[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 227 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 227

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2023

 Mr. Kean of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. 
     Lawler, Mr. Keating, and Mr. Quigley) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


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

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