Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, during Women's History Month, I rise to recognize and pay tribute to the life of Joyce Wise of Sandusky County, Ohio, a remarkable, sparkling, witty, intelligent, generous, and kind woman who loved her family, her community, and her country. She was a political activist. Her indefatigable efforts improved our State, improved our community, and broadened representation for women and men across our country. Joyce would have been the first person to speak up here on behalf of the 2 million American job seekers who have lost their unemployment benefits and the 72,000 Americans who lose their benefits every single week, one every 8 seconds due to Republican obstruction. She would have been the first to point out it is the Republican's failure to extend unemployment insurance that has actually put millions and millions of our families out to sea. If the Republicans want to limit unemployment benefits, they should start by creating more jobs. I am waiting for the first good jobs bill to come to this floor from the other side of the aisle. Joyce Wise understood that every citizen matters and those who work hard for a living shall be respected. May her family and friends draw strength from her unbelievable spirit and may her legacy live on in fighting for justice for all.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I want to thank Congressman Pocan for just a phenomenal presentation this evening and for lifting up those across our country who worked hard for a living and have fallen on hard times. Trying to hold their families together, they go try to get a job, and 1,000 people show up for one job. What are they supposed to do? They have lost footing. They haven't been able to make their mortgage payments. They can't send their kids to college. Many of them get sick. They lose their health benefits. It is not so easy getting a job in today's America. You have been such a leader not just on unemployment benefit extensions, but also on job creation. Since we are commemorating the second anniversary of the passage of the U.S.-Korean so-called ``free- trade agreement,'' I thought I would bring a startling chart to the floor to show why we have unemployment in this country. One of the aspects of the U.S.-Korean so-called ``free-trade agreement,'' passed 2 years ago without my support, was that we were supposed to increase exports and decrease imports. It was supposed to actually be good for America. We were supposed to create more jobs here at home when, in fact, we have actually lost 40,000 jobs when they told us we were going to gain 70,000 jobs as a result of that agreement. Those people who were supposed to have those jobs fell on unemployment benefits, large numbers of them. Here is a chart that shows what has happened. This gives you a sense of how big the difference is. All right. The idea is we are supposed to export cars from here to Korea. Well, guess what, folks? This is how much we export; and this is how much they export to us, so we have fallen so deeply in the red. What happens is, with every $1 billion of trade deficit, you get another 4,000 people out of work. Factories shut down. Suppliers shut down. The math is very simple. You just need to understand it. Now, you know, if you look at the individuals who stand in those unemployment lines, they were told that we were supposed to sell thousands and thousands of vehicles to Korea. Well, I will tell you what: we have sold 3,400 more vehicles in that country--3,400. Guess how much--since the trade agreement was signed with Korea, how many more they have sold to us. 125,000. 125,000. Now, according to my math, they have sold to us 121,600 more cars than we have sold them. That means unemployment in Wisconsin. It means unemployment in Ohio. It means unemployment across this country. It means unemployment in the steel industry, unemployment in the machine tool industry. You can tick it off. Now, they tell us agriculture was supposed to save us. Right? We have positive trade accounts in agriculture, and we are supposed to increase our exports to Korea. Guess what has happened. They are off by 41 percent--not just 4 percent, but 41 percent. Our exports of poultry have fallen since this agreement was signed by 39 percent. Pork exports are down 34 percent. Beef exports are down to Korea 6 percent. U.S. meat producers have lost a combined total of $442 million in poultry, beef, and pork exports to Korea in the first 22 months of the agreement. That means more than $20 million lost every month. So, Congressman Pocan, I am sure you have seen the impacts of this in Wisconsin. We have certainly seen it in Ohio, and we see these big trainloads coming through on rail of all these cars that they bring in here from the west coast that come from points over the Pacific or the Atlantic coming in to our country. If you go to those countries and you look around on the streets, they not only don't buy U.S. cars; they don't buy cars from anyplace else but themselves. So part of what we are doing with unemployment benefits is we are trying to make up for failures in our trade policy that have turned people away, away from the world of work and trying to struggle to make ends meet. I will insert into the Record tonight a special report done by Public Citizen regarding the impacts of the U.S.