UKRAINE INVASION WAR CRIMES DETERRENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT; Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 61

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UKRAINE INVASION WAR CRIMES DETERRENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill

(\[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276)) to direct the President to submit to Congress a report on

United States Government efforts to collect, analyze, and preserve

evidence and information related to war crimes and any other atrocities

committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine since

February 24, 2022, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows:

\[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276)

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the \\\`\\\`Ukraine Invasion War Crimes

Deterrence and Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--

(1) in its premeditated, unprovoked, unjustified, and

unlawful full-scale invasion of Ukraine that commenced on

February 24, 2022, the military of the Government of the

Russian Federation under the direction of President Vladimir

Putin has committed war crimes that include but are not

limited to--

(A) the deliberate targeting of civilians and injuring or

killing of noncombatants;

(B) the deliberate targeting and attacking of hospitals,

schools, and other non-military buildings dedicated to

religion, art, science, or charitable purposes, such as the

bombing of a theater in Mariupol that served as a shelter for

noncombatants and had the word \\\`\\\`children'' written clearly

in the Russian language outside;

(C) the indiscriminate bombardment of undefended dwellings

and buildings;

(D) the wanton destruction of property not justified by

military necessity;

(E) unlawful civilian deportations;

(F) the taking of hostages; and

(G) rape, or sexual assault or abuse;

(2) the use of chemical weapons by the Government of the

Russian Federation in Ukraine would constitute a war crime,

and engaging in any military preparations to use chemical

weapons or to develop, produce, stockpile, or retain chemical

weapons is prohibited by the Chemical Weapons Convention, to

which the Russian Federation is a signatory;

(3) Vladimir Putin has a long record of committing acts of

aggression, systematic abuses of human rights, and acts that

constitute war crimes or other atrocities both at home and

abroad, and the brutality and scale of these actions,

including in the Russian Federation republic of Chechnya,

Georgia, Syria, and Ukraine, demonstrate the extent to which

his regime is willing to flout international norms and values

in the pursuit of its objectives;

(4) Vladimir Putin has previously sanctioned the use of

chemical weapons at home and abroad, including in the

poisonings of Russian spy turned double agent Sergei Skripal

and his daughter Yulia and leading Russian opposition figure

Aleksey Navalny, and aided and abetted the use of chemical

weapons by President Bashar al-Assad in Syria; and

(5) in 2014, the Government of the Russian Federation

initiated its unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine

which resulted in its illegal occupation of Crimea, the

unrecognized declaration of independence by the so-called

\\\`\\\`Donetsk People's Republic'' and \\\`\\\`Luhansk People's

Republic'' by Russia-backed proxies, and numerous human

rights violations and deaths of civilians in Ukraine.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

It is the policy of the United States--

(1) to collect, analyze, and preserve evidence and

information related to war crimes and other atrocities

committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine

that began on February 24, 2022, for use in appropriate

domestic, foreign, and international courts and tribunals

prosecuting those responsible for such crimes;

(2) to help deter the commission of war crimes and other

atrocities in Ukraine by publicizing to the maximum possible

extent, including among Russian and other foreign military

commanders and troops in Ukraine, efforts to identify and

prosecute those responsible for the commission of war crimes

during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that began

on February 24, 2022; and

(3) to continue efforts to identify, deter, and pursue

accountability for war crimes and other atrocities committed

around the world and by other perpetrators, and to leverage

international cooperation and best practices in this regard

with respect to the current situation in Ukraine.

SEC. 4. REPORT ON UNITED STATES EFFORTS.

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of

this Act, and consistent with the protection of intelligence

sources and methods, the President shall submit to the

appropriate congressional committees a report, which may

include a classified annex, describing in detail the

following:

(1) United States Government efforts to collect, analyze,

and preserve evidence and information related to war crimes

and other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian

invasion of Ukraine since February 24, 2022, including a

description of--

(A) the respective roles of various agencies, departments,

and offices, and the interagency mechanism established for

the coordination of such efforts;

(B) the types of information and evidence that are being

collected, analyzed, and preserved to help identify those

responsible for the commission of war crimes or other

atrocities during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine

in 2022; and

(C) steps taken to coordinate with, and support the work

of, allies, partners, international institutions and

organizations, and nongovernmental organizations in such

efforts.

