Mr. President, it was nearly 40 years ago President Ronald Reagan went to the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, and he said to the Soviets, ``Tear down this wall.'' Ronald
My mother's family originally came from Lithuania, once an independent country, then a republic of the Soviet Union, now an independent democratic country again. That country meant a lot, and still does, to my family. I certainly recall the stories of my grandparents leaving the Russian domination and coming to America.
Until recently, Americans across the political spectrum, including Republican Presidents and Members of Congress, saw Russian tyranny for what it was--until now.
Today, we see President Trump doing the bidding of Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. That is right: The President of the United States of America is using talking points that sound like they were whispered in his ear by the Kremlin, all while denigrating and bullying our true allies in the region.
If you don't believe me, listen to these quotes and try to guess whether Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump said them.
First, outrageously claiming Ukraine started the war with Russia:
Or:
How about attacking the legitimacy of heroic wartime Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy, who was democratically elected in a free and fair election--something that has never taken place in Russia.
Or calling him ``a dictator without elections.''
In each of these stunning examples, one was spoken by Putin, the other by Trump. It is impossible to guess which is which, but you would be hard-pressed to figure it out because they are both using the same Kremlin propaganda.
It gets worse, with Donald Trump having negotiated away in public the key concessions to Russia to end the war, including appeasement of Ukraine's sovereign borders or possible future NATO membership.
Trump, with not even a phone call, gave those away without even negotiating and certainly didn't involve the Ukrainians, who have lost 46,000 brave Ukrainians who have died because of Putin's invasion.
Today, in a stunning, shameful move, the United States voted with Russia, North Korea, Belarus, and a handful of other dictatorships at the United Nations against a resolution condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine.
I want to repeat that because it is so historic and so mind-boggling. There was a resolution before the United Nations condemning Russia on the third anniversary of their invasion of Ukraine, and the United States' representative voted against it, joined in that effort by Russia, itself, North Korea, Belarus, and a handful of other dictatorships.
What in the world is going on here? Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said of this tragic and unbelievable state of affairs that it sounded like there was a handout prepared by the Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov from which the Trump administration was reading.
He warned if Trump continues to back Russia:
President Trump's affinity for autocrats like Putin and selling out or bullying our allies isn't going to make America stronger or our world safer. Nor will his petulant and bumbling weekend gutting of our top military officers--a troubling act that raises serious questions about politicizing our proud, professional fighting force in America.
Let me be clear: We cannot let President Trump rewrite history or upend proven alliances with decades of bipartisan support. Because of the NATO alliance, we have avoided a third world war for more than 75 years. That is a fact.
Ultimately, only the Ukrainian people can decide Ukraine's future. For the United States to be party to any other scheme or conspiracy is just unacceptable.
Doing the bidding of foreign dictators and playing politics with our own military only undermine America's ability to be safe.
Today is the third-year anniversary of Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. I am glad to join Senators Shaheen, Tillis, Wicker, and others in leading a simple resolution that expresses continued solidarity with the people of Ukraine and condolences for the loss of thousands of lives to Russian aggression. I would think that every Senator of both political parties would sign on, but fortunately we do have a few, and it is bipartisan.
Think of that--46,000 people in Ukraine died to stop Putin's advance and invasion of Ukraine--46,000--and there was a suggestion that the negotiations for peace in the country would take place without Ukraine seated at the table. How can that be possible?
This resolution is straightforward. It expresses what would have-- before this current administration--been seen as a cut-and-dried statement of American values when standing up to bullies and tyrants like Vladimir Putin, a known war criminal.
I am also introducing a bill to grant Ukrainians who fled the war and are already legally present in the United States with temporary guest status. Oh, I know, it is immigration. It is an explosive issue. How in the world could we consider it? Let me tell you what happened in the city of Chicago.
The Governor of Texas sent 50,000 migrants in buses--800 buses--to the city of Chicago to dump these migrants into a situation where there was no place for them to stay, no provision for their food. It was an emergency situation. We did the humane thing. We did our best to take care of them and the children--50,000 from Texas. It was a controversial issue, and there were some who said ``Don't spend a penny on them; spend it just on American citizens'' and others who said ``We have an obligation that goes beyond simple citizenship. It is a human obligation, a moral obligation,'' and we did it.
At the same time that took place, there were 50,000 Ukrainians coming into the city of Chicago as well--different circumstances. They had to have a host family that would stand by them as they settled down in the city of Chicago, and they had to find jobs.
Do you know how much controversy there was about those 50,000 Ukrainians? None. They were assimilated into the economy and have become an important part of the city and our State, and I am proud that they are there.
So now what happens to them? The uncertainty of the continuing war in Ukraine, the embracing of Putin by President Trump--what is going to happen? With this United Nations resolution today, where we were just asked to acknowledge the war of 3 years and to stand by the Ukrainians, the United States voted no. The United States voted with Russia, with North Korea, and with Belarus.
We have to do something to help these Ukrainians who are here, who escaped the invasion of Putin and found peace and security in our country.
When the war started, across the country, Republicans opened their arms and hearts and communities to these desperate Ukrainians, even actively petitioning President Biden to protect them from deportation. So far, not a single Republican has cosponsored my bill. It is a new day in Washington. But I urge them to join this simple act of American compassion. Standing up to dictators and speaking out for victims of war should never be a partisan issue.
I want to end with a photo.
The year was 2014 when the late Senator John McCain and I led a bipartisan delegation to Ukraine that included current colleagues from Rhode
You see here in this photo we are laying flowers on the makeshift shrines to those Ukrainians who were killed in the earliest days of their heroic effort to save their nation.
We should show no less courage here today on a bipartisan basis in making sure Ukraine's sovereignty and future are secure and not giving in, in appeasement to Putin--a move that could cost us dearly in the future.
It is personal to me. I mentioned to you earlier that my mother was born in the Baltic nation of Lithuania. It has been my good fortune to visit it during Soviet times and see the terrible impact of communism on the freedom of those people and to be standing by their side when they fought to have the day when they could have their own democracy and their own elections.
They survived. They prospered. They are great nations--Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia--and I know that their future is at stake by this decision by President Trump.
You cannot embrace Vladimir Putin and ignore the obvious. He is a thug. He has sent his invading troops in and killed 46,000 Ukrainians. Well, they say he has lost 800,000 of his own. Well, I am sorry that happened in a way, but he asked for it. He invaded Ukraine--don't make any mistake. It didn't happen the other way around. The Ukrainians didn't invade themselves. What kind of nonsense was that being spoken by the President?
We have to stand by the people of Ukraine and for the people of the Baltics, Moldova, and other states, like Poland, that are vulnerable to attack by Vladimir Putin. This is not a political charade. It is not a political game. It is the life-and-death reality of this dangerous world we live in.
Once again, the United States should be leading in democratic values and certainly not embracing the war criminal Vladimir Putin.