-Korean so-called free trade agreement, and if this is the same template that the administration intends to use for bringing trade promotion authority in the Trans- Pacific Partnership Agreement up here, don't even start. Don't even start, because we have to reduce this and increase this, and until an agreement does that, we are not going to create more jobs in this country. I will show you something. This is the big hole we are digging out of. We hear a lot about the budget deficit. Well, why do we have a budget deficit? We have a budget deficit because we have a trade deficit. We have had it now for one-quarter century, and every time we get into another one of those trade deals that are lopsided, what happens? We go deeper, deeper, and deeper into trade deficit. More and more companies close down; more and more people lose their work; and then we have to subsidize the differential between imports and exports through unemployment benefits. We are trying to keep the hold, but we are not addressing this problem. This is after China PNTR. They told us: Oh, that will be so great; we are going to sell all this stuff to China. We fell deeper into deficit. CAFTA--then they told us: Oh, Latin America, that will make it better. This is after Korea. It went down again. What are we doing to America? We are ceding away our sovereignty in industry after industry. They have always said that electronics are going to save us. Those big, bad auto States? We are going to do better. Well, guess what? We have now fallen into deficit in advanced electronics. We are not even succeeding in exporting those. The people of this country have to pay attention because the heart and soul is being chipped away piece by piece. Try to find something made in this country--coats? shoes? cars? Some. What we have is state economies like China competing against merchant economies like our own. And the auto industry got in such shape that it took the Government of the United States to prop it up and save it. We were faced with: Will the United States have an automobile industry or not? That is going to happen in other sectors. That is going to happen in steel, and that is going to happen in shoes. They didn't even fight. But if you look at every sector, unemployment, unemployment, unemployment--appliances, unemployment. You can see it by census statistics. No matter what community you go to, we have had these lost jobs; and you look over 10 years, 2000 to 2010, poverty quadruples. Don't tell me those people don't want to work. They had jobs. The jobs disappeared. You can go to these sweatshop countries and you can go find the production. Guess what? You can find TRICO now in Mexico. They used to make windshield wipers in Buffalo, New York. It was a major employer. The man who founded the company had a decent soul. He had a huge foundation that helped that community. It still does to this day. But all those jobs have moved down south of the border. No decent wage, no benefits, nothing. No corporate conscience at all. That is happening from one end of this country to the other. America has a rude awakening ahead of her. It goes through Democratic and Republican administrations, and the American people know it. They know that it doesn't change here. Unemployment benefits are the least we can do for the American people--the people who went to work, they believed in making a good product, and now they have fallen onto hard times. Don't tell me it is all their fault. I have done job fairs in my district. Thousands of people show up. There aren't enough jobs for everyone that wants to work. I would invite any President, any former President. I would like to invite George Bush II to travel with me, because he came to my district. I would like to take him and show him where in Mexico these jobs have gone. Come with me to Guangdong province in China. I will show you where our jobs have gone. I will take you to Honduras. Then, do you know what? I am going to make everybody who comes with me work like those women work, and then you tell me why we face an unemployment benefit crisis in this country and what kind of a society we have here. Those are earned benefits. Those belong to the people who have devoted their lives to going to work, earning a living, and trying to get ahead in an honorable way and in an honest way, and they deserve them. So I want to thank you, Congressman Pocan, for giving me time this evening. Mr. Speaker, I place this article from Public Citizen in the Record that summarizes everything that has gone haywire with the U.S.-Korean so-called free trade agreement. On Second Anniversary of U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, U.S. Exports Down 11 Percent, Imports From Korea Up and Deficit With Korea Balloons 47 Percent--Fueling Congressional Skepticism About Obama TPP Export Promises Export Decline Hits U.S. Farmers and Auto Workers Particularly Hard, Dismal Outcomes of Pact-Used as TPP Template Will Bolster Opposition to Obama Bid for Fast Track Authority Washington, DC.