WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Thom Tillis (R-NC) took to the Senate floor to speak about their recent bipartisan delegation visit to Kyiv, Ukraine. The Senators spoke about the brave Ukrainians on the front lines of combatting Putin’s brutal invasion, the impact of the U.S. foreign aid freeze on the ground, Ukrainians’ battlefield ingenuity and the importance of continuing to support Ukraine.
You can watch their remarks here.
Key Quotes:
“I've seen the reports in the last couple of days that say that Vladimir Putin wants peace, but I have to say, I'm skeptical. Because if he really wants peace, nothing is stopping him from calling off those missile and drone attacks-attacks that are not targeting just Ukraine's military, but that are targeting civilians throughout the country. They're damaging power stations that Ukrainians depend on for electricity, for daily life.”
“American flags are coming down in Poland. One of the most pro-American countries that we can have. The people that we spoke to said that their trust has been broken. The decades of investments and these alliances that we've made were gone with just one phone call. Now, I understand that people are tired of this war, but if we think giving Russia or China free reign affect us here in the United States, we are wrong.”
“Thousands of Ukrainians have given their lives in the fight for a sovereign Ukraine. They've been on the front lines for all of us, defending democracy. To abandon them now will not only be a gift to Putin, it would endanger our allies and the security of the United States.”
The Ranking Member’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
I'm pleased to come to the floor today with my friend and colleague, Senator Tillis. He and I have co-chaired the Senate NATO observer Group, we've traveled together on a number of occasions and we just came back-on Tuesday-from a very brief trip to Ukraine. We were joined by Senator Bennet, who was not able to join us right now.
But I think it's important for us to come to the floor and to talk about what we saw and what we heard in Ukraine. It was incredibly powerful to travel to Ukraine, to see firsthand the situation on the ground there. And we visited a number of places during the day. We met with residents in downtown Kyiv who had lost their homes in the January 1st missile attack there—an attack that landed only about two blocks from the presidential palace.
While we were there actually meeting with the folks who had lost their homes, the air raid sirens went off, which is a pretty unusual occurrence apparently in Kyiv. Fortunately, it was not aimed at us in downtown Kyiv but at another outline community. It was a warning of more incoming Russian missiles.
I've seen the reports in the last couple of days that say that Vladimir Putin wants peace, but I have to say, I'm skeptical. Because if he really wants peace, nothing is stopping him from calling off those missile and drone attacks-attacks that are not targeting just Ukraine's military, but that are targeting civilians throughout the country. They're damaging power stations that Ukrainians depend on for electricity, for daily life. And in fact, we visited one of those power stations.
This is us-as you can see, it was a very cold day. You can't see the power station background, but it was [a very] unique design that had been done by the Ukrainians in a very short period of time, with help from the United States to protect that site from Russian attacks. And in fact, they had just had in late December, a missile that hit the side of the transfer station in ways that if they had not had the reinforcements, it would have taken down that station.
But what's interesting is that not only have they figured out the design on the station, but they had what they call a “mobile firing team.” That is two machine guns. You can see-just barely-see one of them on the truck. And a radar [which is down here sort of out of sight again] done with U.S. dollars. And they were able to protect that transfer station. And [they] have those mobile firing teams at a number of sites around the country to protect their electricity grid. Because what we know and what we heard is that the Russians are trying to shut down their power grid because they want to freeze out the Ukrainians in this war.
We also visited a children's hospital that was bombed in July. We visited with two teenagers—one young woman who was 16 not only lost her mother and a Russian attack but she lost her ability to walk. I think she had, Senator Tillis, about 16 operations at the point that we saw her, and they were pleased that they thought she was going to actually be able to walk again, thanks to the great care she got at the Okhmatdyt’s Children's Hospital that the Russians bombed—deliberately targeted in July.
But like so many Ukrainians, the young woman we met with hasn't given up. Her father sat by her side, surgery after surgery, and despite the odds, she is learning to walk again. She reflects, I think, the resilience, the perseverance that we witnessed-every place we went, in every meeting that we had. Despite Russia's advantages in size and manpower, Ukrainians have not and will not give up. And we should not give up on them either.
