advancing bit by bit, in some cases kilometer by kilometer, every day, because they have the firepower, especially the longer-range, accurate, and deadly artillery.

Reports yesterday indicate that unless Ukrainians can get access to that long-range artillery themselves, Severodonetsk and the entire Luhansk region could fall to Russia soon. Possibly within weeks. This should alarm all of us. It should alarm the administration; it should alarm the Congress. Because every time Russia gains more territory, they reduce it to mostly rubble, destroy it, and then they dig in, making it twice as hard to get that territory back.

Because the Russians have more artillery than the Ukrainians and their weapons have longer ranges, the Russian forces concentrate their massive firepower on Ukrainian positions from a distance, as I said, which the Ukrainian forces cannot reach. And then they move in.

They destroy the territory. They occupy it. This disparity in the quality and quantity of artillery has put Ukraine at a distinct disadvantage. The good news is that we can fix this problem. We can level this playing field and address this disparity. America and her allies have the ability to do it, and it is urgent that we do it now.

In our inventory, we have hundreds of what are called High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems or HIMARS. It is an advanced system that is actually superior to the Russian artillery in almost every way, more mobility, faster reload time, more accuracy, and--more importantly-- more range.

Getting these systems, these HIMARS systems to Ukraine could be a game changer. It could save so many lives. With these systems in the arsenal, the Ukrainians could turn the tables on the Russians here in the Donbas region.

They could grind the Russian advance to a halt and maybe even push the Russian forces back, as they are doing in Kharkiv up here or down here in the south.

Unfortunately, the Biden administration has been unwilling to act quickly on these HIMARS. Two weeks ago, after weeks of Ukrainian requests, echoed by some of us here in the U.S. Congress, President Biden announced that he would provide Ukraine with some of these systems. I was really pleased we were finally taking that step.

However, according to the Department of Defense, I now learned that the administration is only sending four of these systems--four. The administration has said that it is only providing Ukraine with mid- range missiles as well, meaning Ukrainian troops will need to fire from closer to Russian positions and put themselves at greater risk.

That announcement of our decision to send four systems will be 2 weeks old on Wednesday. We were told these systems require almost 3 weeks in training to be able to operate. That means, at best, Ukraine will have four U.S. artillery systems operational sometime late this week or maybe next week.

Ukraine has been fighting for its life for weeks along a massive front line, this front line all along here. And the Biden administration is only now sending this military support; and, frankly, it is just not enough. Combine this with the public reporting that the M777 howitzer promised to Ukraine months ago back in mid-April are arriving very slowly, and you have a picture that shows that we are not responding with urgency to the situation in Ukraine.

You don't have to take it from me. Listen to the military advisor and President Zelenskyy's chief of staff Oleksiy Arestovych: ``If we get 60 of these [rocket artillery] systems,'' that is the HIMARS I am talking about, ``then the Russians will lose all ability to advance anywhere, they will be stopped [dead] in their tracks. If we get 40, they will advance, albeit very slowly with heavy casualties; with 20, they will continue to advance with higher casualties than now.''

So he is talking about the need for 60 or at least 40; 20 won't be enough. Unfortunately, we are talking about four. To their credit, the British announced last Tuesday that they will send something similar to these multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine. It is a larger version, actually, of the HIMARS rocket artillery system that they are sending. I appreciate that. However, the BBC reports that they are now only sending three, at least initially.

The world looks to America for leadership, and if America leads with only four rocket artillery systems, the rest of the world is going to follow with similarly modest support. I hope this will change. I hope we will see that these numbers improve. I would like to be proven wrong that those artillery systems are already on their way. I hope they are, but the best information we have is that is not true.

It has been months now, and the Ukrainians cannot afford to have imprecise and low-level assistance from the world's most powerful military. This Congress sent $40 billion in aid to the Ukrainians, $21 billion of that was military assistance. I think we should expect and demand that the administration utilize that funding as much as possible and provide Ukraine with the precise and powerful military equipment it actually needs to be able to fight this war, to stop the bloodshed, by pushing the Russians back, $21 billion is a lot of money, let's be sure it is spent properly.

Another Ukrainian official, Vadym Skibitsky, Ukraine's Deputy head of Military Intelligence, told a British outlet: ``Everything now depends on what [the West] gives us. Ukraine has one artillery piece to 10 to 15 Russian artillery pieces.''

Ukrainians need our help. And Congress has done its job in an overwhelming, bipartisan fashion. We should not be tentative now--not now. Russia's brutal unrelenting rocket and missile attacks throughout Ukraine, including attacks on schools and churches, hospitals and apartment buildings, have killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and soldiers, while entire cities have been laid to rubble by the Russian barrages. While the media coverage has waned significantly here in the United States, the people of Ukraine are still feeling the effect and the terrible impacts of this bloody and illegal invasion of their homeland in so many ways. One is the blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

Since the war began, Russia has put this blockade in place preventing the export of millions of tons of grain and other agricultural products desperately needed, by the way, in Africa, in the Middle East, and other developing countries.

Just this past Saturday, Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky reported that 300,000 tons of grain were destroyed when Russia shelled a warehouse near one of these ports.

So Russia is actually shelling grain bins to destroy the grain. Let me be clear: Food should never be a target and should never be used as leverage in negotiations. Malign actors around the world have used food as a weapon--the Houthis in Yemen, Assad in Syria, and now Russia in Ukraine.

Russia has the rest of the world hostage with its barbaric food blockade. President Putin recently suggested that he would lift his stranglehold on Ukraine's Black Sea ports, including Odesa, but he said he would only do so if all the sanctions were lifted on Russia. In other words, Russia would like to be rewarded for releasing the hostage it has taken.

Russia must release its blockade immediately, without any conditions. Millions of lives depend on it. I would expect the administration and allies--including Turkey--to come up with contingency plans now, if they don't have them already. This impacts nations in Africa, the Middle East, East Asia, and particularly, again, these poor countries in Africa depend on the Ukrainian grains, otherwise there will be massive food shortages.

In Turkey, President Erdogan continues to negotiate an exit corridor for Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. I thank him for doing that. He should continue to do so. And even in China--no friend of the United States and a very good friend of Russia right now--President Xi Jinping has warned of a bad winter wheat harvest. I hope he can persuade Vladimir Putin that needlessly causing a global hunger catastrophe will not do him any favors.

The dire warnings of global food insecurity and price hikes if this blockade continues should concern everyone in this Congress, everyone in America, and everyone in this administration, certainly.

The world is looking to our leadership to help solve this problem. What we need is a creation of a humanitarian corridor that can go out, at least through the port at Odesa through which Ukrainian agricultural products can reach the world market.

Until then, other avenues have to be explored. When I was in Romania 2 weeks ago, the prime minister there told me that they intend to boost their road and rail and canal infrastructure to the port in Romania to help export as much Ukrainian grain as possible. This would help, and I appreciate--really appreciate--the Romanian effort, but it can't match the capacity of Odesa or these other ports in Ukraine.

At a security conference in Singapore on Sunday, Ukraine's deputy foreign minister announced that Ukraine will, indeed, try to export its grains through Romania as well as through Poland, as well as any place they can get it out.

They are looking for a third route as an example through the Baltic States, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. That is a desperate attempt by Ukraine to try to get this grain out, but, again, it can never match the huge volumes that can go by ship from its own ports.

As the head of the Ukraine Grain Association said last week:

I can tell you we won't find a solution [for] exports

[without Black Sea port access].

Unfortunately, I think he is right. It is clear that Russia is trying to starve the world into pressuring Ukraine to surrender. Meanwhile, Russia's crimes within Ukraine continue. A few days ago, Ukrainian prosecutors announced that eight more war crimes have been filed against Russian soldiers. These cases are part of a more than 16,000 investigation that Ukraine has opened into possible war crimes committed during the war, according to Ukraine's prosecutor general-- 16,000 investigations right now into war crimes.

In the past war crimes trials, two captured Russian soldiers were each sentenced to 11\1/2\ years in prison in late May after pleading guilty to shelling a town in Eastern Ukraine. And a Russian soldier was handed a life sentence for shooting a 62-year-old Ukrainian civilian in the head.

These heinous acts of violence are going to continue unless Ukraine has the ability to push back. We do need more of these sentences of war criminals to try to act as a deterrent to stop the further Russian barbarity in Ukraine. Maybe some officers, maybe some officials in the Kremlin looking at these war crime convictions will say, you know what, maybe we shouldn't be attacking our peaceful neighbors and killing them and raping them and terrorizing this country.

There is another important issue I want to mention, one that is worth the world's attention: Ukrainian orphans. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of Ukrainian orphans who are stuck in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe. A lot of these orphans have ties to America and unique ties to about 200 American families who are ready, willing, and able to host these children. These families have been in the process of adopting these children for a long time, from before the invasion. Many of these children have actually previously visited the United States to meet with their soon-to-be adopted families.

Unfortunately, many of these children returned right before the invasion and are unaccounted for now. Many have lost contact with their soon-to-be families. I have constituents in Ohio, and I know hundreds of other families across the country ready to welcome these children into their homes.

In March, along with 26 colleagues, I wrote to the State Department, I have yet to hear back from that letter, but we asked for two things: one, to help identify these children, this needs to be done in collaboration with the Ukrainian government, of course, and U.S.-based organizations; and, two, my letter urged the administration to issue travel visas to allow adoption-eligible kids to come live with their American host families now.

The State Department should use its powers under the law to immediately process nonimmigrant visas that will allow these kids with in-process adoptions to travel to the U.S. and stay with their host families in the United States instead of requiring these children to remain in other locations for displaced persons in Europe or in Ukraine.

Many of these children may be given refuge in neighboring countries. However, I believe in the unique circumstances where children already have established relationships with these families in the United States, they should be able to come here and be with their host families who can ensure the child's safety and stability.

At the same time, we could continue to work with the Ukrainian government, which has been open to finalizing the adoptions that were in process before the war began.

I will close with this: I have now come to the floor every week since just before President Putin began this illegal and unprovoked invasion against the people of a democratic Ukraine who just wanted to live in peace with their neighbors--including Russia.

This is the fight during our generation where democracy is on the line. I am not surprised, because I have seen the spirit and bravery of the Ukrainian people firsthand in my many trips to Ukraine, including meeting with Ukrainian troops on the front line before this latest invasion. I am not surprised that they have held off Russia so far. Their strength and resiliency is a marvel.

Again, it is not what Vladimir Putin expected. It is, frankly, not what our own U.S. military expected. They have fought hard, and they continue to every day. But they need more help.

Last week, I met with a great fighter in this cause, my friend Andy Futey from Ohio, who leads the Ukrainian World Congress for the Ukraine diaspora all over the world. He has been a strong and consistent advocate for Ukraine and joined me at a rally, actually, at the White House with hundreds of Ukrainian Americans a couple months ago.

When I met with Andy last week and other members of the Ukrainian World Congress who had just returned from Ukraine, they spoke with passion about the destruction they had seen in Ukraine, about the steep price that the Ukrainian people have paid and continue to pay to be able to remain free and independent.

With them was a young woman from Ukraine who was very emotional in her

appeals, with tears, saying, America needs to do more during this hour of need. As they made the case passionately that the U.S. needs to continue sending weapons and artillery and sooner not later, they talked about the need for these long-range weapons we talked about tonight, so the Ukrainians have a fighting chance.

Every day the United States fails to sufficiently support Ukraine only serves as a detriment to the Ukrainians, who need us to lead the free world in helping them win this war. Brave Ukrainians are dying every day. We just can't afford to delay.

My colleague Senator Dick Durbin and I cochair what is called the Senate Ukraine Caucus, which we founded back in 2015. Later this week, we will bring the caucus together to meet with the leaders in the Ukrainian parliament, the Rada, who are here visiting Washington to urge greater support in America for their country. We are eager to hear what they have to say.

Many of us here in this Chamber get it. We know that America can't afford to stay on the sidelines and be a spectator in this conflict. At this crucial time in the battle for freedom, democracy, and the ability for countries to have their territorial integrity respected, at this critical hour, America cannot afford to be tentative.

We must remember the lessons of the late 1930s: that appeasing tyrants will not satiate their desire to violently conquer and subjugate their neighbors. Some folks in this town may not understand that, but Ukrainians understand it. They know what it is like to live under the thumb of authoritarians, and they broke away from that and toward democracy, first in 1991 and again in 2014.

I was in Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity, in 2014, where Ukrainians decided for themselves that they wanted to turn away from Russian domination and turn to us and to Europe and to pursue a hopeful future of democracy and freedom. Now, President Putin is trying to extinguish that hope. We must not let him.

One question that many of us have of the administration is: What is the end goal here? Is our objective to help Ukraine grind down Russia's military so that for some number of years it is unable to undertake another violent campaign like this? Is our objective to topple President Putin's regime? Or is our objective to help the Ukrainians expel the Russian invaders from their sovereign Ukrainian territory, including Crimea and the Donbas?

The administration dodges these questions by saying: It is up to the Ukrainians to decide.

I understand that, but the Ukrainians have already decided. They want their sovereign territory back--all of it. I have discussed this at length with Ukrainians, and they have consistently said what I have heard from their parliamentary leaders in the past and will again this week: Nothing less than the full restoration of Ukrainian sovereign territory is their goal.

Saying that we support Russia walking away with any Ukrainian territory would just embolden Russia in this conflict and embolden aggressors and authoritarians in the future.

It has now been 110 days of unrelenting Russian attacks on our ally Ukraine, and it has been 110 days of pushing the administration to help more. This happened with Russian oil, Russian gas exports. It happened with trade and banking sanctions and various kinds of military assistance. Now it is the HIMARS. They need these weapons.

America has made its stand. We are on the side of freedom over tyranny, democracy and self-determination over authoritarianism and conquest. The countries of the free world are with us, but more so when we lead. Now is not the time to be tentative or equivocal. At this critical juncture, let's work with allies to provide our democratic brothers and sisters in Ukraine what they need to protect the homeland and defend democracy.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for up to 15 minutes and Senator Stabenow for 1 minute prior to the scheduled rollcall votes.

Madam President, last Friday was a grim milestone. It was the 100th day of the war in Ukraine--a war being waged by Russia against an ally in a democratic country, Ukraine: a hundred days of brutal, unrelenting rocket and missile attacks throughout Ukraine, including attacks on a number of civilian targets like hospitals and churches and apartment buildings, schools. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian citizens and soldiers have been killed and entire cities have been laid to rubble by the Russian barrages.

For the 14th straight week when the Senate has been in session during this war, I come to the Senate floor again today to discuss the status of this unprovoked and bloody invasion and to talk about what our role as Americans ought to be.

