the more we make sure that the regime and the people who are persecuting their opposition in Ukraine should know that they are under watch and their course of action should be changed.

I am here today to answer your questions, Senator Shaheen, but also to plead that America do all that it can to preserve democracy in my country.

So we ought to be directing assistance to them so that they can do the job that we know they can do.

Ukraine literally and figuratively lies at the crossroads between Europe and Russia.

There needs to be continuity and stability in electoral code in Ukraine.

Elections are not only rigged on election night, as you well know.

I don't support what the President did. I have looked at this issue. I have spent quite a bit of time looking at precedent, and I think this President in this circumstance overstepped his authority.

If I could just have the record reflect that that was part of her testimony.

It appears that your first field hearing was on this subject matter and you also issued guidance on this on January 19th.

I think it is better to err on the side of caution and be over-transparent than under-transparent.

The DSG released by the administration in January 2012 abandoned the concept we have supported since the end of the Cold War.

The legislation, named in his honor, would blacklist any Russian believed to be responsible for major human rights violations from receiving a visa to travel to the United States.

President Medvedev said that he was going to root out corruption, that he was going to make that a real hallmark of his Presidency.

one of the reasons for holding this hearing is to hopefully bring some more momentum to passage of this legislation, which I believe and I think most of the Senators who were here today believe is very important.

We should think about how we can set the bar high in terms of expectations for those actions.

I would strongly encourage support for that and hope that there would be more funds available should Russian organizations want to avail themselves of it.

This is an extremely important measure that Congress needs to pass as quickly as possible.

it would send a very powerful signal to the Russian people that the United States is stepping up its willingness to invest in their future.