--Two years after the implementation of the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA), government data reveal that the Obama administration's promises that the pact would expand U.S. exports and create U.S. jobs are exactly opposite of the actual outcomes: a downfall in U.S. exports to Korea, rising imports and a surge in the U.S. trade deficit with Korea. Using the administration's export-to-job ratio, the estimated drop in net U.S. exports to Korea in the FTA's first two years represents the loss of more than 46,600 U.S. jobs. The damaging Korea FTA record, detailed in a new Public Citizen report, undermines the administration's attempt to use the same failed export growth promises to sell an already skeptical Congress on Fast Track authority for the Trans- Pacific Partnership (TPP), a sweeping deal for which the Korea FTA was the template. Contrary to the administration's promise that the Korea FTA would mean ``more exports, more jobs'': U.S. goods exports to Korea have fallen below the pre-FTA average monthly level for 21 out of 22 months since the deal took effect. The United States has lost an average of $385 million each month in exports to Korea, given an 11 percent decline in the average monthly export level in comparison to the year before the deal. The United States lost an estimated, cumulative $9.2 billion in exports to Korea under the FTA's first two years, compared with the exports that would have been achieved at the pre-FTA level. Average monthly exports of U.S. agricultural products to Korea have fallen 41 percent. The average monthly U.S. automotive trade deficit with Korea has grown 19 percent. The U.S. exports downfall is particularly concerning given that Korea's overall imports from all countries increased by 2 percent over the past two years (from 2011 to 2013). The average monthly trade deficit with Korea has ballooned 47 percent in comparison to the year before the deal. As U.S. exports to Korea have declined under the FTA, average monthly imports from Korea have risen four percent. The total U.S. trade deficit with Korea under the FTA's just-completed second year is projected to be $8.6 billion higher than in the year before the deal, assuming that trends during the FTA's first 22 months continue for the remaining two months for which data is not yet available. Meanwhile, U.S. services exports to Korea have slowed under the FTA. While U.S. services exports to Korea increased at an average quarterly rate of 3.0 percent in the year before the FTA took effect, the average quarterly growth rate has fallen to 2.3 percent since the deal's enactment--a 24 percent drop. ``Most Americans won't be surprised that another NAFTA- style deal is causing damage, but it's stunning that the administration thinks the public and Congress won't notice if it recycles the promises used to sell the Korea pact--now proven empty--to push a Trans-Pacific deal that is literally based on the Korea FTA text,'' said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch. ``The new evidence of the Korea FTA's damaging record is certain to make it even more difficult for the Obama administration to get Congress to delegate its constitutional trade authority via Fast Track for the TPP.'' The decline in U.S. exports under the Korea FTA contributed to an overall zero percent growth in U.S. exports in 2013, rendering virtually impossible Obama's stated goal to double exports by the end of 2014. At the export growth rate seen over the past two years, the export-doubling goal would not be reached until 2054. While the Korea pact is the only U.S. FTA that has led to an actual decline in U.S exports, the overall growth of U.S. exports to nations that are not FTA partners has exceeded combined U.S. export growth to U.S. FTA partners by 30 percent over the past decade. ``The data simply do not support the Obama administration's tired pitch that more FTAs will bring more exports,'' said Wallach. ``Faced with falling exports and rising, job- displacing deficits under existing FTAs, the administration needs to find a new model, not to repackage an old one that patently failed.'' The Korea FTA has produced very few winners; since the FTA took effect, U.S. average monthly exports to Korea have fallen in 11 of the 15 sectors that export the most to Korea, relative to the year before the FTA. And while losing sectors have faced relatively steep export declines (e.g. a 12 percent drop in computer and electronics exports, a 30 percent drop in mineral and ore exports), none of the winning sectors has experienced an average monthly export increase of greater than two percent. Ironically, many sectors that the administration promised would be the biggest beneficiaries of the Korea FTA have been some of the deal's largest losers. AGRICULTURE: While the administration argued for passage of the FTA in 2011 by claiming, ``The U.S.-Korea trade agreement creates new opportunities for U.S. farmers, ranchers and food processors seeking to export to Korea's 49 million consumers,'' average monthly exports of U.S. agricultural products to Korea have fallen 41 percent under the FTA. U.S. average monthly poultry exports to Korea have fallen 39 percent. U.S. average monthly pork exports to Korea have fallen 34 percent. U.S. average monthly beef exports to Korea have fallen 6 percent. Compared with the exports that would have been achieved at the pre-FTA average monthly level, U.S. meat producers have lost a combined $442 million in poultry, pork and beef exports to Korea in the first 22 months of the Korea deal--a loss of more than $20 million in meat exports every month. AUTOS AND AUTO PARTS: The administration also promised the Korea FTA would bring ``more job-creating export opportunities in a more open and fair Korean market for America's auto companies and auto workers,'' while a special safeguard would ``ensure . . . that the American industry does not suffer from harmful surges in Korean auto imports due to this agreement.'' The U.S. average monthly automotive exports to Korea under the FTA have been $12 million higher than the pre-FTA monthly average, but the average monthly automotive imports from Korea have soared by $263 million under the deal--a 19 percent increase. So while U.S. auto exports have risen very modestly under the FTA, those tiny gains have been swamped by a surge in auto imports from Korea that the administration promised would not occur under the