First, it can never be emphasized enough that the people of Ukraine, professional soldiers and civilians and volunteers alike, have demonstrated courage, fortitude, and competence in beating all expectations in their existential battle against the odds to preserve their freedom and protect their homeland.

I am not surprised because I have seen the spirit and bravery of the Ukrainian people firsthand. In my seven or eight or nine trips to Ukraine, including meetings with Ukrainian troops on the line of contact before this latest invasion, I have seen the Ukrainian spirit. To have held off Russia this long demonstrates their strength and their resiliency. But at this moment in time there is reason for concern too.

President Zelenskyy just said that Russia now controls 20 percent of Ukraine's territory. Before the war started, Russia controlled just 7 percent of Ukraine, after its illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the creation of a Russian-backed separatist government in parts of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

If you look at this map, you can see here what Russia took in 2014, Crimea and part of the Donbas here, and look what they have now and look at where the battles are occurring.

I made another trip to the region last week, and what I heard was that thanks to the fierce Ukrainian resistance, Ukrainians have had success in some parts of the country.

Remember, at one point Kyiv was under attack and there were Russian troops coming down from Belarus. They have been repelled, so there have been successes. There is no question about it. But Russia has now consolidated its troops and its firepower in this area, in the south and in the east, and they are making gains--incremental gains, but gains nonetheless.

This is a crucial point in the war, and we have to redouble our efforts and do that now to help Ukrainians defend themselves, to save Ukrainian lives, and to push the Russian invasion back.

In my trip to the region last week, I also visited with U.S. troops and commanders in Germany and with heads of government, military leaders, and refugee coordinators in Romania and Moldova before traveling to the United Kingdom, one of our staunchest allies. I thank them for their support.

While I was in Moldova, I was able to cross the border into Ukraine, where I met Ukrainian refugees leaving the country, but also Ukrainians who were actually returning to Ukraine, as the place where they lived in this part of Ukraine, closer to Kyiv, was relatively stable.

During my visits with the leaders of Moldova and Romania, I was able to thank each of them for their support in Ukraine and to learn more about what they need to be more effective partners in the region.

In Germany, visiting with the U.S.-European command, I received detailed briefings on the state of the war in Ukraine, as well as what the United States and our allies are doing to support Ukraine's brave defenders with military assistance.

I also met with the senior Ukrainian liaison there from the Ukrainian military who gave me his very frank assessment of the war and what weapons his brothers-in-arms absolutely need to be able to continue their fight. As I mentioned earlier, Russia's recent gains on the eastern side of the country are cause for serious concern.

Russia's mainline effort, again, is here in the Donbas region. By all accounts, the Ukrainians are making the Russians pay dearly for every inch of territory, but they are taking territory, incrementally, and the Ukrainians, both soldiers and civilians, are taking higher casualties.

The primary reason is the Russian artillery has a longer range than the artillery that the Ukrainians possess. They are able to strike Ukrainian positions from safe distances where Ukrainian artillery cannot reach them. This unlevel playing field in eastern Ukraine must be addressed.

This is why I have been urging the administration and our allies to immediately provide Ukraine with the weapons they are asking for to allow them to have a fighting chance against the longer range Russian artillery, specifically longer range advanced rocket artillery systems. These systems which we have are superior or at least on par with the Russian artillery in terms of distance, accuracy, reload speed, and mobility and would help immediately to level the playing field for Ukraine.

I spoke about the need for these weapons in my floor speech on May 24. I have tweeted about it, I think, six or seven times. Finally, after weeks of urging that we listen to the Ukrainians and provide these systems, I was very pleased that the administration announced last Tuesday that they will

provide Ukraine with high-mobility artillery rocket systems or HIMARS. But I am concerned not just by how long it took and continues to take but by how long it will take to get these systems in place in Ukraine while lives are being lost and Ukrainian territory is being taken.

Moreover, the best information that I have is that the administration is only providing four of these HIMARS systems, which will have limited impact on the battlefield. I hope I am wrong about that. I hope there are more on the way. But that is the best information we have.

They are also only providing Ukraine with midrange missiles, meaning that Ukrainian troops will need to fire closer to Russian positions and put themselves at greater risk. That may be OK because that may be comparable or maybe evenly slightly better than the Russian artillery, but they are not getting the special, longer range missiles.

Lastly, we are being told it will take time to train Ukrainian soldiers on how to operate this advanced system. All told, it will take, we are told, roughly 2 weeks for these systems to arrive in- theater and for Ukrainian troops to be sufficiently trained on them. In the meantime, Russia's brutal advance will proceed, and Ukrainian lives will continue to be lost.

There is some good news on that front from another part of our allied front. Just yesterday, the British announced that they will send several multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine, which is a larger version of what we are sending. This is very important. I appreciate what the UK is doing, and I also urge other allied countries that have this longer range capacity to step up as well.

In addition, this week we learned that Spain is ready to send Leopard battle tanks and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. This is a big change, and we appreciate the fact that the Spanish military support has been increasing. They will also provide training for Ukrainian Army officials and soldiers on the tanks, according to the report, which cites government sources.

Also, in, Severodonetsk, the city the Russians were overrunning last weekend, reports indicate that the Ukrainians have counterattacked and are putting up a fierce resistance to Russia's assault.

This is this area right here.

Although the battle is far from over, the Ukrainians are, once again, demonstrating their incredible bravery and resolve, showing the world that despite being outgunned, they will not give up without a fight.

After my briefings in Germany, I traveled to Romania, where I met with Prime Minister Ciuca, the Minister of Economy, State Secretary of Foreign Affairs, members of Parliament, and officials and volunteers involved with welcoming Ukrainian refugees.

America could ask for no better friend than Romania. Our interests align on many issues, including energy security, defense spending, food security, standing against Russian aggression, and blocking malign Chinese investments in critical infrastructure. Our relationship is strengthened by the Romanian community in the United States, including in Ohio, where thousands trace their heritage back to that great country.

Twenty percent of Romania's energy comes from nuclear energy, and the country plans to boost that to 40 percent in coming years, with America as their partner of choice. I urge the Biden administration to do more to support Romania's embrace of nuclear energy, especially with regard to the Export-Import Bank, working with American energy companies. As their production increases, I hope that Romania can be become an energy hub that can help wean its neighbors off Russian energy. Romania has been smart. They have cut their ties with both Chinese nuclear energy and telecommunications companies, fully recognizing the threat that these companies pose. And unlike other countries in Europe, they are not dependent on Russian energy.

Romania has also been creative in finding ways to help Ukraine export its grain. This is a huge issue. We all know that Ukraine is a large exporter, whether it is sunflower oil or whether it is corn or whether it is wheat, but particularly with regard to wheat. So many poor countries around the world depend on Ukrainian wheat.

This photograph, unfortunately, is of a bombing attack only about a day and a half ago in the area of the Port of Odessa. And this is the Russians exploding a bomb at a grain bin. So they are destroying wheat and other grains that would be destined for poor countries in the world. This is what is going on today in Ukraine.

There is something else that is very important, and that is the ability of Ukraine to export this wheat that they do have in bins around the country. I discussed this at length with Prime Minister Ciuca of Romania. It is extremely important because he has the ability to help with regard to a port in Romania to get some of this grain out that would normally go out through Odessa, which has been mined and has been--mined by the Russians.

So here we are. The Port of Constanta is here. This is Romania. This is Ukraine. Here is the Port of Odessa. Over here is the Donbas, where we were earlier.

This port is actually the largest port on the Black Sea. It is difficult to get from Odessa to here, but in talking to the Prime Minister, he has some great ideas on how to deal with this. With the blockade of Odessa by Russia, there is an opportunity to use rail, to use a canal system, and to use roads to get the grain to Constanta to be able to export it.

I appreciate the fact the Romanians are willing to work us on that, and it is incredibly important, again, not just to Ukraine and their economy to have the ability to export, but it is also incredibly important because the dire warnings of global food insecurity and price spikes if this blockade continues concerns all of us. It certainly concerns this Congress and this administration.

These poor countries in Africa depend on Ukrainian wheat to avoid food shortages.

Romanian officials told me they intend to work with Ukraine in this project, and I appreciate that.

Malign actors around the world, by the way, have used food as a weapon over time. The Houthis in Yemen, Assad in Syria, and now Putin in Russia.

President Putin recently suggested that he would only lift his stranglehold on these ports, including Odessa, if the sanctions were lifted on Russia.

Let me be clear. Food should never be used as leverage in negotiations. Russia must lift its blockade immediately without any conditions. Millions of lives depend on it. I would expect the administration and allies, including Turkey, to be coming up with contingency plans now, if they don't have them already, to ensure that this wheat can be exported and other grains as well.

When it comes to the administration, President Biden has said recently: ``There is going to have to be a negotiated settlement'' to end this war.

I urge the administration not to talk about ceding ground in Ukraine. This does not signal resolve or clarity; it signals weakness. It will not help us break the blockade in the Black Sea, and it will not help Ukraine win this war. We should be doing what we can with allies--short of boots on the ground--helping the Ukrainians take back every inch of territory that Russia has taken from them since 2014.

That is fair, just, and what Ukrainian officials themselves have been calling for. Our allies in Eastern Europe know what is at stake here. Romania is a great example. A staunch NATO ally, Romania is committed to the military defense of the alliance and meets NATO's goal of spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense. They actually told me when I was there that they plan to raise it to 2.5 percent in the next few years in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

After Romania, I visited Moldova, where I met with Prime Minister Gavrilita, the Minister of Internal Affairs, and various parliamentarians. I was impressed with what I saw. As I told the Prime Minister, Moldova is a small country that punches way above its weight. Moldova has graciously accepted almost half a million Ukrainian refugees through its border--more per capita than any other Nation.

Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine is far from over, and if Russia continues to gain ground or opens up an assault on Odessa, which many fear, it will send another massive wave of refugees westward into Moldova.

While in Moldova, I traveled to Palanca, a border crossing that is run jointly by Moldovan, Ukrainian, and EU Frontex border security guards. While at the border, I had the opportunity to speak with Ukrainians whose lives have been turned upside down by this war. Some were leaving Moldova, some were coming back into Moldova, but they all expressed to me their fears that Russia will gain ground and expand their brutal assault to other parts of the country, including Odessa, which is only about 30 miles away from where I was.

Now, as the war rages on and we cross 100 days of this brutal invasion, I want to highlight another recent development. I have mentioned on this floor many times the need for stronger sanctions against Russia, particularly with regard to energy but also trade and banking. In particular, I have pointed out that Europe sends Russia roughly $870 million a day in gas and oil receipts that help fund the Putin war machine.

So I was pleased that late last week the European Union took a positive step in partially banning Russian oil into the EU. Specifically, these phased-in sanctions will prohibit the import of seaborne crude oil from Russia and petroleum products over the next 8 months. This phased-in embargo, I believe, along with countries like Germany that stopped pipeline oil altogether, is expected to impact approximately 90 percent of Russian oil imports into Europe by the end of this year. Combined with the ban on coal imports that Russia has agreed to earlier this year, which will take effect in August, Europe is undoubtedly making progress in cutting off that nearly $1 billion that goes to Russia to feed the war machine.

Even better, given the situation on the ground in Ukraine today, would be a full embargo against all Russian energy immediately, as the United States has done, but this is progress.

Given their greater dependence on Russian oil and gas, by the way, Europe's energy independence from Russia will require a different kind of leadership from the United States as we establish a new energy world order.

Where the United States can help most is to get more energy on the global market now to help backfill Russia's energy needs and stabilize prices. Instead of looking to countries like Iran and Venezuela to produce more energy, this administration should be pursuing policies to expand our domestic oil and gas production as well as renewables, nuclear, all of the above. And in the longer term for our national security and that of our allies, the United States needs to take steps to lead the world in developing and exporting the next-generation energy technologies like advanced nuclear and hydrogen.

The reality is this: It shouldn't have taken a global energy crisis for us to realize this. Before this administration took office, concerns had been raised about the prospect about aggressive or idealistic policies that threaten the reliability and security of our energy supplies here in the United States. We need to act, and we need to act now. Providing LNG to Europe is key to Europe being able to wean themselves from Russian gas.

The fact is, we need to unleash American energy. We have the resources here to help our friends and allies. We can help everyone so that they don't need to take another dime and give it to Vladimir Putin's war machine.

Right now, Ukrainians continue to suffer, and the world must not turn a blind eye. According to the United Nations recently, nearly 7 million Ukrainian refugees have fled the country since the war began, and another 8 million Ukrainians are internally displaced. This invasion has flattened beautiful cities in Ukraine, like Mariupol, where, according to local officials, at least 22,000 residents have been killed.

I will close with this. I have now come to this floor every week since just before President Putin put this illegal and unprovoked invasion upon the people of a democratic Ukraine, who just wanted to live in peace with their neighbors--their neighbors, by the way, including Russia.

Some have asked me why a Senator from Ohio should care about this fighting in Ukraine, and I tell them every American should care. This is a fight during our generation where democracy is on the line. Some folks here may not agree with that; I understand. But Ukrainians get it. They know what it is like to live under the thumb of an authoritarian, of Russia, and they broke away from that and toward democracy in 1991 and again, as we all saw, in 2014. I was in Ukraine then in 2014 right after the Revolution of Dignity, where Ukrainians decided for themselves that they wanted to turn to us and to Europe to pursue a hopeful future of freedom and democracy. Now President Putin is trying to extinguish that hope. We must not let him.

I am also motivated by the tens of thousands of Ukrainian-American friends and constituents in my home State of Ohio, some of whom joined me for an update last Friday, where I learned more about the amazing Ohio volunteer efforts to help Ukraine.

But even if I didn't have one constituent of Ukrainian descent or know a single Ukrainian, I would be on this floor condemning Russia's atrocities.

As Russian forces target Ukrainian civilians, people from across the globe are showing their support and encouragement for Ukrainians. In Ohio, we have assured Ukrainians that America has their back.

At the Ohio State University, President Kristina Johnson participated in a call with President Zelenskyy, and she said she asked him how Ohio State could help. President Zelenskyy answered with: How about helping to rebuild our cities that have been flattened? What did President Johnson say? ``Count on us.'' That has been the consistent theme from the Buckeye State--count on us. In fact, student organizations like the Ukrainian Society and Desserts for Donations have held fundraisers around the State selling buttons, pins, desserts--all of which have been donated to the Revived Ukrainian Soldiers, a group that provides medical and humanitarian aid.

I have listed before on this floor a dozen other great causes in Ohio that have been helpful with regard to the humanitarian effort in Ukraine. Ohioans get it. They know that America can't afford to stay on the sidelines and be a spectator.