(2) Media, public diplomacy, and information operations to

make Russian military commanders, troops, political leaders

and the Russian people aware of efforts to identify and

prosecute those responsible for the

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commission of war crimes or other atrocities during the full-

scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and of the types

of acts that may be prosecutable.

(3) The process for a domestic, foreign, or international

court or tribunal to request and obtain from the United

States Government information related to war crimes or other

atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion

of Ukraine in 2022.

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term

\\\`\\\`appropriate congressional committees'' means--

(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the

Judiciary, and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

of the House of Representatives; and

(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on

the Judiciary, and the Select Committee on Intelligence of

the Senate.

(2) Atrocities.--The term \\\`\\\`atrocities'' has the meaning

given that term in section 6(2) of the Elie Wiesel Genocide

and Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-441; 22

U.S.C. 2656 note).

(3) War crime.--The term \\\`\\\`war crime'' has the meaning

given that term in section 2441(c) of title 18, United States

Code.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New

York (Mr. Meeks) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul) each will

control 20 minutes.

The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.

General Leave

Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have

5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and

include extraneous material on \[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276), as amended.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the

gentleman from New York?

There was no objection.

Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of \[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276), the Ukraine

Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act introduced by my

good friend and the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs

Committee, Mr. McCaul.

I want to thank Mr. McCaul for working collectively across the aisle

as we do on many bills, but on this important bill, for his leadership

on it. It is very timely and very important.

Mr. Speaker, each day we see a growing body of horrifying evidence of

atrocities that Russian troops have wreaked on Ukrainian citizens. Mr.

McCaul and I traveled to Poland, and we saw with our own eyes the

refugees fleeing Ukraine because of Putin's war; not knowing whether

they would see their husbands or fathers or uncles ever again; not

knowing what their tomorrow would be.

This week, the images, the videos, and the firsthand accounts from

Bucha were nothing short of chilling, and as it did seeing the refugees

cross the border in Poland, it pains my heart to know that this is

likely just the tip of the iceberg of what Ukrainians have suffered.

{time} 1245

In attempting to justify his war of choice on Ukraine, Putin's

relentless dehumanization of Ukrainians has laid the foundation for

atrocities so vile it churns one's stomach.

We have seen this before, Mr. Speaker. It is the same dehumanization

that has led to every genocide before. I fear what we have seen in

Bucha is happening throughout Ukraine right now, and it will only get

worse.

Nothing we do on this floor today will erase the generational trauma

that Putin's forces have inflicted on Ukrainians, but we can and must

ensure that the United States of America is doing everything in its

power to collect evidence that can be used to prosecute Russian war

crimes and other atrocities. Hopefully, that will deter further

systemic human rights abuses in this conflict.

\[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276) would require the administration to detail efforts to

collect, analyze, and preserve evidence of war crimes, and to describe

the process through which a domestic, foreign, or international court

or tribunal could request and obtain information related to war crimes

or other atrocities from the United States.

Every day of this illegal and unprovoked war further unites the

global community against Russia's aggression in Ukraine. The images

that we continue to see day in and day out are shocking to the

conscience and also a call to action.

To the leaders of the nations who have yet to condemn this barbaric

war of choice, I ask them to please watch these videos of civilians

being bombed and, as we did both in Poland and with those who visited

us here in the House of Representatives, listen to the survivors who

witnessed their neighbors and their friends shot in the streets or in

their homes, some bound with their hands behind their backs.

The camera of history is rolling, Mr. Speaker, and it will remember

those countries that remain silent.

Russia's aggression in Ukraine must stop. We must unequivocally

condemn the atrocities that are being carried out by Putin and his

Russian invading forces. Those who are responsible, Mr. Speaker, must

be brought to justice, no matter how long it takes or how hard it may

be.

The Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act

will help in collecting the necessary evidence so that we can do just

that: Hold those individuals accountable for the atrocities that they

have committed.