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you. It is just great to be here this evening and to have so many women gathered on the floor--women Members. That in itself is historic. As an Ohio Representative, I want to voice my support of your bill, H.R. 863, the National Women's History Commission Act, to study the potential creation of a National Women's History Museum in Washington, D.C., on our mall of democracy, our Nation's Mall. I can't thank Carolyn Maloney of New York and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee more on behalf of the people whom I represent. The part of Ohio that I come from has really been the leading region of our State to elevate women to public life. I will enter some of that in the Record this evening, but in a personal way, let me say that, when I first got here in the 1980s, there were 24 women who were serving in the House. A dear, dear Member from Louisiana, Congresswoman Lindy Boggs, took me and shepherded me through those rather unusual days. I can remember finally being elected to the Appropriations Committee. When I walked in, there were only the two of us. Virginia Smith from Nebraska was there. Virginia was a Republican. That was it. And me. It was just a different experience. It was like you ended up in heaven and you just saw who was there for the first time. Over the years, I befriended many people. In 1995, I wrote a book about the women of Congress. I thought it would be easy. But what I found so difficult was, where were the primary materials? I ended up spending more time doing research on women who had served up to that point. I thought, Wow, this is really a huge vacuum. I drove up to Maine to interview then retired-Senator Margaret Chase Smith. I recorded her. She had created next to her home a tiny little museum where she had some of her papers, and I thought, Oh, my gosh, there really isn't any place for this nationally, and yet this is such a significant person--the first woman to have served both in the House and the Senate. So as I got into that book, I realized how these materials were all over the country and not really well gathered at all. Then, one of the women from our State, Mary Regula, who was married to former Congressman Ralph Regula of Ohio, worked for years to build the National First Ladies Museum in Canton, Ohio. I went there for the dedication. I am on the board. I saw how Mary and Ralph fought for that for years. It should have been so easy, but it was so hard. As you go through that particular museum and you start reading the lives of the First Ladies, you are actually shocked to read what really happened and the materials that have been brought together. It was proof to me that the history of women really is yet to be recorded. So I came down here tonight to compliment you on your efforts and to say that in the region that I come from, we have now seen women rise to positions of heading universities and major corporations. Obviously, women are the anchors for their families and communities in so many ways. They are physicians, engineers, attorneys, judges, athletes, Justices of our Supreme Court. Janet Yellen is now the first woman to head the Federal Reserve of our country. Finally, maybe she will straighten things out. They are military personnel and legislators. They are career paths that had once been blocked or not even considered for women. I wanted to come down here this evening and say I stand with you. I am dedicating my remarks tonight in honor of a constituent of my own district, Mrs. Mattie McAlister, who has just celebrated her 90th birthday. Even as she begins her tenth decade of life, she maintains a full schedule. She is a grandma to all. She teaches children--and she has for years--full time at the Grace Community Center in the heart of our community of Toledo. The lessons she has learned in her own life are passed on to new generations as the children learn through example. Mrs. McAlister maintains an active social life as well and is involved civic and church life. Throughout her life she has never hesitated to be involved serving her family, church, and community with dignity and grace. She deserves to be honored in this Women's History Month because she is, fundamentally, a teacher. No child that walks by her doesn't learn. All these years that she has technically been retired, she still teaches in a community that is most in need of her shepherding ways and her incredible gifts as a teacher. So I want to compliment both of you for allowing the American people to record the history of over half of our citizenry in a way that brings them into full view. I can guarantee you that you have begun a project that is going to take the rest of your lives to complete. It is a mammoth undertaking, and one that certainly deserves our attention here in the Congress. How great to be living in this great moment in history where we can actually make it a reality.