I commend the administration for the actions taken, but as I have said before, we need to do more and more quickly. At this crucial time in the battle, freedom and democracy are at stake and the ability for countries to have their territorial integrity respected. America cannot afford to be tentative. Instead, we must lead with allies in protecting the post-World War II order. We are being watched by those allies, 41 of whom have joined us in helping Ukraine defend itself. But we are also being watched by our adversaries who must see strength and determination and willingness to lead.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Clara Smith, an intern with Senator Boozman's staff, be granted floor privileges until July 29, 2022.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Karen Fletcher, a detail with Senator Boozman's staff, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of this Congress.

Mr. President, today is a very important day in American history, June 6, the anniversary of D-day. One of the most important and consequential battles of World War II occurred on that day.

Every year I have served in this body, I have a practice of coming to the floor and reciting the famous D-day Prayer that Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered to the Nation on the morning of June 6, 1944. It was a consequential battle in the sense that it really marks the beginning of the end of World War II, the beginning of the end of Hitler. It is my favorite Presidential statement.

Seventy-eight years ago, as the American people slept in their beds, the greatest naval invasion in history began and the Greatest Generation was born. On that fateful day, tens of thousands of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen joined our allies from around the world to begin what General Eisenhower called the ``Great Crusade,'' one that sought to free a continent and liberate millions from the grip of tyranny. They came by amphibious landing craft, by gliders laden with men and material, by parachutes deployed deep behind enemy lines. And on the beaches called places like Omaha and Utah and at the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, they struck a mortal blow to the Nazi regime.

Thousands would give their lives for this cause--over 2,500 Americans alone. Like many in this Chamber, I have seen the American cemeteries there, the rows of white crosses and the stars of David that go on and on are a stark reminder of the price those brave heroes paid for all of us.

These men did not go into battle alone. As General Eisenhower said to the Allied Expeditionary Force on the eve of this risky battle: ``The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you.''

As the battle was engaged, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke to the Nation. He did not choose to address the American people with one of his trademark fireside chats, nor did he choose to use a speech; instead, he delivered words of prayer by radio address, as the fate of Europe and indeed the entire free world hung in the balance.

It was a powerful prayer that transcended all faiths. I think it captures, perhaps better than anything else I have ever seen, what we as Americans should be most proud of. We are liberators, not conquerors, and it also talks about the righteousness of that cause.

This prayer must never be forgotten, and that is why I come to the floor, and that is why I would like to recite it now.

This is what he said:

My fellow Americans:

Last night, when I spoke to you about the fall of Rome, I

knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our

allies were crossing the Channel in another and [yet] greater

operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in

prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have

set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our

Republic,

our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a

suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms,

stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and

hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces.

Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return

again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the

righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without

rest--until . . . victory is won. The darkness will be rent

by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the

violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They

fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end

conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice

arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They

yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the

haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive

them, Thy heroic servants into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home--fathers, mothers, children, wives,

sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas, whose thoughts

and prayers are ever with them--help us, Almighty God, to

rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of

great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the nation into a single

day of [special] prayer. But because the road is long and the

desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a

continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again

when each day is spent, let the words of prayer be on our

lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too--strength in our daily tasks, to

redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the

material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail,

to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our

sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us faith. Give us faith in Thee; faith in

our sons; faith in each other, faith in our united crusade.

Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not

the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but

fleeting moment--let not these deter us in our unconquerable

purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces

of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and

racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country, and

with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a

sure peace--a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy

men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom,

reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Yes, amen. What a powerful statement--one that deserves to be remembered for generations to come.

By the way, to ensure its place in history, back in 2013, shortly after I was elected to this body, I introduced legislation called the World War II Memorial Prayer Act with former Senator Mary Landrieu and then after her, Senator Joe Lieberman. Representative Bill Johnson took the lead in the House of Representatives.

This was legislation that directed the Secretary of the Interior to install a plaque at or near the World War II Memorial on the National Mall here in Washington with these words, the words of FDR's D-day prayer. And we said no Federal funding would be used for this; we would raise the funding privately.

It was the Ohio Christian Alliance president, Chris Long, who first came to me with the idea of a plaque displaying this historic prayer. Since that legislation was signed into law in 2014, which kicked off the lengthy Commemorative Works Act process for siting and installing the plaque at the Memorial, the Friends of the National World War II Memorial and the National Park Service have worked to develop and refine the final plaque design and receive a variety of approvals from the National Park Service, the Commission of Fine Arts, the National Capital Planning Commission, and others.

In the meantime, we have gone ahead with a beautiful temporary plaque that has been in place since 2019 at what is called the Circle of Remembrance, which is just north of the World War II Memorial.

So if you are here in Washington, go to the Mall, see the World War II Memorial, which is spectacular. Then look to the north and go to the Circle of Remembrance, and you will see the prayer on display there. By the way, it is the only prayer on display on the National Mall.

We hope that the final version of this plaque and the Circle of Remembrance being remodeled will be done by the end of this year.

The process has been going on for 8 years, longer than World War II itself actually, so we are eager to see that final plaque installed, and I know it will be. The temporary plaque, by the way, was generously donated to the Friends of the National World War II Memorial with the help of John Nau, from Houston, TX, a great patriot, and also the Ohio Christian Alliance and others who provided funding for this.

In October 2020, the Lilly Endowment provided a $2 million grant for the construction and installation of the final plaque, and it is this committed financial support that will allow the project to get across the finish line, even with some hurdles. So I thank the Lilly Endowment for their support.

I also want to recognize the tireless efforts of the Friends group, especially Holly Rotondi, who has led the effort in fundraising and coordinating the project over the past several years. Thank you, Holly.

D-day was a day of tremendous loss and also monumental triumph. Those who lost their lives that day did not die in vain. The fate of the free world rested on their shoulders. Those brave young men, many Americans, charging the beaches of Normandy, and President Roosevelt's prayer that day helped to comfort a nation in a time of great uncertainty. I am glad that his words will soon take their proper place in our memorial to the war that changed the course of history.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, today marks exactly 3 months since Russia began its war on Ukraine. I have come to the Senate floor for what is now the 13th straight week since that time while the Senate has been in session to talk about this unprovoked, illegal, and brutal war that they are waging on our ally Ukraine, a democratic and sovereign country.

Since I spoke last week, we had a very important development. At the end of last week, the Senate came together in a strong bipartisan vote to pass what is called the supplemental funding bill for Ukraine. The vote was 86 to 11. It passed the House the week prior with a similar strong bipartisan vote. Congress, in this legislation, actually went above what the President had requested. He initially requested $33 billion and Congress decided to provide $40 billion to ensure that the Ukrainians had the funding they needed through this fall.

In combination with the help from about 40 different countries around the world, Ukrainians now have the ammunition and weapons, as well as the humanitarian and economic support they need to survive and also to continue their fight for the next several months. Importantly, the supplemental spending bill will replenish what is called the Presidential Drawdown Authority. It was depleted. That is the authority that lets us very quickly transfer weapons from our own surpluses to the Ukrainians and it has been very effective. The legislation raised the Presidential Drawdown Authority cap to $11 million, $3 billion over the President's request. Again, the notion is this is going to be needed.

The bill also includes $6 billion for what is called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program I first authored in 2015 to enhance the Ukrainian military's ability to fight off Russian aggression. When we started that program, Russia was only in this part of Ukraine and the line of contact was here in eastern Ukraine.

Here are a couple of maps that show the progress that has been made in

pushing back as Russia has invaded Ukraine starting on February 24. All this area here that is in blue was controlled by Russia at one point, as was this lighter red area. The darker red area was what Russia took back in 2014 after Ukraine chose to look to the West rather than to Russia for alliance and support.

This is what they took in 2014. Then they came in on February 24 with the hope of taking the entire country, and they did control this territory. Everything you see in blue has been pushed back. It is no longer Russian-held territory. It is now back in Ukrainian hands. So this is the map of today.

There is progress being made around Kharkiv. This is a beautiful city in this part of Ukraine. The blue you see here is where Ukrainian military have recently pushed back the Russian forces--in one case, right up to the Russian border. You also see the same here in the eastern and southern--more southern parts of Ukraine, where some progress has been made.

But there is fierce fighting all in this region. And, in fact, recently, you can see where the Russians have made some progress in trying to cut off some of the Ukrainian troops. Initially, they had hoped to make a bridge here to cut off troops in this area. Thousands of them now are pushing through right here and making some progress.

It is a hot war, and the Ukrainians are desperate to have enough ammunition to continue to fight that war to protect their homeland and to have better weapons to be able to push back against Russia.

The end of this war has to be that Russia is pushed out of Ukraine. That has to be our objective. It is certainly one that the Ukrainians share.

The successes against Russia in the battlefield are a testament to the bravery and the effectiveness of Ukrainians who are fighting to defend their freedom, fighting to defend their families, defend their homeland.

But it is also a success that is due to the effectiveness of our help, and particularly, the Ukraine Security Initiative over the past 7 years, especially the training element of it. It was money well spent by U.S. taxpayers to ensure that--along with other NATO countries who provided funding for this, as well--that there was a training component to ensure the military would be more effective. And you can see the results of it. They are outgunned, outnumbered, and yet have been able to push Russia out of all this part of Ukraine and are making some progress in these areas.

The supplemental spending bill I talked about also includes $4 billion in foreign military financing to allow Ukraine to get American- made weapons and equipment through a lend-lease-type program.

Importantly, the supplemental also includes $3.9 billion to support enhanced U.S. troop deployments to Europe. That is critical to me because it has never been more important than now to ensure that we have the troops we need along the border here to be able to ensure Russia knows that if they go beyond Ukraine, we will respond and respond forcefully as NATO--all 30 countries of NATO. So we have reinforced our troops' presence in Eastern Europe, places like Poland, places like Slovakia, Romania, and around the region to be able to ensure that our article 5 agreement under NATO--which is a mutual defense commitment--can be kept.

Again, it is not just us, but it is all the members of NATO. If Russians make a further mistake and do what President Putin has talked about doing--going to places like the Baltics, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia--NATO will be there, and that should be a big deterrent. Of course, this legislation, the supplemental, was not inexpensive. Forty billion dollars is a lot of money. It has to be subject to appropriate safeguards for transparency and accountability.

Last week, I spoke about many of these safeguards that some of us helped get into the legislation, including the critical role that Congress will play in providing regular oversight over these funds. I expect the administration to keep Congress promptly informed of how it intends to spend this money as required by this law.

Effective oversight of Ukraine will also require a strong diplomatic presence on the ground. We have people there watching how the money is being spent and can report back. I am pleased that the administration heeded the Senate's call to reopen our embassy in Kyiv last Sunday. Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine, here in the middle of Ukraine. It now has a U.S. embassy presence. The officials at the embassy were here in Poland. Some have gone to Lviv in the last few weeks, but now, as of this last week, we are back in Kyiv and we are open for business.

By the way, the same day the embassy opened, we reported out the new ambassador nominee for Ukraine. We haven't had an ambassador there for way too long--about a year and a half or so. And we actually then voted on her on the Senate floor--it may be the fastest nomination ever through this place. That is very important. We unanimously confirmed Bridget Brink to be the Ambassador. She was the Ambassador to Slovakia. She has been in Ukraine before as a Foreign Service Officer. I think she is a very good choice. She is leaving her post in Slovakia and going right into Ukraine. Our diplomatic presence there is once again going to be in a strong position and, therefore, telling the rest of the world that the United States is here and here to stay.

Now that Congress has provided this $40 billion to support Ukraine and to support our troops in the area, it is up to the administration to ensure that it is used effectively, particularly with regard to the military assistance.

I encourage the administration to use these funds in accordance with the needs on the ground in Ukraine. We have to be sure that we are giving them what they actually need. We have to listen to the Ukrainians who are fighting on the front lines. To me, this would include, as an example, what is called the mobile Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, or MLRS, that they are asking for. This enables them and Ukraine to sit back a little further and not be subject to shelling from the Russian forces, and yet to provide damage to some of the artillery Russia is using against these cities--flattening these beautiful cities and killing so many civilians.

We cannot delude ourselves into thinking if we stop providing certain weapons systems like the MLRS, that somehow we will, therefore, not be provoking Russia and that President Putin will gracefully acknowledge that gesture and cease his assault or lessen his assault on Ukraine. That is not going to happen. Let me be clear. Russia's unprovoked and brutal invasion of a sovereign and democratic Ukraine is the provocation here; not us, not the military assistance we are providing Ukraine just to be able to defend their homeland and their families.

President Biden must be forward-leaning in providing military assistance to the Ukrainians that they need and make it clear that we are in this conflict until it ends--until Russian troops leave, until the bombardments end. If President Putin senses weakness or equivocation on our part or the part of our allies, he will intensify his attacks on Ukraine.

I want to speak for a moment about the broader situation in Europe. Back in 2014, Ukraine made this decision to ally with us, with Europe, with freedom, with democracy, rather than Russia and authoritarianism and tyranny. Russia did not take that well. Again, that is when they annexed Crimea here and parts of the Donbas, Luhansk, and Donetsk. When they did that, the reaction of the West was, frankly, underwhelming. When President Putin launched this war--comprehensive war--on February 24, he probably expected the same feckless response. The global community, when these two happened, really did not respond as forcefully as we should have. Instead of getting the same response that he expected, President Putin initiated an abrupt reversal, particularly in European diplomacy and military policy.

Previously, Europe prioritized avoiding any conflict with Russia by following practices that they believed would be seen by the Kremlin as nonconfrontational. The European and the global approach, including the U.S. approach, to Russia and Ukraine changed when this unjustified and brutal assault began.

Just as President Putin has weakened Russia's position with his unprovoked invasion, the NATO alliance that he tried to undermine has

only grown stronger. In fact, two new countries, Finland and Sweden, have now officially applied for the 30-member-strong NATO membership.

In the aftermath of Russia's invasion, public support for joining NATO skyrocketed in Finland and Sweden. This is especially remarkable in Sweden, whose policy of neutrality dates all the way back to the Napoleonic Wars, well before World War II. But as President Putin has indiscriminately killed innocent men, women, and children in Ukraine and flattened some of the most beautiful cities, the Finnish and Swedish people have seen the benefit of NATO as a security blanket for them too.

I am glad Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. It is the world's most successful military alliance in history. Each of these two countries has an impressive military and a commitment to higher defense spending, so they have a lot of value to add to the NATO alliance. Their membership will further tilt the power base in Europe in NATO's favor and that is good for peace and tranquility. It is good for the United States, and it is good for our allies.