Mr. Speaker, I ask all of my colleagues to join and support this

crucial legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my dear friend, Chairman Meeks, for working with

me on this important legislation. This is a historic time, and it is a

historic bill.

This is the largest invasion in Europe since World War II, with war

crimes in Europe the likes of which we haven't seen since my father's

generation in my father's war.

Mr. Speaker, the world is watching, and history will judge us all by

how we act, by our actions. As the chairman said, the tape is filming;

the reel is filming this. We are seeing these horrific images coming

out of Ukraine as I speak, and sadly, there will be many more. We have

just hit the surface.

Corpses are littering the streets of Bucha, their hands tied behind

their backs and bullets in their heads. Some are decapitated.

A pregnant woman, covered in blood--these monsters bombed a maternity

hospital, for God's sake--as she gets wheeled out, holding on to her

womb or baby. Sadly, and tragically, both she and her baby did not

survive that day.

Mothers are raped in front of their children, and young girls are

raped in front of their families--girls.

The bodies of families are half-buried together in shallow graves,

with their hands still sticking out of the ground.

My God, what is happening in this world? I never imagined or thought

I would see this in my lifetime. This is of centuries ago, not today.

The bombing of apartments and public buildings providing refuge to

children and the elderly, including a theater in Mariupol that had the

word \\\`\\\`children'' written outside so large in Russian that the

satellites could see it--we could see it from satellites. What do the

Russians do? They bombed it. They bombed it knowing that there were

children inside.

Today, just today, most disturbing, we have reporting out of Ukraine

that Russia is bringing in mobile crematoriums to deal with the carnage

because there are so many bodies in the streets. They are bringing in

mobile crematoriums in an effort to hide the evidence of their crimes.

These are Putin's war crimes, and he will be held responsible. He and

his cronies, and the Russian troops who have carried them out, must be

held accountable.

Sadly, these are not the first war crimes committed by Putin's

troops, as the people of Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria can attest.

We cannot wait for the next atrocity before we act. We must do what

we can now to deter Russian leaders, commanders, and troops in the

field from committing further war crimes.

That is why we introduced this legislation. It will ensure the United

States helps the people of Ukraine gather, analyze, and maintain the

evidence of these war crimes.

It will also put Russian troops--I think \\\`\\\`troops'' is probably not

the right word--these Russian monsters and their leaders on notice that

the world is watching.

The world is watching them right now, and we are taking names. We are

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taking the names of these war criminals; we are taking photographs; we

are taking surveillance; and we are taking the satellite imagery to

document this injustice, this crime against humanity. And we will seek

justice.

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the bipartisan efforts that our

committee has made. But on the topic, I just have to--my God, I can't

believe we are here even talking about this. I can't believe this is

actually happening in this world, in this century.

These horrific atrocities in Bucha have made one thing crystal clear:

No country can remain neutral in the face of this evil. The entire

world needs to rally against Mr. Putin and these war crimes. Passing

this bill is a step forward to getting justice done.

I was a Federal prosecutor for a good part of my life, and I have

dealt with a lot of victims. I have seen a lot of really awful things

that man can do to mankind. I have to say, Mr. Speaker, this is

probably--in fact, it is absolutely the worst thing I have seen in my

lifetime.

The world is watching, and history will judge us all. All nations

will judge us all by what we do here and now.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from

Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the leadership of our

chairman and the working relationship with the ranking member.

Mr. Speaker, I was in Lithuania as the Russians were coming in, and I

spent a couple of days there with the hopes and dreams of many people

that, in actuality, there would not be an invasion of Russia into

Ukraine, even though we were being briefed on the 30,000 to 40,000

troops in Belarus.

Even on that day, we spoke to Ukraine parliamentarians, who indicated

that they were leaving the meeting we were in and taking a 17-hour trip

back to Ukraine as their son was standing up to join the Ukrainian

military.

Little did we expect--as some people said, \\\`\\\`just a couple of

days''--that we would be at a point where--we will not call it World

War III, but we will call it the most brutal, vicious, and murderous

effort in Europe and the world almost since World War II.