Ukrainians have developed robotic mobile firing teams, as I said. They have been able to make incredible innovations to fix damaged battlefield equipment. We had a chance on our way into Ukraine to go through Poland, where they are moving equipment into Ukraine and where we saw the center where they have a group chat with people on the front lines, to help them with instructions on how to fix the equipment in real time as it gets damaged.
This not only saves time and money for the Ukrainians, but for us it's an incredible learning opportunity as we think about what we need to do to support our own military. So, the Ukrainians are sharing their battlefield innovations and insights. It makes the United States stronger, and it shows how much of the assistance we've given to Ukraine is actually going to benefit us here in America.
When the assistance was frozen in January, it had a major impact on the ground. We spoke to NGOs in Poland-people who are supporting Ukrainian refugees in that country. And as one of them was preparing to give us a presentation, he stopped. He turned to us and he said, I can't give this presentation and act like everything is normal. I thought he was one of the most impactful people we heard from, I don't know if you felt that way too, Senator Tillis. But he said that on January 24th, “the U.S. Embassy told me to stop all work.” He said, “I had to fire single Ukrainian mothers who escaped the war and now have no jobs and no way to feed their children.”
He had to stop psychosocial support services for those who are traumatized by the war. One girl they had been treating for self-harm is gone, and he doesn't know if she's alive or not. He was worried she might take her own life. Along with the stop work orders, the NGOs were told to remove all American flags. Think of that. American flags are coming down in Poland. One of the most pro-American countries that we can have. The people that we spoke to said that their trust has been broken. The decades of investments and these alliances that we've made were gone with just one phone call.
Now, I understand that people are tired of this war, but if we think giving Russia or China free reign affect us here in the United States, we are wrong. The Russians are thrilled. Vladimir Putin has to be loving this. He's always wanted to undermine NATO.
“Peace for our Time,” is what Chamberlain said when he signed the pact with Hitler. Appeasement doesn't work with dictators. When Vladimir Putin gets what he wants, it puts Americans in danger. We understand this. Putin can't be trusted. That's a realistic assessment of the battlefield. One Ukrainian woman who lost her husband and son in the fighting told us she would support cease fire negotiations, “but with security guarantees for Ukraine.” “Simply freezing the front line won't do anything,” she warned. “Because in a few years, Russia will invade again.” And she's right. Putin invaded Crimea in 2014. He invaded Ukraine again in 2022. There must be a guarantee that Russia won't attack again in a couple of years. I believe NATO membership for Ukraine needs to be on the table. This is not only going to protect Ukraine from future attacks, it will put Ukraine in the best possible negotiating position.
Putin wants Ukrainians to be afraid. We saw that when we visited Bucha. Some of people may remember, this was a suburb of Kyiv. It was under siege for 33 days, held by the Russians. We talked to the mayor, to the priest of the church, we saw the mass graves where people were buried, the 500+ people-civilians-who were killed in Bucha. They were killed just going about their daily lives. This is the picture of the body of one of those civilians killed. And you know how they identified her? It was her manicurist. She identified her by the manicure. We met with the investigators who showed us the picture of the Russian commander who gave the order to kill the civilians. He did it because he wanted to frighten the population.
Vladimir Putin is responsible for this. He's responsible for the bodies in Bucha and for thousands across Ukraine. And he's got to be held accountable. We cannot let him get away with this. So, I want to end by underlining an important point. There is bipartisan support for Ukraine in Congress. I believe we will continue to support funding and that if we had another supplemental bill that came to the floor, it would pass with Republican votes. Because Americans like Senator Tillis and I and Senator Bennet, who went with us, we have been impressed by the Ukrainians courage, by their resilience, by their willingness to defend their freedoms and our freedoms. They've kept their economy and their people going throughout this horrible, long war. But by June, Ukraine is going to start running out of what they need. That's why we need to use the nearly $300 billion of Russian seized assets to help Ukraine rebuild. That's why I've called on Secretary Rubio to prioritize the waivers for unfreezing aid to Ukraine.
Thousands of Ukrainians have given their lives in the fight for a sovereign Ukraine. They've been on the front lines for all of us, defending democracy. To abandon them now will not only be a gift to Putin, it would endanger our allies and the security of the United States.
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