I was pleased that President Biden hosted the leaders of both those countries last week and that Leader McConnell also visited Finland and Sweden when he was overseas just a couple of weeks ago. I join the leader in calling for the Senate to approve their membership bids to NATO before the August recess. Let's make the United States the first country to approve their applications for NATO membership.

I understand that all 30 of our NATO allies have been supportive, with one exception, Turkey. They have expressed concerns about Finland and Sweden joining the alliance for issues unrelated to NATO, in my view. I trust these issues can be worked out among the three countries and encourage the administration to take a lead in moving this application forward. Joining NATO is a serious matter of war and peace. No one should be playing politics here. I look forward to supporting Finland and Sweden's NATO application when they are voted on here in this Chamber.

The Russian military has suffered substantial losses in this war already. Exact estimates are impossible to come by, but it appears in just the first 3 months of this war, Russia has lost as many soldiers as it did in the 9-year war that they waged in Afghanistan.

Let's remember that President Putin thought this would be an easy victory. He thought Ukraine's defenses would be torn apart and shattered in a matter of days and the Ukrainians would lose all hope and all morale. And he thought his actions would split NATO, that the alliance would be unable to respond. Clearly, the opposite has been the case.

And within Russia, there has been dissent, as well. Last week, Boris Bondarev, Counselor at the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to United Nations in Geneva resigned his post. His letter to his colleagues is telling. This is from a senior Russian official:

For 20 years of my diplomatic career, I have seen turns of

our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my

country as on February 24 of this year--

Referring to the date the invasion was launched.

The aggressive war unleashed by Putin and the entire

Western world is not only a crime against the Ukrainian

people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the

people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes

and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.

He is right. There have also been reports of many rank-and-file Russian soldiers who oppose this war and refuse to fight. And there is a recent report of a Russian officer who became so disillusioned with the lies he had been told, he resigned in protest. His own words are telling:

We had a radio receiver, and we could listen to the news.

He said this to CNN, by the way.

That's how I learned that shops are closing in Russia and

the economy is collapsing. I felt guilty about this. But felt

even more guilty because we came to Ukraine.

And he should. This resignation is telling as Russians from every part of society are beginning to see this war for what it is-- unprovoked, tragic, shameful acts of aggression that have brought international condemnation and shame to Russia as a nation. I am confident this is the first of many acts of conscience by senior and junior Russian officials as they seek to restore some level of honor and dignity to their Nation. Kremlin officials and commandos on the ground should know that the world is watching and the war crimes are being recorded. It is not too late to say no to orders to attack and kill your innocent neighbors in Ukraine.

Now, as I have mentioned over the last several weeks as we talked about that, there are a number of very important sanctions that are in place. We talked about trading sanctions; eliminating Russia's tax status; banking sanctions to crush the economy in Russia; the desperate need right now for us to focus more on energy and boycotting energy supplies because that is the single most important sanction that has not been put in place in the way it needs to be. It is funding the Putin war machine. Europe is making progress on this. In fact, by August, we are told, they will no longer be buying Russian coal, for example. But Russia is still getting from Europe $870 million a day in energy receipts, and that is funding the Putin war machine.

Especially when Russia not only continues its onslaught on Ukrainian defensive combatants but on noncombatants, these sanctions must be tightened. And what they are doing is committing war crimes. I call on the International Criminal Court, which has announced an investigation already, to follow in Ukraine's footsteps and immediately begin a war crimes tribunal now--don't wait--because it can have a deterrent effect if it is done now.

We continue to hear the stories every day, and the stories get worse and worse. I was glad to hear that a court in Kyiv began hearings 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. He pled guilty, and just yesterday--yesterday--he was sentenced to life in prison.

Again, Russian officials and commanders need to see this. These war crimes are being committed, they are being prosecuted, and there will be consequences.

Sadly, this one case we talked about is just a drop in the bucket. Ukraine's Prosecutor General has said that 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. The supplemental spending package we talked about includes money to do just that--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 that deterrent effect.

Because of these terrible actions, I believe Russia also deserves to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. I believe the Senate should vote on that. In Chechnya, in Syria, and now in Ukraine, Russia has committed atrocities that reflect a complete disregard for the value of human life. It has terrorized its neighbors and committed clear war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Let me be clear. What the Russian military is doing in Ukraine is not just the product of individual undisciplined units; tacit approval for acts like these come from the top of the command chain.

I have mentioned America's leadership stateside and what everyday Americans have done in light of this Russian aggression and their support for Ukraine. It is truly impressive. It is happening in my State of Ohio and around the country, the contributions in so many ways: the medical supplies that have been sent, the personal vanity kits that have been sent, the amount of food that has been voluntarily given through the World Central Kitchen and others. But tonight I want to close with a few thoughts on our leadership abroad as President Biden is wrapping up his first trip to Asia.

First, I commend the President for taking this trip and for working with

our allies. As China continues to advance its interest not only throughout the Indo-Pacific but around the globe, it is so important that the United States help lead freedom-loving countries in countering their malign actions too.

I visited the region last month with some of my colleagues, and my takeaway was that our partners in the region have a newfound interest in working with us, allying with us, particularly with what is going on with regard to China's aggressive behavior in the Indo-Pacific region.

I also think one of the best ways to push back against what China is doing and considering doing, particularly with regard to Taiwan, is for us to win in Ukraine. Russia being defeated in Ukraine will affect what happens in the Indo-Pacific region.

China right now is entirely aligned with Russia. Their joint statement earlier this year says, as the invasion was being planned, ``Friendship between [our] two States has no limits, there are no `forbidden' areas of cooperation.''

We are now seeing China's attempt to extend their reach with a base in the Solomon Islands, as an example. We heard about this when we were over there. They have negotiated in secret a security agreement to allow Beijing to send military personnel to this new Pacific ally of theirs and base naval vessels potentially on the islands. This would be terrible for the region, particularly for Australia--their eastern border is only about 1,200 miles away from the Solomon Islands.

In Ukraine, we have shown strong leadership. We must not stop now when it comes to our allies across the globe. It doesn't matter if it is Russia or China--we must be the beacon of strength for the free world and help bring people together. To do so, we must also start thinking about what it will take to aid Ukraine in the long term. I am not talking about nation building here, but I am talking about helping them in terms of this protracted conflict with Russia and ensuring that we do rebuild a democratic and free Ukraine. Thinking ahead in this fashion may seem premature to some, but I do believe it can save resources in the long run by thinking about how to plan for that now.

In short, we should plan for the possibility of a longer conflict than we had originally anticipated.

Again, our role in Ukraine is essential, but it is a role that combines us with so many other partners around the world. Again, over 40 countries are helping right now in terms of assistance to Ukraine. We are not the world's policeman, but we are kind of like the world's sheriff, and bringing in that posse of other freedom-loving countries is so critical for us to do, whether it is in the Indo-Pacific region or whether it is in regard to Ukraine. We have had tremendous success in terms of bringing people together to stand for freedom, to stand for democracy, and to stand for the rights of the Ukrainian people.

With that, I yield the floor.

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.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk again about the illegal, totally unjustified, unprovoked, and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russian forces.

This is the 11th week in a row I have come to the Chamber to talk about this because I think it is really important that the American people know what is going on over there and that we rally to the defense of our allies in Ukraine.

This week is the 77th anniversary of what is called V-E Day. That is the day the war in Europe ended--World War II--when the United States finally led the allies to defeat the tyranny of Nazi Germany and liberated millions of people. Then, in the Cold War, we led the world again to defeat the encroachment of Soviet communism on Eastern Europe. Again, millions of people were liberated, including Ukrainians.

We cannot forget this because, as we look at Ukraine, what do we see? The same thing--people who yearn to be free. That is all they want is to live in freedom in their own sovereign, independent country. Once again, the United States and our allies in Europe are standing with these Europeans in fighting to hold onto their freedom in the face of this illegal, unprovoked, and brutal attack.

When Vladimir Putin spoke at ceremonies in Russia this week to commemorate the same V-E Day, he used it to justify Russia's invasion, saying:

The danger was growing day by day, [so] Russia [gave] a

preemptive response to an aggression.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The Ukrainians were never the aggressors. The Ukrainians just want to live in peace with their neighbors, including with Russia.

Here is a map of Ukraine today, and this is what has been going on.

In the dark red, what you see here is what the Russians took in 2014--the year that Ukraine decided definitively they wanted to turn to the West to be a free, democratic country. Russia responded with this: taking over Crimea and taking over the Luhansk and Donetsk parts of the Donbas.

The light red is what they have taken in this latest invasion, and what they intend to take, according to their military generals who have spoken, is a much bigger area here.

The blue, of course, is where the Ukrainians have pushed back, where they have gone on the counteroffensive. They have actually pushed the Russians out around Kyiv, around the northern part of the country and other parts and, right now, as you can see, in various parts of the Donbas region, including around this town of Kharkiv.

Now, Kharkiv is an interesting situation. It is actually a sister city to Cincinnati, OH, my hometown, and I was on the Sister City Committee decades ago when we developed that relationship. They have a beautiful river running through the city. It was and will be, in the future, a beautiful city; but now, as these Ukrainians are in the fight of their lives just to keep their democracy, you see what is happening in Kharkiv.

The Ukrainians are beginning to make progress both to the north of Kharkiv and here to the south and to the east. It is possible that the Ukrainians could actually push the Russians back far enough so that the city itself would be out of artillery range of the Russians. That would be great because, right now, the people of Kharkiv, like so many other people in places like Mariupol, of course, are being attacked by the Russians with artillery every night, every day. So, if they could get the Russian forces pushed back beyond that period, they could get relief services in to the civilians--food, water--that were previously denied by the Russians.

I think it might also force the Russians to make a decision. They would have to decide between addressing Ukraine's counteroffensive near Kharkiv--that is here--and expanding their forces over here, which they have said they want to do. I think if they do that--expand their forces--they are going to be risking their communications and supply lines here being cut off by the Ukrainians.

So we will see what happens, but this is a crucial time in the battle. We are at a turning point. I guess that is really my point.

We are being asked to look at legislation that has been sent to us by the administration--called the Ukraine Supplemental Funding bill--at a time when there is a crucial battle going on and when there could be a turning point in this broader war.

Last week, I spoke with the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. I will be speaking to her again tomorrow morning. She made the point that the Presidential drawdown authority-- that is the funding they are currently using from the United States--is just about depleted. It was about $3.3 billion in military aid that the President had, with the authority given to him by Congress, to draw down some of our resources to be able to provide to Ukraine. As of last week, she told me that $3.3 billion is just about depleted; therefore, a new authority is critically needed right now.

You don't want to have a gap--particularly with regard to munitions-- in being able to ensure that they have the more effective weaponry--the heavy weaponry--that they are now using in places like this and here and here and can continue to have the ammunition that is needed to be able to continue the fight.

I also spoke late last week to Bridget Brink. She is the current Ambassador to Slovakia and is a seasoned Foreign Service professional whom the Biden administration has now nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador here in Ukraine. We haven't had an Ambassador there for well over a year, maybe

2 years. I have been asking the Biden administration--pushing the Biden administration--to send an Ambassador to Ukraine for over a year. I did the same with the Trump administration when we didn't have an Ambassador there for a while and even with the Obama administration to try to ensure we had a representative.

Why? It is so important to have an Ambassador there. You need somebody at the highest level to be able to have the Ukrainian officials have someone they can work with directly who can answer questions, make commitments, be someone who is authorized by the President. It is also helpful to have that information on the ground being relayed straight back to our teams here in Washington.

At least 17 other countries, by the way, have returned their diplomatic personnel to the capital, Kyiv. We have not. We are, apparently, going to do that soon. I hope so. I hope so. I know that the Ambassador nominee would like to go back to Kyiv. I know that a lot of members of the team would because I have met with them in Poland. They are over here in Poland now, for the most part, and are going into Lviv sometimes; but we need to get back to Kyiv.

In terms of what is going on in the battlefield, let's talk a little more about that and of the importance of the weapons and the materiel support that we have already provided and, therefore, what we must continue to provide.

Since February 24, when this latest Russian invasion began, we have now provided $13.6 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. This latest request for funding from the White House is for $33 billion, so it is for even more. There were reports that this latest supplemental would be tied to other things, particularly to the COVID funding that the administration is also eager to get passed. I was strongly against that because, when you tie it up with other things, it inevitably slows it down, and this is absolutely urgent.

I was really pleased to see that about an hour and a half ago, President Biden issued a statement saying he now supports separating the Ukraine funding from the COVID funding. I commend him for that. It is good news. Again, we have seen so many times around here when you combine things, it slows everything down, and it creates a political football that goes back and forth. This is desperately needed assistance that is going to determine whether some Ukrainian civilians and some of their military forces live or die, because this aid is so critical to their success.

After Vladimir Putin's claim of success during this week's V-E ceremony--as we talked about--in Moscow, it is very likely, in my view, that he is now going to feel the need to call up an even fuller mobilization of his military and engage in even more brutality--if that is possible--against the innocent civilians in Ukraine. So it is all the more reason for us to pass this latest spending request now and get this military equipment to the Ukrainians who need it so desperately.

Some Americans may wonder if we can make a difference in protecting freedom in Ukraine without directly engaging the American military or engaging with Russia. I would say we can, and I would say we have made a difference. The U.S. and our NATO allies and other allies around the world have already made a positive contribution to Ukraine's success in pushing back against the Russians--a much larger army with more weapons of every kind.

Prior to the latest invasion on February 24, the United States and some allies shipped these Javelin anti-tank weapons, Stinger anti-air missiles, and other small arms and munitions to Ukraine to be able to counter what we thought was going to happen and did, which was Russian battalion tactical groups coming into the country. It was effective. It was effective in Kyiv, and it was effective in other areas of Ukraine to be able to push back as you can see. These Russian units were essentially light-mechanized formations which contained armored anti- infantry vehicles and medium to heavy tanks, along with infantry and light artillery. The first 2 months of the war have proven that the Russians were not very effective with their coordination of these groups, and because of their tactical incompetence, they were largely defeated up here by a more proficient and a more effective Ukrainian military.

The mobility at the tactical level among the Ukrainian Armed Forces is at the core of the NATO doctrine in something called ``combined arms warfare''--essentially the coordinated employment of the tanks, artillery, and infantry to defend or seize territory. Since 2014, when Ukraine turned away from tyranny and toward the West and Russia immediately invaded, the threat of a larger scale invasion was clear, so Ukraine's forces began to train and learn alongside U.S. troops and other NATO allies. Again, we worked with them to transition from a Soviet-style military to one that emphasized the initiative of noncommissioned officers and mission-style orders and better coordination between these groups.

