Calls upon the U.S. government to declare it the foreign policy of the United States to never recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia.
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1022 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1022
Condemning the ongoing illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian
Federation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 24, 2018
Mr. Joyce of Ohio submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the
Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Financial
Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the ongoing illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian
Federation.
Whereas, in February 2014, unidentified Russian armed forces entered Ukrainian
territory and took control of key military and government infrastructure
in the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine;
Whereas, in March 2014, the Parliament of the Russian Federation gave rubber-
stamp approval to President Vladimir Putin's request to use military
force against Ukrainian territory ostensibly because of the ``threat of
violence from ultranationalists'';
Whereas, on March 27, 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted
Resolution 68/262 calling on states and international organizations not
to recognize any change in Crimea's status and affirmed the commitment
of the United Nations to recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine;
Whereas the Russian Federation's illegal invasion and annexation of Crimea has
been widely seen as an effort to stifle the spread of prodemocracy
developments across Ukraine in 2014 in the wake of the Euromaidan
protests;
Whereas the Russian Federation is a signatory to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum
and thus committed to respect the independence, sovereignty, and borders
of Ukraine and to refrain from threats, coercive economic actions, or
the use of force against Ukraine's territorial integrity and political
independence;
Whereas the Russian Federation committed in the 1975 Final Act of the Conference
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Final Act) to respect
the sovereign equality and territorial integrity of other participating
states;
Whereas the Russian Federation's obligations under the Charter of the United
Nations prohibit the threat or use of force against the territorial
integrity and political independence of other states;
Whereas the Russian Federation's ongoing illegal occupation of Crimea in Ukraine
has been widely condemned by the international community as illegal
acts;
Whereas the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on
individuals and entities who have enabled the illegal invasion,
annexation, and occupation of Crimea;
Whereas the Department of State has stated in its Country Reports on Human
Rights Practices that security services and local authorities in Crimea
installed by the Government of the Russian Federation have ``worked to
consolidate control over Crimea and continued to restrict human rights
by imposing repressive Federal laws of the Russian Federation on the
Ukrainian territory of Crimea'' and that ``the most significant human
rights problems in Crimea [were] related directly to the Russian
occupation'';
Whereas the Department of State has described ``an extensive campaign of
intimidation to suppress dissent and opposition to the occupation'' that
has been carried out by Russian security services inside Crimea,
including the use of torture and physical abuse, kidnapping,
disappearances, and deportations, and reporting from independent human
rights groups inside and outside Crimea has documented such alleged
human rights violations by Russian security services and paramilitary
groups;
Whereas the campaign of intimidation in Crimea has resulted in the prosecution
and imprisonment of individuals who oppose or criticize the occupation
or support Ukrainian sovereignty as well as the transfer of some
individuals from Crimea to Russian Federation territory for prosecution
and imprisonment;
Whereas the Department of State has noted that illegal occupying authorities in
Crimea have also restricted the fundamental human rights of particular
groups, including ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, ``particularly
regarding expressions of nationality and ethnicity, and subjected them
to systematic discrimination'';
Whereas human rights groups have cited that such discrimination has been carried
out in myriad ways, including through the outlawing in 2016 of the
elected representative body (Mejlis) of the Crimean Tatar people, the
closing of Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian-language schools, and forced
conscription;
Whereas the Department of State and other international human rights groups have
noted further continuing human rights concerns in Crimea, including the
suppression of independent media and civil society through harassment
and harsh administrative measures, politicized and unfair judicial
processes, and poor prison conditions;
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has worked to extend Russian
citizenship to individuals inside Crimea and deprived access to public
services of those who refuse such citizenship;
Whereas civil society groups have alleged that the Government of the Russian
Federation has encouraged Russian citizens to relocate to the Crimean
peninsula and has supported the physical destruction of historical sites
in Crimea, ostensibly to influence the demographics and political
character of the region in favor of the Kremlin; and
Whereas the Government of the Russian Federation has supported the development
of infrastructure and institutional ties between Crimea and the Russian
Federation, including the opening of a road and rail bridge over the
Kerch Strait on May 15, 2018: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) reiterates that Crimea is part of the sovereign
territory of Ukraine;
(2) stresses that United States policy should remain that
Crimea is part of Ukraine and should reject attempts to change
the status, demographics, or political nature of Crimea;
(3) reaffirms respect for the values of democracy, human
rights, and rule of law that all individuals in Crimea deserve,
including non-Russian ethnic groups and religious minorities;
(4) condemns all human rights violations against
individuals in Crimea, and underscores the culpability of the
Russian Federation for such violations while this territory is
under illegal Russian occupation;
(5) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to
immediately respect the political and human rights of
individuals in Crimea, including those detained in Crimea or
who have been transferred from Crimea to the territory of
Russia, and to cease efforts to restrict dissent or change the
demographic or political nature of the peninsula;
(6) urges the United States Government, in coordination
with the European Union, NATO, and members of the international
community, to prioritize efforts to prevent the further
consolidation of illegal occupying powers in Crimea, reaffirm
unified opposition to the actions of the Russian Federation in
Crimea, and secure the human rights of individuals there;
(7) welcomes the sanctions that have been imposed and
maintained to date by the United States and the European Union
against individuals engaged in furthering the illegal
occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation;
(8) calls on the United States Government to continue to
use relevant sanctions authorities codified in the Countering
America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act of 2017 (Public Law
115-44), as well as under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-
328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note), to address and deter those engaged
in furthering the illegal occupation of Crimea and human rights
abuses and corruption committed in Crimea or against
individuals from Crimea;
(9) welcomes further efforts by the United States
Government to encourage the European Union to impose additional
Crimea-related sanctions; and
(10) calls upon the United States Government to declare it
the foreign policy of the United States to never recognize the
illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, similar
to the 1940 Welles Declaration in which the United States
refused to recognize the Soviet annexation of the Baltic
States.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on the Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform, Financial Services, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
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