WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and author of the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today applauded the committee’s passage of their resolution recognizing Russian actions in Ukraine as genocide. The resolution was also cosponsored by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Angus King (I-Maine), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).

“The crimes being committed against the Ukrainian people throughout Putin’s illegal and unprovoked war go against innumerable international conventions and can only be summarized as genocide,” said Cardin. “The Ukrainian people have shown their determination and ability to fend off the ongoing attacks, but innocent lives will continue to be lost until Russia understands the consequences of their heinous actions. There must be accountability.”

“Putin has made it incredibly clear in his actions and words that his goal is to erase the Ukrainian people’s existence. I have seen firsthand his brutality in Irpin and the Kyiv region,” said Risch. “This resolution condemns the active genocide against the Ukrainian people, calls on the U.S. government to work with our allies to prevent future acts of genocide, and supports investigations to bring these terrible crimes to justice. We must continue to do all we can to support the Ukrainian people in their fight for survival.”

This resolution:

1. Condemns Russia for committing acts of genocide against the people of Ukraine;
2. Calls on the United States, along with NATO and EU allies, to support the government of Ukraine to prevent further acts of Russian genocide against the Ukrainian people; and
3. Supports tribunals and international criminal investigations to hold Russian political leaders and military personnel accountable for a war of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
4. Urges the president to use Global Magnistky sanctions on those responsible or complicit in the Russian Federation’s genocide in Ukraine.

Text of the resolution as introduced can be found here.

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