Thanks to an extensive effort by our military and that of our NATO allies, the Ukrainians were able to build a military that was more proficient and technically agile. It was able not only to withstand the initial Russian onslaught but to defeat Russian forces, including around Kyiv. In the past month, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have repositioned to the east, taking with them that same tactic, that same coordination, and have provided tactical reconnaissance through drones and have used highly accurate artillery. In doing so, they have thwarted Russian attempts to gain more ground here in the East.

Of course, nothing substitutes for the bravery and grit of the Ukrainian people and particularly of the Ukrainian soldiers-- professional and civilian soldiers alike. They are defending their homeland fiercely, and that is the single most important element to their success. But we also owe a debt of gratitude to our troops who trained Ukrainians, many of whom are National Guardsmen, perhaps from your State, and also our British, Canadian, and other NATO partners who helped the Ukrainian military become the effective battlefield force we see today.

I say this because we need to know that the help that we are giving does make a difference, not just in terms of the weapons but also the training.

The training of Armed Forces and equipping them was done through what is called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, USAI. It was created back in 2016. I actually modified a McCain amendment to create this new initiative. Since 2016, it has provided $1.6 billion for training, equipment, advisory efforts, command and control functions, cyber defense, and strategic communications. Most importantly, it helped teach Ukraine mobility on the battlefield--again, a model of warfare that was superior to what Russia had.

That first phase of our support included the Javelins and the Stingers we talked about, then a heavy focus on organizing the transfer of existing stocks of Soviet-era weaponry in Eastern Europe--places like Poland or Slovakia--to Ukraine. But these Soviet-era weapons and munitions were always finite, and the war has exhausted a lot of those supplies coming from these other countries in the region. So this Ukraine supplemental request from the White House is understandably a larger amount because Ukraine now requires heavier weaponry and ones that are NATO standard. So more funds are needed to be able to transport these larger weapons at greater distances and to train Ukrainian forces on these weapons and to continue to replenish them with ammunition. So it is more of a traditional battlefield down here requiring that heavier weapon, more expensive weaponry, and now, again, NATO-standard weaponry.

While the United States and our allies are providing significant resources to this cause, the costs imposed on Russia are much greater. What do I mean by that?

Russia has now committed more than 70 percent of its total combat power to Ukraine, and much of that has been degraded and continues to be degraded. This raises an interesting point: Let's remember that Russia directly threatened military intervention against a number of our NATO allies, including the Baltics, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, including Poland, even the UK, and, more recently, two countries that are not NATO but are our allies, Finland and Sweden.

Other allies that they have threatened, we are legally obligated to protect if they are in NATO, under NATO article 5. So downgrading Russia's Army in Ukraine and supporting Ukraine's Armed Forces is a pretty effective way to ensure that Russia does not have the ability to attack NATO and instantly begin a direct U.S.-Russian confrontation-- something we have wanted to avoid.

And speaking of NATO, it is encouraging, again, that Sweden and Finland are refusing to be intimidated by these Russian threats and are looking to join the alliance instead. At the end of last week, Finland already conducted military exercises with NATO military units from the United States, the UK, Estonia, and Latvia. I am proud that we are supporting this effort militarily. And Finland is now upgrading its air force. That is good. The Senate should immediately confirm NATO membership of both of these nations as soon as it comes before us.

It is important to note that it is not just the U.S. Government and our allied governments that are 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 to Ukrainian defenders, refugees, and first responders.

In March, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, sent out a request for surplus or expired personal protective gear to provide to Ukrainian territorial defense forces. They said they needed more protective gear, and we responded. I am proud to say that Ohio answered that call. All together, more than two dozen law enforcement agencies across my home State have donated almost 2,000 pieces of personal protective gear, 71 vest carriers, 45 helmets, and over 1,800 pieces of body armor. With the help of the Fund to Aid Ukraine--a nonprofit based 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 assault.

This organization has also given 24 pallets of supplies, over 7 tons of medical supplies to Ukraine. I am grateful for everyone who stepped forward, especially to those law enforcement agencies that have stepped forward to help those Ukrainian law enforcement entities and first responders and territorial defense troops who need better protection. And this is happening all over America.

Additionally, there is a group in Cleveland called MedWish. They are amazing. I got to go visit them last month. They are a very effective nonprofit that has worked for years to provide medical supplies, hospital supplies to countries that have suffered, say, from a natural disaster but also in the case of Ukraine, of course, from the war. They have partnered with a group called the United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio, headed by my friend Marta Liscynesky, to provide individual first aid kits and other medical equipment to Ukrainian first responders, defenders, and civilians. And Cleveland-based KOACORE is delivering 17,000 individual first aid kits to the frontlines. This is a company in Cleveland that is a safety management company so it is a good role for them. They are doing it, again, as volunteers and donating this.

When I was on the Polish-Ukrainian border in March, I saw Marta and another Ohio friend Andy Futey, who is president of the Ukrainian World Congress, in action, organizing some of this equipment that was coming into Ukraine and particularly helping our refugees coming from Ukraine.

One of my own staffers, Josh Prest, recently volunteered to transport some of this assistance to Europe. He checked an extra bag on his flight so he could carry more individual first aid kits, and he delivered them as well.

Again, there are thousands and thousands of Americans doing these sorts of things.

As Russian forces intentionally target Ukrainian civilians to spread fear and panic, this display of generosity from the people of Ohio will reassure Ukrainians that America has their back. With this donation, Ukrainian first responders running into the rubble of schools, apartment buildings, and homes will be able to save more lives. I am very proud of how the people of the great State of Ohio have given their time and resources to help those in need.

Tonight in Cincinnati, OH--my hometown--we have organized a fundraiser, under the leadership of Susie DeYoung, for what is called World Central Kitchen. They do great work all around the globe, including here in the United States, in response to natural disasters, working with FEMA. But they are doing amazing things in Ukraine. The funding for the fundraiser tonight is going to go to World Central Kitchen and also to the Kharkiv sister city efforts I talked about earlier.

I have seen the good work that DC Chef Jose Andres, and his brainchild World Central Kitchen, is doing when I volunteered, along with a few of my colleagues, at a World Central Kitchen location, serving food to refugees--one of his 60 popup kitchens--in the border areas between Ukraine and its neighbors.

Tonight, in Cincinnati, chefs from our entire Cincinnati region are volunteering their skills and some great food for the people of Ukraine. All of these donations are a reflection of how the American people are united in support of Ukraine.

On the sanctions front, I hope we can focus more of our attention on energy. I believe the top priority of all Ukraine's allies should be cutting off the funding of Putin's war machine. The single largest source of that funding is, of course, their energy exports from Russia. Europe relies on these energy exports from Russia. They purchase approximately $870 million of energy from Russia every single day. That is one reason the ruble has regained some of its value--because these energy receipts are coming in to fund Russia's government and fund the war machine.

For Europe, it is about $22 million worth of coal every day, $415 million worth of oil, and $433 million in natural gas every day, again, funding Russia's brutal assault on Ukraine.

I have talked about this on the floor before, but Putin has long used energy as a weapon, and we have got to put an end to it.

I applaud those European nations that have recently taken steps to find alternative sources of energy and transition away from Russia. For example, recently, Italy, which relies on Russia for approximately 40 percent of its natural gas, is actively working to secure new natural gas contracts with African nations.

And in the last month, Lithuania became the first European country to halt the import of all Russian gas.

The EU took its first tangible step away from Russian fuels last month when it finally agreed to ban coal imports from Russia. This is expected to take effect in August.

As part of their efforts to mark V-E Day on Sunday, the G7, which includes, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, Canada, and the United States, pledged to ban Russian oil. Well, that is good. But let's be sure that this pledge is converted into reality. We have seen agreements before with the EU on this topic, and yet we need to be sure we see actual action.

A total embargo on all energy--oil, gas, natural gas, coal--is needed. The United States has the energy resources, especially liquefied natural gas, to be able to substitute for what Russia has been sending to Europe.

To be there for Europe, the United States must immediately expand our oil and natural gas production here and build the associated energy infrastructure that will allow our hydrocarbons to reach the global market.

Reports are showing that last month in April, European LNG import terminals--so bringing liquefied natural gas into Europe from the United States but also from the Mideast--took in a record amount, hitting their highest level since the start of the pandemic. We have got to continue to build on that trajectory. We have already got a general agreement in place with the EU to do that, but certain countries have blocked its implementation.

More generally, we have got to support all of our domestic producers here in the United States through a robust ``all of the above'' energy policy that includes renewables, fossil fuels, carbon capture technologies, nuclear power, hydropower, hydrogen, and energy efficiency--all of the above.

Instead of making it more difficult for domestic energy production, I urge the Biden administration to reject

their proposed tax increase on energy production proposed in the President's budget; stop restricting new leases on Federal lands and waters for oil and gas production and help with the permitting of the needed infrastructure instead of proposals like rewriting the definitions of the waters of the United States, which would add significant time and complexity to permitting new energy projects. This is a time when we need to focus on how to help Europe get away from their dependency on Russian energy in order to stop fueling the Putin war machine.

I have mentioned sanctions over these past 11 weeks, from trading sanctions and eliminating Russia's preferred tax status with the United States to banking sanctions to crush President Putin's financial services economy. But we should and must go further, especially when Russia not only continues its onslaught on Ukrainians' defensive combatants but on their noncombatants--on civilians. What they are doing, in so many instances, is clearly war crimes.

I call on the International Criminal Court, again, which has announced an investigation, to follow in Ukraine's footsteps and immediately begin a War Crimes Tribunal. The evidence of war crimes is now clear. There should be no delay.

Earlier, I spoke about the investment the United States has made since 2015 in training Ukrainian troops and modernizing its military. We now know that investment is paying off because Ukrainian troops have outmaneuvered and pushed back on Russia's military.

Speaking to the current Russian invasion, one Ukrainian officer told us:

The biggest mistake the Russians made was giving us eight

years to prepare for this.

Thank goodness we had that time. We could have used it even more productively, but we were able to make great progress.

I close tonight on this because it shows why U.S. leadership around the world is so important: Without the bipartisan action of Congress and multiple administrations--including the Obama, Trump, and now Biden administrations--what Ukraine is achieving would not have been possible. That is why it is so important we take up this Ukrainian supplemental immediately, this week, and pass it into law. We have made a difference. We can continue to make a difference, but we are at a crucial point in this war.

So much more needs to be done. But do you know what? I am hopeful. I am hopeful because of what we have all seen. Over the past 2 months, the resiliency and fortitude of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian people, it has shown the world what patriotism and bravery truly is.

I yield back my time.

Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor today once again to talk about what is happening in Ukraine. This is the 10th time in the 10 weeks of session since before the invasion started that I have come to the floor to talk about the atrocities being committed in Ukraine by this brutal and unprovoked invasion from Russia and to talk about more effective ways for us to help the Ukrainian people.

I just spoke to the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. She started by thanking me on behalf of the Ukrainian people--really, thanking the American people--and saying that they appreciate all of the help, not just the funding and the weapons but the moral support that the people of Ukraine feel from the people of the United States of America. That made me proud.

She also talked about the desperate need right now to provide Ukrainian soldiers with the heavy weapons they need to confront the new fight in Ukraine--the need to confront Russia as Vladimir Putin continues his brutal campaign to kill Ukrainian citizens, to flatten Ukrainian cities.

Just today, Lviv, which is way over here in western Ukraine, was attacked again. So Russia says they are going to focus over here. Once again, they are lobbing missiles into Lviv. Once again, they have attacked Odesa in the south, hoping, I suppose, to flatten Odesa as well as they have done with Mariupol and kill there somewhere between 20 and 25,000 innocent civilians, according to the latest reports we have.

Ukraine has been an independent and sovereign country since 1991. They are not part of Russia. In 2014, the people of Ukraine made a very conscious choice to turn to the West, to get out from under the Russian thumb altogether. They wanted freedom and democracy, to move away from tyranny and corruption. They wanted to be like us here in America. That is one reason so much of the free world has rallied around Ukraine-- because this is about a country that is seeking freedom, free enterprise, the ability to gather freely, free speech.

I was an election observer here in 2014 right after they made this decision, and we saw a fair election, where a President was elected by the people with huge voter turnout. Again, that is one reason we feel this connection to Ukraine, as does the rest of the free world.

Ukraine's armed forces continue to perform well, but as this map shows, the fight is fierce right now. The dark red here is Ukrainian territory that was taken by Russia back in 2014. This includes Crimea. It includes Donetsk, Luhansk. The lighter red is the Ukrainian territory that Russia has seized during this latest invasion during this war. And the light-blue area is where Ukrainian troops have effectively countered the Russian offensives and pushed Russian forces out of territory.

Ukraine won a decisive battle here, as an example, in Kyiv. You can see where they pushed the Russian forces out.

The Kremlin, at that time, had as a strategic objective, seizing Kyiv, which is the capital of Ukraine, and also other major cities all around the country. They wanted to force the government--the democratically elected government--out to overthrow the government of President Zelenskyy.

Instead, because of effective Ukrainian resistance, Russia has been forced to settle for these more limited objectives, even as they continue to bomb cities all around Ukraine.

They now want to consolidate the Donbas region and create a land bridge from Crimea up to Transnistria. They want to cut off one of the world's greatest exporters--Ukraine--from any access to the city, to make them landlocked so they cannot have an effective economy.

Our goal must be to stop Russia from achieving its invasion goals and push them out of the territory of this free and independent country, Ukraine, our ally. This is a very dangerous point in this battle.

While the Russians have made incremental gains in the east, they have not achieved the decisive breakthrough that they want, thanks to the toughness and tenacity of the Ukrainian forces. But it is a tough fight, and the Ukrainians are outgunned. We must do all we can to keep Russia from a breakthrough until heavier weapons pledged by the United States and other allied nations can reinforce Ukrainian positions--our howitzers, as an example. Artillery is starting to arrive but only starting.

My hope is that by reinforcing Ukrainian positions with these heavier weapons, that will allow Ukraine not just to defend itself but to be able to roll back this Russian invasion and reclaim this territory.

Late last week, I was pleased that the Biden administration formerly requested emergency supplemental funding that will provide needed military, humanitarian, and economic aid for Ukraine. This proposal, by the way, includes $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative--a bipartisan initiative I have long spearheaded. Funding for this initiative is used to train, equip, and provide support for the Ukrainian Government and military. It was crucial to helping Ukraine prepare for the current fight, and it is crucial now.

