Durbin Urges Congress To Pass The Supplemental Funding Package To Aid Ukraine

Floor Speech

"It is the twisted rationale behind his invasion of Ukraine, one that has led to nearly half a million Ukrainians and Russians being killed or wounded simply for Putin's blood thirsty ambition. The International Criminal Court, when it looked at the activity of the Russian invaders in Ukraine, ended up branding Vladimir Putin a war criminal. Why would they call him a war criminal? Because he killed innocent civilians certainly, but equally because they had a mass abduction of Ukrainian children into Russia, something that has hardly ever happened in history, but Putin has done it. It was the first time in history for a leader of one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council to be charged.

Putin has isolated Russia. He has arrested Russians forpolitical dissent, squashed freedom of the press, and destroyed Russia's economy. Despite these clearly tragic outcomes, he is doubling down even further in a move my colleague Senator Coons aptly calls the "devil's deal.' You see, international sanctions, global isolation, and a determined Ukrainian military have left Putin scrambling formilitary supplies and weapons.

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This battle is not just for Ukraine's sovereignty--it's for our own protection in the years to come… Quite simply, Ukraine is fighting with the lives of its people against a nuclear state that threatens the world. If Ukraine falls, Putin will certainly go further, to the Baltic States, to Poland, and trigger an even wider war. Putin cannot be changed, but he can be stopped in Ukraine. I agree with President Zelensky--we must continue our support for the brave Ukrainians fighting fortheir country and against Russian tyranny that threatens the larger free world. We can start by passing the Biden Administration's funding request. I am going to do my part here in the Senate to make sure we get that done, and call on my colleagues to do the same."

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