On the recordMarch 29, 2022
on another matter, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio and I are cochairs of the bipartisan Senate Ukraine Caucus. Tomorrow, we are hosting a meeting for Senators with members of the Ukrainian Parliament. The Parliament there is known as the Rada. They are coming to Washington to discuss how we can help even more in assisting the valiant people of Ukraine defending against this barbaric invasion by Vladimir Putin. I hope our colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join us to send a clear message to Ukraine that we stand united in their efforts. Putin's unprovoked and unconscionable war on Ukraine has revealed what he is really all about. He is a tyrant seething with resentment, driven by delusions of great mother Russia, willing to slaughter innocent men, women, and children to restore a lost Russian Empire. We know from his current ravings and his past actions, Putin's ruthless pursuit of Russia's lost empire didn't begin with this war, and if we don't do something about it, it won't end there either. In 2003, the people of Georgia--another Soviet Republic--waged a Rose Revolution to claim a place among the family of democratic nations. Putin's aggrieved response was to send troops into that country to occupy portions of it--South Ossetia and Abkhazia--to redraw Georgia's national boundaries by force. I traveled to that area in 2012 and saw firsthand what Putin's occupation of that tiny nation meant.…
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