As the President has requested, there is also drawdown authority in this legislation. Now, that is what the President is currently using to provide the howitzers I talked about and other military assistance. There is $5 billion of additional Presidential drawdown authority in this request.

The existing Presidential drawdown authority has been expended. I just checked with the Ambassador again just before making this speech. She indicates that out of the $3.3 billion that was in the previous Presidential drawdown authority to provide weapons to Ukraine, there is roughly $150 million left. In other words, they need this supplemental spending package now. It cannot wait, not at this crucial time in the battle.

I am encouraged by the administration's request for military assistance because I think--assuming we approve it and get this done quickly--it will send a very important message to the world and, most importantly, to Vladimir Putin, that America is in this fight for the long haul.

The humanitarian aid is also desperately needed to complement the remarkable work that is being done in Ukraine by so many great religious and nonprofit groups. Some of you know Samaritan's Purse, as an example.

Last night, Jose Andres, who is the founder of what is called the World Central Kitchen, told me that they have now provided 18 million meals to Ukrainian refugees both in-country and out of country, and they have 12,000 volunteers that have been engaged to do this. They are not asking for money from American taxpayers, but they are providing incredible help, so many of these great groups.

I am also encouraged that the administration heeded our bipartisan calls and appointed a Ukraine military assistance coordinator, LTG Terry Wolff. This followed a letter that I sent with Senators Shaheen, Wicker, and Durbin, with the goal of cutting through the redtape to ensure the right weapons get to Ukraine and they get there quickly.

When I asked Secretary Blinken last week who Lieutenant General Wolff would be reporting to as the coordinator of the military assistance in order to make this whole process work more smoothly and help the Ukrainians more, he was uncertain.

I will state today that I hope that the coordinator, Lieutenant General Wolff, will be reporting directly to the Commander in Chief. Why? Because there are so many Agencies and Departments involved, and the whole idea is to have one person who has the President's ear who is able to get stuff done quickly, without the bureaucracy. And I know President Biden believes that we ought to get this military equipment and other assistance to Ukraine immediately.

In the context of this significant additional funding request for Ukraine to be able to defend itself, it is important to note that they are not just relying on us. We are not the only country providing military assistance to Ukraine.

In the past few weeks, we have seen allies and nations in Europe and around the world come together and increase their military aid, and I commend them for that.

Last Thursday, after weeks of debate, I was very pleased to see that the German Bundestag, which is their Parliament, voted overwhelmingly in favor--586 to 100--of sending heavy weapons to Ukraine. This is a breakthrough for Germany. They have now woken up to the serious threat that Russia poses to European security, and the Germans are now assuming more responsibility for defense of their own backyard. Good for them. We need them.

Additionally, the Polish Government has now transferred even more Soviet-era T-72 tanks to Ukraine--again, heavy equipment they need in the Donbas.

Slovakia has sent S-300 air defense systems. Our great allies in the United Kingdom have been tremendous supporters of Ukraine since before the invasion, including sending anti-tank and anti-air weapons that have been used to devastating effect on the battlefield. They have sent humanitarian aid and have recently sent Saxon armored vehicles.

The Netherlands have also been very helpful by sending Stinger anti- air missiles that help Ukraine contest the sky against Russian superior air power.

Turkey has provided armed drones that have proven deadly effective at neutralizing Russian tanks, vehicles, and surface ships. I commend Turkey for that.

Even on the other side of the globe, democracies are stepping up and providing military aid to Ukraine, including Bushmaster armored vehicles from Australia, bulletproof vests from Japan, and other military equipment from South Korea.

The list of those countries that are providing lethal assistance or humanitarian aid is now over 40 and grows every day as freedom-loving nations everywhere see what is happening here. They see President Putin's actions for what they are--an assault on freedom and democracy, a brutal assault.

Again, the next few weeks could be a tipping point. But Ukraine is finally starting to get the necessary weaponry from the free world to have a chance to actually succeed in pushing Russia out of their territory.

The new Ukraine funding bill is being scrubbed right now for issues or problems, which is appropriate. We want to be sure, as an example, that the direct economic support has the anti-corruption guardrails we have had in it in the past. The Department of Agriculture funding has to be scrubbed to ensure it actually helps Ukraine. But the scrubbing has been going on for almost a week now. It is time for us to move this legislation.

I encourage the Senate Democratic leadership to bring to the floor this Ukraine funding bill this week, not combined with other measures but as a stand-alone piece of legislation not tied to COVID funding or other unrelated priorities, including title 42 and the border, which I feel strongly about, or other issues, including issues to do with Afghanistan and the parolees.

Let's keep other issues off of this legislation. Why? Because otherwise it becomes a political football and will be impossible to pass quickly.

We have time to deal with those other issues as well, and we should. But our allies in Ukraine are desperate for assistance, and they need it now at this crucial time in this battle. Adding other politically charged issues to this request will slow it down and delay the lethal aid, and in the end will cost the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians at the hands of the ruthless Russian attacks.

On the sanctions front, I am pleased that this past week, the administration is finally saying they will move forward in seizing, not just freezing, Russian assets in the United States.

Last Thursday, the administration announced a streamline process for seizing assets and finding a legal way to repurpose those assets to help the Ukrainian people. Good for them. I have called for this in legislation I introduced 5 weeks ago with Senator Bennet of Colorado. Our RELIEF Act would ensure seized Russian funds go to support the humanitarian needs in Ukraine, which is just and appropriate. And, by the way, other countries have already done this.

The Russians continue to commit war crimes and atrocities against the innocent people of Ukraine. Late last week, Ukrainian authorities filed criminal charges against 10 individual Russian soldiers accused of taking civilians hostage and torturing them in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. Many of you have seen the videos. This is the first such move by prosecutors investigating possible war crimes by Russians.

All 10 were noncommissioned officers and privates from Russia's 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, one of the units that took part in the monthlong occupation of Bucha.

I call on the International Criminal Court that has announced an investigation to follow in Ukraine's footsteps and immediately begin an actual war crimes tribunal. The evidence of war crimes is clear, and there should be no delay. By holding Russians accountable now, the hope is there will be some deterrent effect to avoid additional war crimes being created.

Last week, Secretary Blinken, in his testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the new budget request, talked about the request for additional funding of $5 million for what is called the Global Engagement Center. This is an organization that Senator Murphy of Connecticut and I cofounded with legislation to combat disinformation abroad. Unfortunately, this very modest increase will not adequately address the massive disinformation efforts by the Kremlin, let alone the world.

In this hybrid war in Ukraine, it is not just about kinetic military action; it is also about a massive disinformation campaign. They are bombarding Ukraine with disinformation that must be confronted.

The Global Engagement Center is established to do just that. Unfortunately, it has been 2 years since there was a coordinator appointed by a President to lead this Global Engagement Center. This gap in leadership is unacceptable, and I urge the President to immediately appoint a person to this role.

The efforts we talked about tonight so far--the heavy weapons, the security assistance, the prosecution of war crimes, and the seizing rather than freezing of Russian assets--are all steps in the right direction. However, further steps have to be taken if we are going to stop the Kremlin from being able to finance this war effort.

The biggest problem, by far, is energy. Energy is Russia's No. 1 export. Forty to 50 percent of the Russian budget is funded by energy receipts coming back into the country. President Putin, of course, has long used natural gas as an energy weapon against Europe. Last week, he directed the gas company Gazprom to stop providing natural gas to Poland and to Bulgaria. The natural gas supply from Russia was suspended because of Poland and Bulgaria's refusal to pay in rubles, Russia's currency, which would help bolster Russia's economy and make it easier for them to finance this war. Bulgaria and Poland should be commended for not bowing to Vladimir Putin's wishes.

This is also a significant opportunity for the United States to step up further and to help our European allies to wean themselves off of Russian energy. The United States of America has the tools and the resources to help our allies accomplish this. We have a tentative agreement to do so. The United States has already halted the import of Russian energy. I now commend Lithuania and Estonia for recently doing the exact same thing. Poland has indicated they would like to do the same.

In order to encourage Europe to end its dependency on Russian oil and gas, America must act now to help ensure there is a more abundant supply of energy resources on the global market for purchase by Europe and other countries. Specifically, we need to expand U.S. production of natural gas that will help stabilize the market, provide liquefied natural gas to Europe, and reduce energy costs for consumers. Most importantly, it will stop the flow of funding to Russia's war machine that is killing innocent Ukrainians every single day.

Together, working with Europe, we can end the approximately $870 million a day--$870 million a day--that Europe is sending to Russia to help fund the

war machine. We must do so immediately by expanding natural gas production here and our infrastructure here to provide Europe with the promised liquefied natural gas as an alternative to Russian gas.

But, more generally, we have to support all our domestic producers here in the United States through a robust, all-of-the-above energy policy that includes fossil fuels, renewables, carbon-capture technologies, nuclear power, hydropower, hydrogen, and energy efficiency.

Instead of recognizing that Putin is using energy as a weapon and responding appropriately, unfortunately, the Biden administration has acted to make it more difficult for domestic energy production. These actions include an increase of taxes on energy production proposed in the President's budget, restricting new leases on Federal lands and waters for oil and gas production, rewriting the definitions of the ``Waters of the United States''--or WOTUS, as it is called--which could add significant time and complexity to permitting new energy projects.

As I raised directly with Secretary Blinken last week during his time before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, these domestic policies that the administration is pursuing are having a direct and negative impact on our national security and the security of our allies abroad. We need to produce more right now to be able to ensure our national security and their national security is protected.

The ruble, the Russian currency, has just about fully recovered from its preinvasion value, in part because Russia is still bringing in revenues from the sale of energy. Our sanctions have left Russia's biggest economic lifeline largely untouched: again, energy sales, specifically to Europe.

In addition to cutting off natural gas and the revenue that fuels the Russian war machine, we need to tighten up bank sanctions as they relate to energy. Sanctions for energy transactions don't go into effect against Russian banks, including the VTB Bank, until June 24. These sanctions should have gone in place weeks ago, and they should certainly go into place now.

President Biden must lead our allies to do whatever it takes to help Ukraine win, and the administration should make clear that their objective is for Ukraine to push the forces of Russia out of the sovereign territory of Ukraine. Remember, Ukrainians are not asking for us to fight for them, but they are asking us to help them fight for themselves. We have got to do that so they have a chance to win.

Last month, I was at the border of Ukraine and Poland, and I was able to talk to a number of Ukrainian refugees. Through their tears, they spoke of their homes being destroyed, their loved ones killed, and the pain of being separated from their husbands and fathers who had stayed behind to fight. Almost every refugee was either a woman or a child, grandparents with their grandchildren.

I also saw the heroic efforts and the amazing generosity of spirit from the Polish people who were taking these Ukrainian refugees literally into their homes--to feed them, to give them a roof over their head.

Yesterday, I joined my colleagues Chris Coons and Roy Blunt introducing a resolution to commend and recognize Poland's efforts in welcoming Ukrainian refugees and supporting the Ukrainian resistance. Poland has been amazing. Since Russia's invasion began, more than 3 million Ukrainians have fled across the border into Poland. We are so grateful to them for opening their hearts and their homes and for continuing to donate their time and resources to help the refugees.

I want to close my remarks today with talking about why the United States has a special obligation to support Ukraine in light of Russia's brutal and illegal invasion. It is important that we not forget the Budapest Memorandum signed by Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine in 1994. After the fall of the Soviet Union, under this 1994 memorandum, a newly independent Ukraine agreed to give up its nuclear weapons, but they did so in return for an ironclad commitment from all those signatories--the United States, the UK, and Russia--to respect and ensure Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence.

This is what makes Russia's invasion and veiled threats of nuclear weapons particularly outrageous. Russia made a commitment to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. Now Russia invaded Ukraine and is threatening to use nuclear weapons against Ukrainians.

This war is in gross violation of the Budapest Memorandum and, of course, Russia's other international commitments, such as the United Nations Charter. For these transgressions, it is now time for the international community to strip Russia of its privilege of sitting on the U.N. Security Council and other bodies of international representation, and Russia should be deemed a state sponsor of terror.

There is reporting that Russia believed the invasion would split and weaken the NATO alliance. Instead, as we have seen, Russia's brutal attacks on a neighboring democracy have actually galvanized and strengthened the resolve of NATO and the free world in general and will likely lead to expansion with Finland and Sweden soon joining the NATO alliance.

What the United States is doing to help Ukraine with military, humanitarian, and economic assistance and rallying our allies to do the same is critically important, particularly at this time, for the battle is at a critical stage. It is critically important--it is important not just because it fulfills our commitment under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum but because it is in our national interest as the leader of the free world to stand with our allies.

There was a speech once written that was never given. It was meant to be delivered by President John F. Kennedy on the afternoon of November 22, 1963, the day that he was killed. The speech was profound and very simple. It said: We, in this country, in this generation, by destiny rather than choice, are the watchmen on the walls of world freedom--by destiny rather than choice.

When democracies are under attack by authoritarian regimes, history says when America leads, others will join, and we are victorious in protecting freedom.

In this instance, in this critical point in Ukraine, we must continue to lead the free world in standing with Ukraine until their final victory.

I yield the floor.

I am coming to the floor again this evening to talk about the tragedy that is unfolding in Ukraine. This is the ninth week in a row during sessions that I have come to the floor to talk about the brutal and unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine--Ukraine, an ally of ours, a democratic country, and a sovereign country.

It has now been more than 2 months since Russia's assault began, and Ukrainians continue to fight with heart, toughness, and conviction. The Russians have been defeated in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. And the Russian Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, was sunk by Ukrainian Neptune missiles. So there have been some successes. But while Ukraine and its people have impressed the free world with their fierce defense of their homeland, the senseless and indiscriminate killing of Ukrainian civilians by Russia continues.

In this new stage of the war, Russia has begun an intensified offensive in the Donbas region in the eastern part of Ukraine. A few days ago, a Russian commander affirmed that their goal is to gain full control of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts--meaning control of all of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, rather than the roughly 50 percent they took in 2014, and control of southern Ukraine, cutting Ukraine off from its Black Sea ports, leaving one of the world's most important exporters landlocked.

The commander also threatened the territorial integrity of the small country of Moldova that borders southern Ukraine by saying this would connect Russia to the breakaway province of Transnistria, where Russian troops are already stationed.

It may not be coincidental that today we heard reports of bombs hitting the Ministry of State building in Transnistria, when no one was there, by the way. Some say this could be a false flag attack, giving Russia an excuse to invade all of Moldova. All of the countries in the region are nervous about their status. They are worried for a good reason. They could be next. I can see why they are concerned.