I cannot fathom the bodies found in a pit. I cannot understand moms

and babies dying in the street. I cannot understand or accept the

numbers of civilians targeted, their bodies strewn throughout the

various cities.

The movement to the east, the destruction of Odessa, and the

unwillingness of Vladimir Putin to even think of being serious at the

peace table--it is important to say pronounced war crimes have been

committed, that he must be at The Hague.

I believe Europe should be more pronounced in its annunciation. I

frankly believe that there is a heavier penalty that he must pay. I

don't believe he should sit at another table of Western civilization.

Most importantly, I rise to support this legislation and believe

America is right to insist on Mr. Putin being tried for war crimes.

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of \[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276) the

Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act, to

direct the President to submit a report to Congress on the United

States efforts to collect and analyze evidence and information related

to the war crimes committed by the Russian Federation during their

full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This legislation requires the Administration to detail the process

our government will undertake to collect, analyze, and preserve

evidence of these war crimes, so that perpetrators of these and other

atrocities are held accountable.

There is no question of whether the Russian Federation, under the

direction of Vladimir Putin has been defying the laws of war throughout

its unprovoked, unjust, and unlawful invasion of Ukraine.

\[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276) will ensure the U.S. maintains a coordinated effort to

collect evidence to be used to prosecute Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

This bill will help to deter future war crimes by ensuring Russian

troops and their commanders know the world is watching closely.

In the three decades since gaining its independence, Ukraine has

sought its own path to sovereignty and has pursued closer economic,

social, and political ties with the free market and democratic nations

of the West.

Since 2013, the Russian Federation under the direction of President

Vladimir Putin, has imposed a campaign of political, economic, and

military aggression against Ukraine.

In February 2014, the Russian military began the invasion of eastern

regions in Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula. The military also

backed separatist insurgents in the Donbass region, where fighting has

killed over 14,000 people.

Today the world is witnessing the unprovoked aggression and invasion

ordered by Vladimir Putin.

President Putin and his associates must be held personally liable for

the war crimes committed against the people of Ukraine.

Russia claims it is not attacking civilians, yet thousands of people

have been killed, mostly from explosive weapons with a wide impact

area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multi-launch rocket

systems, and missile and air strikes.

Families are being separated by war, adults and children are being

ruthlessly killed, and civilian infrastructure has been completely

obliterated in parts of eastern Ukraine.

These reckless Russian attacks have leveled homes, preschools, post

offices, museums, sports facilities, hospitals, and factories.

Power and gas lines have been severed, bridges and railway stations

blown up intentionally to restrict refugee movement within the country.

Civilians have been killed in their cars, while waiting in bread

lines, and while seeking treatment in hospitals.

Remnants of a missile were found in a Ukrainian zoo, residential

neighborhoods have been shelled to pieces and morgues are overflowing

with bodies.

Additionally, a rogue Russia is violently crushing political speech

opposing the war from its own citizens.

As Russian ground forces advance in Ukraine, Ukrainians are

sheltering from artillery shells and cruise missiles in subways and

bomb shelters.

But in addition to the conventional military forces that Russia

brings to bear, Russia has been utilizing nonconventional warfare for

years.

Russia has been running a long-running campaign to cast Ukrainians as

Nazis and the perpetrators of genocide against Russian-speakers in

eastern Ukraine in order to justify an invasion.

The western world must continue to march in lockstep against this

senseless Russian invasion of a sovereign nation.

We will make it clear to President Putin that there is no possibility

for him to win this war when our alliances are as united and as

fortified as they are now and will continue to be throughout the entire

duration of this conflict.

Putin may seize ground, but he will never hold it.

Thank you, and I look forward to discussing recommended measures to

hold Russia accountable for this manufactured war.

{time} 1300

Mr. McCAUL. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from

Arkansas (Mr. Hill).

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of \[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276), the

Ukraine Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and Accountability Act.

I am a proud cosponsor of this important legislation, and I thank

Chairman Meeks and the committee for working with Ranking Member McCaul

on this critical, bipartisan bill.