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank Congresswoman Blackburn so much and Congresswoman Maloney. I share the same passion as Congresswoman Lummis. We want to just lift you and be a part of this team for H.R. 863. We hope that everyone listening this evening will cosponsor this important legislation. As I listened to you talk, I thought I would give some background, having lived through it here. You talk about museums, Congresswoman Maloney, and you go around the Capitol itself, it is a museum, and you go: This doesn't look like America. For three decades, we have been trying to hang portraits of women who chaired committees in this institution, and it has been a herculean struggle. We finally rehung a portrait in the Education and the Workforce Committee for Mary Norton, who chaired that committee. She wrote some of the most important legislation in this country and was the first woman ever to chair that committee. They had her portrait in a closet--in a closet--just like these statues of suffragettes had to be brought up into the main Capitol. When I first arrived in Congress, there were only the statues. There was the portrait of Pocahontas in the main room, and then the statue on the very top, Liberty, on the top of the Capitol. But as you looked at the other portraits, you never saw women. Well, Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio, who headed House Administration many years ago, heard our plea and he finally arranged to have Jeannette Rankin, a Republican and progressive from Montana, but it took us until the 21st century to do it. She was actually elected before the 19th Amendment was passed to the Constitution. She came from Montana, and we didn't even have her portrait in the Capitol hung. In addition, Shirley Chisholm of New York, she is now hung on the first floor. She was the first woman of color to run for President of the United States. The lack of their presence to me is just so blatant, and that is why I want to thank both of you marvelous, marvelous Members and women for seeing this gap in American history. Even the Women's Room in the Capitol is behind closed doors so the general public doesn't always see the women. It is very interesting. I think we are about to open another door and allow the fullness of American history to come forward. I would like to place in the Record the names of citizens from northern Ohio: Toledo's Geraldine Macelwane, appointed the first woman on the Lucas County Common Pleas bench. She won election for four consecutive terms; Julia Bates, our current county prosecutor in Lucas County, Ohio, and Ohio Supreme Court Justices Alice Robie Resnick and Maureen O'Connor, the only two women ever in American history to be elected to the supreme court of our State; In northern Ohio, we have sent many fine women. Obviously, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who serves with us now, and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones before her, the first two African American women ever elected to Congress from the State of Ohio, now joined by Joyce Beatty of Columbus; Mary Rose Okar; and State legislators Nina Turner, Capri Cafaro, Shirley Smith, Nikki Antonio, Nan Baker, Sandra Williams, Barbara Boyd, Theresa Fedor Edna Brown, Linda Furney and Marijean Valiquette, all women who were trailblazers on the political front. Toledo has had a woman mayor, Donna Owens. Tina Skeldon Wozniak is a Lucas county commissioner; and Anita Lopez, our county auditor. Sister Ann Francis Klimkowski was the founding president of Lourdes University, and all of the sisters, the Roman Catholic sisters--the Franciscans, the Sisters of Notre Dame, the Sisters of Mercy, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the Ursuline Sisters who served selflessly across this country in hospitals and schools and gave themselves to their communities almost unrecognized. There was a traveling display of them that finally went around the country, and I hope that becomes a part of this museum. They gave their lives for us. All of those women helped build us and on whose shoulders we are standing, and, as with Congresswoman Lummis, I just wish to place in the Record--when I was young, I thought I would go to the Air Force Academy, and when I sent my letter in and was rejected because I was a woman, I didn't really completely put it together in my mind. I just tried to do something else, and so I applied to Notre Dame University, and was rejected because I was a woman. They didn't allow women to be students there in those days. And then finally to the FBI. I thought it would be great to work for my country. I would be a female Elliot Ness. And, of course, I was rejected because a woman. So another door always opened, but in the area in which I grew up, it wasn't possible. Finally, let me say in memory of our mother, who was never able to obtain her degrees until after she retired. She had a very hard life, and received her high school degree after she went on Social Security. One of her very first jobs was working in a restaurant where, when the minimum wage went into effect her boss, who was an animal, basically cashed the check with the additional amount in it, and then he kept the difference. We didn't have enforcement at the Department of Labor. So each of us have stories about what happened in our lives, and they deserve recording in a museum for the women of America.