We have all seen with our own eyes what is going on, on television or online, the videos we have seen, but let's not forget, Russia continues to commit war crimes and display an utter disregard for innocent human lives. They continue to prevent evacuation of civilians from Mariupol. They have executed noncombatants, and now there are reports of systemic rape and torture by Russian soldiers. This is on top of previous confirmed reports of the use of cluster munitions and thermobaric weapons on civilians.

As of February 28, the International Criminal Court announced allegations would be investigated. That is good. That must happen. But if they wait and have the proceedings once the war is over, in my view, that is too late. The perpetrators must be brought to justice. These horrific Russian assaults on innocent Ukrainian families in Bucha, Mariupol, and elsewhere, the bombing of civilian targets, the rapes, the tortures, all of these are crimes against humanity, and Russia must be held accountable for war crimes, not later but now.

If there is not accountability, more senseless killings in Ukraine will occur, and these atrocities are likely to be repeated by others in the future.

Many of my colleagues and I were on a video call today with the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. He expressed his appreciation for the lethal support we have provided here in the U.S. Senate and in the House and through the administration.

But he stressed the need for more help, for more heavy weapons to defend and push Russia back in the Donbas region. He also detailed how the country's economy has been severely damaged and what they will need just to stay afloat.

Regarding military assistance, I am pleased that this past week the White House heeded calls from a bipartisan group of us to appoint a Ukraine security assistance coordinator to cut through the redtape and get the right military assistance to Ukraine more quickly.

It is important, with so many agencies and individuals involved, that one person be solely focused on this critical mission and be held accountable. That person the White House has appointed is a three-star general, Terry Wolff, who has extensive experience as the former Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL and has commanded every level from platoon to armored division.

From the very start of this conflict, I have said we need to do more, and we need to do it more quickly. We cannot do that if our assistance gets bogged down by the bureaucracy. Every delay in lethal aid costs Ukrainians lives, so I am pleased we now have a coordinator, and I hope that this will streamline the process.

I am encouraged that the administration also recently announced further

assistance of $800 million in artillery pieces, ammunition, armored vehicles, and a new loitering munition called the Phoenix Ghost. This is a suicidal drone that is now in the hands of the Ukrainians. That is promising.

I understand that the $3.4 billion in security assistance Congress passed in March will soon be exhausted and that there will be a need for additional supplemental funding for Ukraine. I encourage the administration to go ahead and look at that package, send it to us, get us to start thinking about it because when it comes here for a vote, I think we need to act quickly on it, review what the administration has sent, and be sure we do it on a stand-alone basis, rather than having it get bogged down in unrelated legislative matters.

I am also pleased that some State National Guards are sending armored vehicles to assist Ukraine in their efforts. The Ohio National Guard will provide some M-113 Armored Personnel Carriers as part of a drawdown of DOD inventories to support Ukraine. This sends a strong message of support to our allies from the Buckeye State.

I also appreciate the number of police departments across Ohio, including the Cleveland Police Department--where I was last week--for providing over 200 protective vests to Ukrainians. Thank you.

Last week, I had the chance to visit an incredibly effective nonprofit in Ohio called MedWish that collects donated medical supplies from hospitals and provides these medical supplies to countries that are in need--sometimes because of a natural disaster, in this case, because of war.

Today, their major focus is on Ukraine, where they have delivered over 7 tons of badly needed medical supplies, and this effort continues. Again, I thank them for what they are doing. I thank all the hospitals and all the private practices that have donated equipment to be able to be sent to Ukraine to save lives.

As we all know, this war continues to produce a staggering number of refugees. Last week, the White House announced the program Uniting for Ukraine to streamline the process for bringing 100,000 refugees, with strong ties to the United States, into our country. Uniting for Ukraine will allow Americans and organizations here to sponsor Ukrainians who have been forced to leave their country. The American sponsors will be required to declare their financial support for the applicants, and the Ukrainians applying for this program must meet vaccinations and other public health requirements, as well as biographic and biometric screening, vetting, and security checks.

That is all good. These individuals will then be allowed to work and remain in the United States legally for up to 2 years. I have heard personally from so many generous Ohioans who want to open up homes to these refugees, who want to be helpful. More than 500 people have now called or emailed my office, and a number of businesses have expressed interest in offering jobs to these refugees. I urge the administration to quickly staff up this program so that we can bring some of these desperate refugees to the United States as planned.

Unfortunately, I am finding out that there is no online portal yet, no way for people to be able to know how they can participate in this process. So my hope is that we will launch this online portal with applications soon so that folks who want to sponsor Ukrainians fleeing the war are able to do so. I wish this had been done sooner, but this is a step in the right direction.

Our partners in Europe are doing more than their fair share here. More than 5 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland since the war began, and they are crossing borders into their neighboring countries in Europe.

As I saw when I was in Poland last month meeting with refugees, Poland has taken in almost 3 million refugees alone. I think Poland is to be commended with the way they have responded to this Ukrainian crisis in so many respects, including taking these refugees.

We saw cars lined up at the refugee processing center, down at the border, of everyday Poles who were there to pick up Ukrainian refugees and to take them into their home.

Hungary and Slovakia have taken in hundreds of thousands, too. Surely, the United States can get our act together with regard to the 100,000.

I am pleased that Secretaries Blinken and Austin met with President Zelenskyy yesterday in Kyiv. This is the first time since the war began 2 months ago that we have had American diplomats in Kyiv. I think it is important that we are there. The Europeans are there, other countries are there; we need to be there too.

I am glad to hear that we are finally reestablishing our diplomatic presence in Kyiv, and I am also pleased that the administration is finally nominating an ambassador to Ukraine. We have had no ambassador to Ukraine during this administration. They have indicated they are going to nominate Bridget Brink, who is a career foreign service officer and is the current U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia; so she has some critical experience in the area.

While both of these moves were long overdue, I commend the administration for finally acting--sending a strong signal to our allies and adversaries alike that the United States is serious about standing with Ukraine.

Let's get our diplomats back to the capital, back to Kyiv. Let's get an ambassador in place as soon as possible.

On the sanctions front, I believe we should be seizing, not just freezing, assets of Kremlin supporters and provide the funds from the sale of these assets to meet the needs of Ukraine. To do this, I introduced with Senator Bennet of Colorado the Repurposing Elite Luxuries into Emergency Funds--RELIEF--for Ukraine Act to require the Department of Justice to direct any funds resulting from the disposal of seized Russian assets to support Ukrainian refugees and support reconstruction. So like other countries have done, including France and Germany, let's seize these assets, like yachts owned by the Kremlin supporters or by President Putin himself, and then take those funds on the sale of those assets and use them immediately to help with the humanitarian effort.

I urge the Senate and the House to act this week on this legislation so that we can give Ukrainians the help they need.

I continue to believe our top priority on sanctions should be cutting off Russia's No. 1 source of income that fuels the war machine. Forty to 50 percent of their budget is from one place--energy. Those receipts from energy are fueling the Putin war machine. Energy is Russia's largest export and accounts, again, for a significant part--or of roughly half of their budget.

Over the past year, the average oil revenues going back to Russia from their exports to the United States alone was $50 million a day. Under pressure from Congress, the administration reversed course and supported blocking Russian oil, natural gas, and coal imports into the United States. I am glad we did that. It made no sense for us to help fund the Russian war effort, especially when we have our own resources here, in terms of energy, that we can access.

I welcomed the President's announcement in Brussels of the creation of a joint U.S.-EU task force to help reduce Europe's dependency on Russian energy and strengthen Europe's energy security. Europe has become much more dependent on Russia for energy than the United States. Germany now gets almost 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia.

This means that Europe, by the way, is now sending an estimated $870 million a day to Russia--$870 million a day in payments for its natural gas, oil, and coal from Russia. Ending that European reliance on Russian energy is the right policy, and it will save lives.

Fortunately, again, some progress has been made. The EU has agreed to phase out imports of Russian coal over time. They say over the next several months. They have said that they are willing to work with the United States to have some of our liquefied natural gas, LNG, replace some of the Russian gas. This is a good idea. We should allow more production here in the United States so we have that LNG to be able to export to Germany and to other European countries to replace some of that Russian gas to make them less dependent on Russia and to stop sending this revenue to fund the war machine.

Lithuania needs to be held up as the first European Union country to completely cut itself off from Russian natural gas.

But the reality, again, is that Europe continues to fund the war machine right now with this $870 million every day in energy receipts going to Russia.

Part of the answer, again, lies with us. We must support our domestic energy producers as a means of supporting our national and economic security but also as a way to support our allies. This means America having a robust, all-of-the-above approach to power our Nation, which includes hydrogen, renewables, fossil fuels, carbon capture technologies, nuclear power, hydropower. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Energy is national security.

As a practical matter, to stop the revenues going from Europe to fund the Russian war machine, the administration must change policies to get more American LNG to Europe to substitute for Russian gas. This requires more pipelines, more infrastructure, more export facilities, of course.

Unfortunately, we aren't off to a very good start on that front. The President's tax proposals released with his recent budget submission to Congress eliminates important tax provisions used by our domestic producers, like the deduction for intangible drilling costs, or IDCs, which allows natural gas and oil producers to deduct costs that are necessary for the drilling in preparation of wells.

Let's take an approach here where we are encouraging, again, all of the above in order to ensure our national security and to help our allies in Europe.

The ruble has just about fully recovered to its preinvasion value because Russia is still bringing in these revenues from the sale of its energy. Shares on Russia's stock market are trading again, and Russia's VTB bank remains open for business in Europe, where it has gathered billions of euros in deposits, mainly from German savers.

Our sanctions have left Russia's biggest economic lifeline largely untouched--again, energy sales, specifically to Europe.

In fact, in addition to cutting off the natural gas and the revenue that fuels the Russian war machine, we need to tighten up bank sanctions as they relate to energy. Sanctions for energy transactions don't go into effect against Russian banks, including the VTB bank, until June 24. Those sanctions ought to go into place right now. They should have gone into place weeks ago.

President Biden must lead the alliance to do what it takes to help Ukraine win, and the administration needs to make clear that their objective is for Ukraine to actually be victorious, to push the forces of Russia out of the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

We must remember that the Ukrainians are not asking us to fight for them, but they are asking for the tools to defend themselves so they have a chance to win.

I have said before that both Ukraine and Georgia should be given what is called a membership action plan as a next step toward NATO membership. Based on the actions of the Russians and the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians, I now feel more strongly than ever that Ukraine should be part of NATO. They deserve it.

I am encouraged that both Finland and Sweden are considering NATO membership. They should both be immediately welcomed into the NATO family.

Vladimir Putin sought to weaken the NATO alliance. This is yet another strategic failure on his part, as we are coming closer together and will potentially add even more members.

I will close with this thought: Some might ask--even a few of my colleagues have asked me--why a Senator from Ohio cares about what goes on in Ukraine.

Well, the first answer is, we should all care. This is about the fight for freedom in our time, in our generation. This is where it is being engaged right now.

I also happen to have tens of thousands of Ukrainians who call Ohio home. These Ukrainian-Americans are good friends of mine. They are constituents. They keep me informed and have over the years. They have helped me to get more engaged on this issue.

I have been to Ukraine six or seven times. When I was at the border of Ukraine and Poland last month, some of my Ohio friends were there too as volunteers, providing food and medical supplies to the refugees.

When Ukraine made a decision to turn to us, to turn to democracy and freedom and free enterprise back in 2014, I was there with my colleague Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland. We were there as election observers, but what we really observed was a country that had made a decision to turn to us, to turn to the West, to be like us, to join us in the fight for freedom.

Even if I had no constituents of Ukrainian descent, I would be standing here because this is the fight for freedom. This is our test. Are we going to be stand against tyranny and for freedom at a time when these terrible atrocities are being committed?

I have been to the border of Ukraine and Poland and talked to these refugees. Through their tears, they spoke of their apartments or homes being destroyed and damaged. They talked of friends and family members being injured or killed. They talked of the pain of being separated from their husbands or fathers, not knowing their fate, since they had stayed behind to fight.

They also begged us to put in place a no-fly zone to help them even more.

The popular Ukrainian national rallying cry ``Slava Ukraini'' when translated into English is ``Glory to Ukraine.'' And then the response to that is ``Glory to the heroes.'' ``Heroyam Slava.''

In the midst of all this, there are so many heroes to glorify in Ukraine--heroes like the people I saw in Ohio last week who work at MedWish and are providing medical supplies urgently needed in Ukraine; the staff that collect and send these much-needed supplies, going mostly to the women and children of Ukraine who continue to seek safe passage in their homeland.

Not only are there heroes here, but there are so many heroes at home in Ukraine. Those are the firefighters. Those are the soldiers. Those are the citizen soldiers.

With our help, the Ukrainians can win this war.

One of the members of Parliament from Ukraine, from the Rada, who came to see us a few weeks ago here in Congress, perhaps said it best. We met with the Ukrainian Caucus that I co-chair, and we had four members of the Rada come, all women; and the Ambassador from Ukraine was there as well.

She said she hears all the time that, ``We are all Ukrainians now,'' and I have heard that back home, and that is how I feel.

She said that if that is true, since we are all Ukrainians now, we must be like Ukrainians. She said, ``We must be brave, creative, and fast.'' And that is what they are.

They are very resourceful. They have figured out a way to take on one of the biggest armies in the world and be successful, brave, creative, and fast.

I urge my colleagues, the administration, and the world: Let us help Ukraine win this war by being brave, creative, and fast. By doing that, we will show the world America stands with Ukraine, which is in our national security interest.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I come to the Senate floor again today to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. This is the eighth week in a row that I have come to the floor to talk about the illegal, totally unprovoked, and brutal Russian invasion of a sovereign country--their neighbor Ukraine--that only wants to live in peace.

Over the weekend, all of us saw the brutality of what Russia is doing. We saw it up close through shocking videos and photographs of more than 100 civilians--not soldiers but civilians--lying in mass graves in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv.

Yesterday, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting specific atrocities, including rapes and executions.

President Zelenskyy painted a vivid, heartbreaking picture this weekend when he spoke of ``civilians left on the streets with their hands tied behind their backs--killed execution style.''

Here is one photograph of the shocking scenes that we saw over the weekend of civilians left in the streets as the Russians pulled out of Bucha, but it is happening all over Ukraine, these kinds of human rights abuses and war crimes.

The administration, on Sunday, called for an investigation into the war crimes. That is good. Of course, these are war crimes. The United States must press other countries and must be persistent to ensure that a tribunal is established; that these war crimes are prosecuted; and that people are held accountable.