Last weekend, the world saw in Bucha what the Ukrainian people have

been telling us since the start of this invasion, that the Russians are

indiscriminately torturing and executing Ukrainian men, women, and

children.

It is important in these periods of conflict that the United States

contribute to collecting, analyzing, and preserving critical evidence

of war crimes and other atrocities.

For two decades Putin has gone unchecked and never paid a diplomatic

or even economic price for his 22 years of mania. He has never faced,

until he met the Ukrainians, true armed resistance. He leveled Grozny,

destroyed historic Aleppo with his coconspirator and partner, Assad,

and he waltzed into Crimea, Mr. Speaker, in 2014 without firing a shot.

The line has been finally drawn in Ukraine.

This House, on a bipartisan basis, has worked to document Assad's

mass murder in Syria. As a result of that work and the work of the

United Nations Mechanism, we have had a recent conviction in Koblenz,

Germany, of a Syrian intelligence official for crimes against humanity.

The U.N. recently approved an independent inquiry into Ukraine. That

is precisely the same step of a decade ago in Syria. Enacting this

legislation will ensure that the United States contributes to this

effort.

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I encourage all my colleagues to support this important bill, and I

thank Mr. Meeks and Mr. McCaul for their leadership.

Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time at this

moment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from

New Jersey (Mr. Smith).

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend for

yielding, and I thank both Ranking Member McCaul and Chairman Meeks for

their extraordinary leadership on this important bill that is before us

today.

I want to thank Mr. Meeks for his eloquent remarks a moment ago

summarizing the absolute atrocities that are being committed by

Vladimir Putin, his military, and Lukashenko who is the enabler, the

President of Belarus. The gentleman has described in vivid detail just

how horrific this is. And as my good friend from Texas said a moment

ago, my father fought in World War II as well in the South Pacific, but

the crimes that were committed by imperial Japan and by the Nazis are

now being replicated on a grand scale by Vladimir Putin. It has to

stop, and it has to stop yesterday. So I rise in strong support of this

legislation.

Madam Speaker, on March 8 I chaired a hearing at the Tom Lantos Human

Rights Commission entitled \\\`\\\`Accountability for Russia's War Crimes and

Aggression Against Ukraine.'' The day before I also introduced a

resolution calling for accountability for Vladimir Putin for his crimes

against the Ukrainian people and his aggression against Ukraine.

The witnesses could not have been more clear that delay is denial and

that we need to act now.

I was very much involved with the court in the former Yugoslavia and

very involved with the court for Sierra Leone. David Crane led that

effort. I was very involved with the Rwandan court and tried to get a

court for Syria but failed. I pushed hard for it with a resolution on

this floor, and the House did pass it.

But the key here is timeliness. Don't wait.

The ICC, while it may do some good here, and they do have an

investigation that they have instituted, the ICC has been notoriously

slow. They have had less than 10 convictions over 20 years. Now, if

that venue works, great. But my concern--and I think the concern shared

by many, particularly in the NGO community--is that there needs to be

another venue stood up quickly that could make the difference.

At the March hearing, David Crane, the founding Chief Prosecutor of

the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone, talked about an international

tribunal created by the United Nations General Assembly. We are all

thinking, Hey, when it gets to the Security Council, the Security

Council will have two vetoes at least. It will be Russia, and it will

be China. Not so in the General Assembly. They can stand up a court and

they can do it tomorrow that would indict Vladimir Putin on the next

day.

There is certainly enough evidence--keep building the evidence, of

course--but there is enough evidence to do it right now, and that,

hopefully, will tell everybody around him that the time will come when

you will be in the dock as well.

I remember meeting with Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia and going to

Bosnia and Croatia many times during that horrific war in the Balkans.

Time and time again he thought he was untouchable, total impunity

because of that. He killed so many because there was no accountability.

Well, he went to The Hague as part of the ad hoc tribunal, and he died

while the proceedings were underway. But he would have been held to

account.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this. We have already

had one vote in the General Assembly, 141 out of 198 voted and a number

of people abstained. You only need a simple majority.