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for allowing me this time. I want to commend the committee of jurisdiction for bringing this bill before our body in a very timely manner. I am very proud of our country, the standard bearer for liberty across this world. We as a Congress, in this House in particular, are in the leadership role of standing up for people in another sovereign nation who seek to have the same freedoms that we enjoy. These freedoms are hard earned. This resolution today, H.R. 499, allows Congress to take the next steps to our firm and continued commitment to Ukrainian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic advancement so Ukraine can become the great borderland nation she is destined to be. Additionally, H.R. 499 accompanies H. Res. 447, which this House passed on January 29 and on which those of us here on the floor today were original cosponsors. The Russian Federation's military invasion of Crimea is a clear violation of every treaty and agreement to which she is a part, including her membership in the United Nations and its 5-member permanent Security Council. Russia's action is not only a violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity, but also the 1994 Budapest Accord and a complete breach of obligations under the United Nations charter. The United States continues to condemn those violations. We call on Russia to immediately withdraw all military forces from Crimea. No two nations should shed bloodshed anymore that have the histories of Ukraine and Russia. We call on the Obama administration and our European allies to impose financial, trade, and visa sanctions in increasing severity on those in Russia responsible for this travesty. I urge my colleagues to fully support House Resolution 499, and I wish to thank the Ukrainian Caucus founded by Members here today, especially Congressman Sander Levin of Michigan, who has fought at our side for so many decades in word and deed for the freedom of Ukraine. I want to thank the chairman of the committee, Mr. Ed Royce of California, for his continued leadership and vigilance, and Congressman Bill Keating of Massachusetts for allowing me the time today. Most Americans and people in the world don't know the full history of Ukraine, but no place suffered more in the 20th century than that place, through forced starvation of its own people by the then Soviet Union, by the Great Terror of elimination of millions of minority groups in its borders, by then the invasion of the Nazis and the German government a while later. Over 14 million people were slaughtered or starved to death or assassinated or buried alive inside the boundaries of what we call greater Ukraine and Belarus. There is no greater moral obligation for the world community than to stand at Ukraine's side now in her fateful hour. I am so very proud of our country for being a positive force to get a diplomatic resolution and a peaceful settlement so the world community can muster full strength to stop any further bloodshed. What a shame that would be in this 21st century, a century that should be one of democratic advancement and liberty for all.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, my remarks this evening will focus on the crisis facing Ukraine and our world, the most significant test of the will of liberty-loving people since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War. The events halfway around the world remind us how precious our own liberties are and how important it is for the world community of liberty-loving nations, those that respect human life and those that believe in democratic advancement. We have common cause with those who stood in the streets in the subzero temperatures of Ukraine, whose futures are uncertain as I deliver my remarks this evening. The world community of liberty-loving nations and those that respect treaty obligations and their roles as members of the United Nations Security Council cannot let the kind of illegal invasion of another country stand. Russia, one of the permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations, has invaded a sovereign country, violating her territorial integrity and putting off the day that Ukraine can handle its own internal affairs in order to get rid of the corruption of the former regime and allow the voices of people who so very much want to live in a free society to fully develop. Our Nation and the world have to stand up for freedom, democracy, and human rights in Ukraine. These precious values will be diminished everywhere if we fail to raise our voices in support of those whose lives are at risk. The West, involving our allies from around the world, has to exert strong diplomatic initiatives, economic reform, including a financing package that the International Monetary Fund and other nations are putting together, humanitarian relief, if requested, and military assistance to strengthen our NATO alliance and the protection of borders. Recently, the Ambassador from Ukraine to the United States, Ambassador Motsyk, wrote a letter to Members of Congress, and tonight I am going to read it into the Record so every American can hear it: Dear Members of the United States Congress: I would like to begin by thanking the United States of America, and specifically the United States Congress, for the unwavering support of Ukraine at these challenging times. For the past couple of months, Ukraine has been in the world's headlines. The whole world saw the determination of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians who took to the streets to stand for a better life--for freedom, democracy, and the end of blatant corruption that stifled our country for far too long. Yet the Yanukovych regime tried to silence the protesters with guns. Peaceful and unarmed demonstrators were met by special forces with snipers who shot dead almost a hundred people and wounded hundreds more. In an attempt to prevent further bloodshed