Last week, Senator Dick Durbin and I, as cochairs of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, organized a meeting with four members of the Rada, which is the Parliament in Ukraine. We were also joined by the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova. These women told us of the human toll in this fight, which they described as a fight between good and evil, between tyranny and democracy. They talked about the fact that Ukraine can be a symbol for victory of the West if we support them more and if we help them win.

One of the members of Parliament described for us the scenes from Mariupol--of the massive shelling and of the bodies lying in the streets there, too, because it is too dangerous to go out to recover them.

One parliamentarian told us of being separated and of often being out of touch with her husband, who is in harm's way with the Ukrainian military, while she is here telling us these stories to encourage us to do more.

One said that there are 30 Russian soldiers living in her grandmother's house. They forced her out into the bitter cold.

They all told us, with anguish and urgency, of what needs to happen: more sanctions, more military assistance, more equipment.

One of them said--and I thought this was well put--freedom has to be armed. Freedom has to be armed.

I agree. I believe Ukraine can be victorious if the United States and our allies, especially the Europeans, help them to be victorious, and that means helping them more.

They are fighting with heart, and although badly outnumbered, are making progress in key parts of the country. We have seen this in the region around Kyiv, where they are pushing the Russians out. This is the time to redouble our efforts to help ensure victory. It has now been 38 days since Russia's assault began.

Russia is also now trying to redefine their objectives, saying that it was never their intention to seize Kyiv and the other major urban centers. Of course, we know that that is a lie. They tried very hard to seize Kyiv. They just weren't successful because the Ukrainians fought back so valiantly.

So we need to watch the Russians' actions, not their words. Their actions in the south and in the eastern part of the country are that they continue to bomb, bomb, and bomb civilian targets.

The most important reason Ukraine is winning these battles is, of course, the fighting spirit of the men and women of Ukraine--the patriots who are taking the fight to the Russians on the battlefield. They are well trained, and we in the West are part of that.

For the last 4 years, this body, the U.S. Senate, has provided funding to help train Ukrainians, and it has been very helpful. They are also motivated to defend freedom, to defend their homeland, to protect their families. There is no substitute for that kind of fighting spirit, and that is what the Russians are finding.

We can also see the complete disregard for the rules of war by the Russian forces, including, most recently, through their actions in Mariupol. The words ``children,'' in Russian, were clearly emblazoned on a theater where young people took shelter. The letters were large enough to be seen from the sky to deter bombs. You probably saw that. They had the theater and then, on the outside, these huge words, saying ``children'' in Russian. Yet the Russians bombed this theater. We have now learned, sadly, that there were more than 300 people killed, mostly women and children. They were trapped in that rubble and killed when the theater was hit by a Russian bomb.

They continue to violate the terms of a negotiated humanitarian corridor to help civilians flee Mariupol by shelling these corridors with artillery as people attempt to flee. For the fourth straight day, Russia continues to block the Red Cross from reaching Mariupol to deliver much needed humanitarian aid to the city. We know the innocent people who are trapped there are dying of starvation and dehydration.

As Russia escalates, civilian targets are being hit, in various cities, with cluster bombs, with vacuum bombs, even with the first-ever use of a supersonic weapon.

Thousands of civilians have needlessly died in this senseless war. More than 10 million people have been displaced from their homes, and over 4 million refugees--almost all women and children and the elderly--have fled the country they love while their men have stayed behind to fight the invaders.

Meeting with refugees a few weeks ago as they crossed the Polish- Ukrainian border and hearing their stories was heartbreaking. They told stories of their trauma through their tears. Although it was heartbreaking for us to hear it, they didn't want our sympathy; they wanted our protection. They wanted us to help stop the bombing.

The United States must stand with our allies against these atrocities. The President's recent speech in Poland underscored the stakes of this conflict if Russia wins. Frankly, it will mean the international order has failed, and more conflict, death, and destruction will follow. So this is a war in Ukraine, but the implications go well beyond the borders of Ukraine.

Tonight, I, once again, offer some ideas about where we can go from here. Last week, I talked a lot about our top priority on the sanctions front needed to be cutting off Russia's No. 1 source of revenue that fuels the war machine, and that is the revenue that comes from Russia's energy sales.

Energy is, by far, Russia's biggest export. It accounts for almost half of Russia's entire Federal budget. The revenues from oil account for between 40 and 50 percent of Russia's budget. Over the past year, the average oil revenues going back to Russia from their exports to the United States alone, just to the United States--and we imported relatively little compared to other countries in Europe, for instance, but it was $50 million a day we were sending to Russia.

Under pressure from Congress, the administration reversed course and supported blocking Russian oil, natural gas, and even coal imports into the United States, thank goodness. It made no sense for us to be helping fund the Russian war effort, especially when we have our own resources here that are actually cleaner resources that we need to provide access to.

I welcome the President's announcement in Poland last week of the creation of a joint U.S.-European Union task force to reduce Europe's dependency on Russian energy and strengthen Europe's energy security. That agreement is a good step forward. I am glad that we agreed to do that and got the Europeans to sign on to this agreement, but to make it work, to make it actually happen, we have got to support domestic energy producers here as a means of supporting our national security.

Especially with this Russian invasion, the importance of the United States having an ``all of the above,'' robust approach to power our Nation, which includes fossil fuels, carbon capture technologies, hydrogen renewables, and nuclear power, cannot be overstated. As a practical matter, if we want to stop the revenues going from Europe-- the billions of dollars--to Russia to fund this war machine, we are going to have to change our policies here in America to provide more American liquefied natural gas to go to Europe. That is what the agreement calls for. But we are going to have to change policies to make that happen so that American energy can substitute for Russian energy. Unfortunately, we aren't off to a really good start of late.

The President just sent his fiscal year 2023 budget request to Congress, and among the proposals are the elimination of important tax provisions used by our domestic producers, including oil and gas, like the deduction for intangible drilling costs, or IDCs, which allow natural gas and oil producers to deduct costs that are necessary for the drilling and preparation of wells. Taxpayers deduct their costs of doing business. IDCs are one such cost for energy companies. Shortsighted proposals like these will serve to discourage domestic energy production at a time when we need to encourage it to help in this war effort.

Unfortunately, the administration has consistently sent a message to American energy producers that one of their goals is to phase out the use of fossil fuels and make it more difficult even now by stifling production. This rhetoric, combined with actions like canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline--billions of dollars have been invested in it; suspending new leases on Federal lands and waters; and redefining things like the waters of the United States, or WOTUS, to make energy permitting harder--these things have led to uncertainty and less investment in the oil and gas industry. We need to reverse that, again, along with renewables. There is room for all.

An important initiative to build our domestic energy infrastructure is also part of the answer. We need more pipelines and we need more LNG export facilities, and that requires streamlining the Federal permitting process. Historically, it can take a decade or more for the Federal Government to issue permits to build pipelines. We have a law called FAST-41, which improves the permitting process for big projects by requiring Agencies in the Federal Government to work together to set out a plan and a timeline for permitting projects. It also creates what is called the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which can resolve disputes over the permitting process and get a green light on a project much more quickly, whether it is oil and gas or whether it is renewables, solar, or wind. Let's use that process to provide this alternative to Russian energy. This doesn't mean not following the environmental rules. You follow them, but you get the permit far more quickly and with much less expense.

We have to step forward and lead our European allies in doing all they can to provide substitutes to Russia's energy sector.

Yesterday, the country of Lithuania became the first EU country to completely cut itself off from Russian natural gas. I applaud them for taking this strong action and hope other countries will quickly follow suit. Lithuania gets it. They know that as a country that is part of the Baltics in the region, they could be next.

If we don't do this, we are not going to be able to tighten the sanctions on Russia because we will continue to send, again, billions of dollars to support the war machine.

The ruble has recovered its value in part because Russia is bringing in revenue from its sale of energy. Shares on Russia's stock market are trading again. And Russia's VTB Bank remains open for business in Europe, where it has gathered billions of euros in deposits, mainly from German savers.

Our sanctions have left Russia's biggest economic lifeline largely untouched, and that is energy sales to Europe. I know it is harder for them. They are much more dependent. That is why we need to help more. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it is estimated that billions have gone back to

the Kremlin in energy resources and revenues from Europe.

In addition to cutting off the natural gas and the revenue that fuels the Russian war machine, we need to tighten up bank sanctions as they relate to energy. Sanctions for energy transactions don't go into effect against Russia's biggest banks, including VTB Bank, until June 24. That is simply too late. President Biden must lead the alliance to do what it takes to help Ukraine win, and the administration needs to make clear their objective is for Ukraine to win. Things like a June 24 date for energy transactions are not acceptable.

We need to close the loopholes in the sanctions and, of course, provide more lethal aid to Ukraine. We need blocking sanctions on all of Russia's finance and defense industry. We should expand full blocking sanctions on all the banks. I continue to call for revoking international tax and trade agreements that give Russia privileges not appropriate for a pariah country. Let's pass the end of PNTR--most favored nation treatment--for Russia here on the floor of the Senate this week. Let's get it done. Most Russian banks still have access to SWIFT when it comes to international energy transactions. That is not acceptable. This is a massive loophole that is sending blood money to kill innocent Ukrainians.

This week, I will introduce legislation with Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon to disallow foreign tax credits for companies that pay taxes to the Russian Government. We have bipartisan agreement on policies to ensure American taxpayers are not subsidizing the Russian war machine.

I believe we should seize, not just freeze, assets of Kremlin supporters. Last week, I introduced, with Senator Bennet of Colorado, the Repurposing Elite Luxuries Into Emergency Funds--RELIEF--for Ukraine Act to require the Department of Justice to direct any funds resulting from the disposal of seized Russian assets to support Ukrainian refugees and reconstruction. So let's seize these assets, like the yachts owned by the Kremlin supporters or by President Putin himself, and then take those funds and use them immediately to help with the humanitarian effort.

Regarding military assistance, the Ukrainians have made it clear they desperately need more equipment, more munitions, and they need it now. In our meeting last week, the members of Parliament from Ukraine detailed what they need from us, and their list is not new. They said they need fighter jets. They need these MiGs. They appreciate the Stinger missiles that have been effective for lower altitude planes and helicopters, but they don't understand why NATO and the United States are blocking other Soviet-era military equipment to be able to help them.

They want these surface-to-air missiles to be able to strike long- range Russian artillery rockets and high-altitude rockets that are raining down on their cities and killing civilians with impunity. This is not too much to ask. We have to find ways to send them these long- range air defense systems.

Our Eastern European neighbors have S-300s and other systems the Ukrainians know how to operate. We may have some ourselves. Let's reposition our Patriot missiles in those countries in Eastern Europe so that they can then send their old Soviet-style systems to Ukraine that the Ukrainians know how to operate.

It has now been weeks since our Secretary of Defense stood with our NATO ally Slovakia and the Slovakian Defense Minister said Slovakia was ready to transfer S-300 missile defense systems, which the Ukrainians can operate, ``immediately.'' Let's do it. Compared to what the Ukrainian forces have now, more S-300s could cover more ground and intercept incoming aircraft and missiles. The bureaucratic redtape delaying the S-300 transfer is costing innocent lives every day.

We must also find ways to quickly provide Ukraine with more armed drones, such as the Turkish TB2 and one-use loitering munitions, which the Ukrainians know how to use and have been effective on this battlefield.

Three weeks ago, it was announced that we were sending 100 so-called Switchblade loitering munitions. These are so-called suicide drones, one-use drones, but they can be used to destroy an armored vehicle or another target. One hundred will go very quickly. We should send more, and we should send bigger drones, which we have in our inventory. They could be effective against tanks and effective against ships.

They have been asking for help across the board that is not yet delivered. They have been asking for tanks, more anti-ship systems to fend off missiles from the Black Sea, and more equipment to clear Russian mines.

On tanks, they know how to operate the Soviet-era T-72 tanks that are in the inventory of many Eastern European countries. Let's facilitate those transfers.

We can do more, and we should do more--not weeks from now but now. They are not asking for us to fight for them, but they are asking for us to provide them the tools to be able to defend themselves. There should be no gap in our weapons transfers, and we should continue to lead. We need not just organize our NATO allies, which we have done a good job at, in my view, but now help to lead our NATO allies in providing more support and coordinating the support from those countries.

I also believe that both Ukraine and Georgia should be given what is called a membership action plan, which is the next step toward NATO membership. It doesn't make them parts of NATO, but, based on the actions of the Russians and the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians, I believe more strongly than ever that it would put Russia on notice that these countries are on the road to faster membership because of what Russia has done.

Some may ask why a Senator from Ohio would care about what is going on in Ukraine. Well, we should all care. This is about the fight for freedom. This is where it is being engaged in our generation, in our time.

I also happen to have tens of thousands of Ukrainians who call Ohio their home. These Ukrainian Americans are friends of mine. They are constituents of mine. They have been keeping me informed over the years. They have helped me to get more engaged in this issue. I have been to Ukraine six or seven times since 2014, when Ukraine made a decision to turn to us, to turn to democracy and freedom and free enterprise. But even if I had no constituents who were of Ukrainian descent, I would be standing here because this is the fight for freedom. This is our test. Are we going to stand against tyranny and for freedom at a time when these terrible atrocities are being committed?

When I was on the Polish-Ukrainian border, I talked to a lot of these refugees, as I said, and through their tears, they talked about what was going on. They talked about their homes being destroyed, their apartments being destroyed, their friends or family members being hurt, some killed, the pain of being separated from their husbands and fathers, not knowing their fate back home. By the way, they all want to go home. They all want to go home desperately. They pleaded for us to do more to stop the missiles, and they all said: Please, protect the skies.

They told us of this atrocity up close. In the midst of this atrocity, there are so many heroes in Ukraine who are stepping forward: the soldiers--professionals and civilians who have taken up arms--the doctors and the nurses, the firefighters, the volunteers who are providing food and water and blankets just to keep people alive. We pray for all of them. We pray for their families. Godspeed to them in their very simple quest: a battle for a free and independent country. They just want to live in peace.

I will close with this thought. The Ukrainians can be victorious but only if we help organize other freedom-loving countries all around the world to support them. We must lead.

One of the members of Parliament said it best, I think, when she said she hears all the time ``We are all Ukrainians. We are all Ukrainians.''

I think that is a good sentiment. But she said: If that is so, then we must be like Ukrainians, meaning we must be brave, creative, and fast. Her point was: We need help; we need it now. Be creative. Figure out a way to get those tanks there, to get those more powerful drones there, to get the planes there that they need, to get the humanitarian assistance that they need desperately in Ukraine into these cities. Be brave. Be creative. Be fast.

So I urge my colleagues and the administration and the world: Let's help Ukraine actually win this war. That is now possible. This is the time for us to redouble our efforts and to be brave, creative, and fast.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.