I did ask our number two at the State Department, at Gregory Meeks'

hearing earlier today, to take back to the administration the idea of

looking at all the venues. But let's get a court constituted

immediately. If the ICC wants to step in at some point, fine. But

indict Putin. Indict him, and you will see some people running like

rats on the ship who were a part of his regime knowing that they, too,

will be held accountable and sent to prison for the rest of their

lives.

Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for

the purpose of closing.

Madam Speaker, we rise today not as Republicans or Democrats but as

Americans and as a united Congress on behalf of the American people

condemning these atrocities.

Madam Speaker, there is a group called the Wagner Group that is

entering Ukraine right now. They are the worst of the worst. They are

mercenaries. They are cold-blooded killers. Mr. Putin has sent them to

Africa to kill people in Mali and Libya, and they have been in the

Donbas previously. They have a saying, these Wagner thugs, these

monsters, that our business is killing, and business is good.

This is sick. They rape women and girls. They kill for a living, and,

yes, now they are entering Ukraine.

Sadly, Madam Speaker, I am not sure Bucha is the last we are going to

see of this, and when the dust clears from Mariupol, God knows what we

are going to find there. God only knows. When they are talking about

mobile crematoriums to hide the evidence of so much carnage and so many

bodies to be burned. This has to stop.

We are standing together united as Americans condemning this, and as

a former Federal prosecutor, yes, to indict Mr. Putin for his crimes

against humanity.

Mr. Putin thought his legacy after this fiasco was going to be

reclaiming the glory of the empire. He would be known as great as the

czars or maybe Stalin. Maybe he is like Stalin. His legacy is not going

to be reclaiming the empire. His legacy is going to be that of a war

criminal. That will impact his psyche, and that will impact all those

around him, including his oligarchs, that no one is safe here, that you

will be indicted internationally, and that you will be brought to

justice.

For without justice in the face of these crimes against humanity,

what good are we? So this is an historic moment.

I want to thank the chairman, as always, on this committee for

working with me to stand up against evil, because that is exactly what

this is.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time for

the purpose of closing.

Madam Speaker, what we are witnessing Russian troops do in Ukraine

represents some of the worst of humankind. Right now, the world is

watching horrifying war crimes taking place. The world is watching the

extent to which Putin is willing to flout international norms and

values in the pursuit of its brutality, and the world is also watching

what we as a nation are going to do about it.

The Department of State has officially concluded that Russian forces

have committed war crimes in Ukraine which were made vividly clear by

the horrifying images emerging over this past weekend from Bucha.

Investigations into these war crimes are already beginning and must

continue.

I am saying today, as chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee

working along with my friend and partner, the ranking member, Mike

McCaul, we will work tirelessly to make sure that justice is delivered

and that the administration works strenuously in concert with partners

and allies to this end because meaningful justice for these crimes

helps prevent such atrocities in the future.

This legislation requires the administration to detail efforts to

preserve evidence and hold perpetrators accountable for the atrocities

that are committed and to detail the means for domestic, hybrid, or

international courts and their tribunals to request access to such

information.

This legislation, the Ukrainian Invasion War Crimes Deterrence and

Accountability Act, will ensure that victims and perpetrators alike

know that the United States of America and the world, we have got to

get those off the seat, those who abstain in the U.N., they see the

same thing. We need them to stand and have a voice.

The world is watching. The world will hold Putin and the Russian

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Forces and those who are in their duma and those who keep pushing this

war that is caused by one man, Vladimir Putin--these abhorrent war

crimes which continue to go on--accountable. It is a war of choice that

Putin has decided to place on Ukraine.

That is why, Madam Speaker, I am so proud to partner with Mike

McCaul in bringing \[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276) to the floor today so that my children, my

grandchildren, my great-great-grandchildren, will know how I stood at

this time in history and how the United States Congress stood at this

time in history.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Jackson Lee). The question is on the

motion offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) that the

House suspend the rules and pass the bill, \[H.R. 7276\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7276), as amended.

The question was taken.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds

being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.

Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of \[House Resolution

8\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/8), the yeas and nays are ordered.

Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this motion

are postponed.

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