and resolve the crisis, on February 21, 2014, leaders of the opposition Vitali Klychko, Oleh Tyahnybok, and Arsenii Yatsenyuk on one side, and the corrupt regime of Viktor Yanukovych on the other, signed an agreement that had been negotiated with the help of foreign ministers of Poland, Germany, and France. Russia's Special Envoy, Vladimir Lukin, was present, but refused to sign it. Therefore, the suggestion by the Russian side that the opposition failed to implement the agreement is groundless. The agreement called for an end of violence, restoration of the Ukrainian Constitution of 2004 and early presidential elections. However, on February 22, 2014, President Viktor Yanukovych fled the capitol and de facto removed himself from his constitutional authority. Therefore, on February 27, 2014, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was the only legitimate authority in Ukraine at that time, given the resignation of the government and the President's self-removal from exercising his functions, and restored the 2004 Constitution (approved by 386 votes out of 450), recognized that Viktor Yanukovych removed himself from his constitutional duties through unconstitutional means by 386 votes, including 140 votes from the pro-Yanukovych Party of Regions, and set the early elections of the President of Ukraine on May 25, 2014 (328 votes). That was 328, a vast majority of members of their Congress, of their Rada, voted for that. According to Article 112 of the Constitution of Ukraine of 2004, in case of early termination of powers of the President of Ukraine, the functions of the President of Ukraine shall be carried out by the speaker of the Parliament until a new President is elected and inaugurated, the only legitimate supreme authority in Ukraine is the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada is their Congress. The Rada elected its new speaker, Mr. Oleksandr Turchynov (by 288 votes), who acts as the President of Ukraine until the elections, and appointed Mr. Yatsenyuk as the Prime Minister (by 371 votes). These actions were made in full compliance with Ukrainian laws. That is over three-quarters of the membership. As the American people listen to what is happening there, you are watching a country trying to hold its government together. It was like at the beginning of our Republic when we weren't quite sure exactly how it was all going to be put together, but we were trying mightily to create a republic. However, even after the Ukrainian Congress did that, Russia did not recognize these changes and considers the former President, Viktor Yanukovych, its legitimate President, despite the votes of the Parliament, the highest standing body in the Nation of Ukraine. Producing a piece of paper purporting to be Mr. Yanukovych's letter asking Mr. Putin to send Russian trips to Ukraine, the Federation Council of Russia, upon Mr. Putin's request, approved such a decision. Some of us who are old enough to remember, remember what it was like living with the Soviet Union, a Soviet Union that invaded its neighbors, a Soviet Union that moved its tanks across Europe, a Soviet Union that killed over 14 million of its own people. There are some Americans old enough to remember that. Now, the former President of Ukraine, Mr. Yanukovych, who stole from his own people--those are my words, not the Ambassador's-- Mr. Yanukovych is no longer the President of Ukraine, particularly after his escape from Kyiv on February 22, 2014. Therefore, none of his statements have any significance under either Ukrainian or international law. But in any way, even if the legitimate President of Ukraine called upon a foreign country to intervene with its armed forces in Ukraine, such a statement would also be worth nothing, because under the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 85, only the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, its Congress, can approve decisions on admitting units of armed forces of other states to the territory of Ukraine. The Rada clearly stated it had not made any such decisions. Seeing that Ukraine is determined to pursue its European course, Russia, under the completely trumped up pretext, invaded Crimea with its armed forces. People of Hungarian-American ancestry understand what it is like to be invaded. People of Polish-American heritage understand what it is like to be invaded. People of Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian heritage understand what it is like to be invaded by the Big Bear. There are plenty of American people who understand what the Ukrainian people are facing right now. The Russian forces are seeking to establish complete control over Ukraine's military facilities in Crimea, trying to block and disarm Ukrainian military garrisons and border guard bases, blocking airports and ships. The Russian troops and armored vehicles are moving uncontrollably around Crimea, one of Ukraine's states, and numerous Russian military planes and helicopters violated Ukrainian airspace. Russia's power far outweighs Ukraine, which is nearly defenseless facing this massive force, and yet, Ukrainian soldiers have hunkered down in army bases, in air control stations, trying to stand up as they are surrounded; what courage. What courage. By countless provocations, Russian military is seeking to instigate an armed conflict and replicate in Ukraine the Abkhazia and South Ossetia scenario. However, Ukrainian servicemen act with utmost restraint and don't react to such provocations, but there's a threat that Russia may engineer provocations against its own troops, and blame them on Ukraine. Don't forget, Russia's President was head of the KGB, their secret police. He knows these techniques well. There is also an ongoing accumulation of Russian equipment on the Russian territory in close proximity to the border of Ukraine in the Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk and Chernihiv oblasts. What does that mean? These actions may indicate preparedness of the Russian side for possible intervention into the Ukrainian territory across the land border. The military intervention is accompanied by a huge outburst of fabrications. I can assure you that Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine enjoy the same rights and freedoms as other citizens of my country. Nobody has ever forbidden, forbids, or will forbid the use of the Russian language, as the Russian propaganda tries to demonstrate. In fact, if you go to Ukraine, people speak many languages. They speak Ukrainian, they speak Russian, some speak a combination. Some speak Polish as well. Some speak German. There are many languages spoken in the nation of Ukraine. As of today, there is no proof of any violations of Russian minority rights in Ukraine; there were no appeals to the relevant Ukrainian authorities, neither from those allegedly affected nor from Russia's officials. In accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Parliamentary Commissioner on Human Rights of Ukraine and the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation in case of such appeals to the Russian side, they are transferred to the Ukrainian Ombudsman. The actions by the Russian Federation constitute an act of aggression against the state of Ukraine. Russian Federation brutally violated the basic principles of Charter of the United Nations obliging all member states to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. What has happened is serious. Ukraine in the strongest possible terms protested such actions, but Russia officially rejected Ukrainian proposals to hold immediate bilateral consultation (under article 7 of the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation, and Partnership between Ukraine and the Russian Federation of 1997). Again, another treaty violation. Russia's actions pose a serious threat not only to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but also to the peace and stability in the whole region. Moreover, Russian's action provoke a disbalance in the international security system, and can lead to violations of the regime of international nuclear nonproliferation on a global scale. When in 1994, Ukraine became a party to the Nonproliferation Treaty and voluntarily surrendered the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, it did so exclusively under certain conditions. These conditions envisaged granting security assurances to Ukraine by the five nuclear states. On December 5, 1994, the United States, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom signed the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances to Ukraine. The French Republic and the People's Republic of China support the memorandum by signing separate declarations. Ukraine has thoroughly implemented its commitments under the Nonproliferation Treaty and has taken and fulfilled additional obligations by getting rid of all of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium. Today, we witness the situation when the Russian Federation attempts to undermine the NPT regime not only by violating the Budapest Memorandum, but also by violating the Nonproliferation Treaty, which clearly states in its preamble that ``States must refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner.'' Nonadherence by one guarantor state--the Russian Federation--to its commitments under the Budapest Memorandum by the military invasion in Ukraine creates a situation when the threshold states may consider international legal instruments insufficient to ensure security, territorial integrity and inviolability of their borders. We rely on the commitments contained in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 and the Charter on a Distinctive Partnership between NATO in Ukraine, as well as the U.S.- Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership and other bilateral documents. Ukraine is asking the world community to pay attention. We need help from the guarantor states, the United Nations, NATO, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-- Who, by the way, have been denied access on repeated attempts to enter Crimea unarmed to observe, Russia has denied them entry. --the European Union, all civilized nations to protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity by all available means and to prevent a war which would shatter peace in Europe and will have grave and irrevocable consequences for peace and security on a global scale. Ambassador Motsyk goes on: The aggression must be stopped, and we rely on the strong and unified position of the global community. Military units deployed from Russia must leave the territory of Ukraine immediately, and those belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet must return to their barracks. Armed gangs that came from Russia must also immediately leave Ukraine. Crimea is an inalienable part of Ukraine, with citizens of all ethnic backgrounds. All issues should be resolved through negotiations. There is no alternative to a peaceful and diplomatic solution of the crisis. We hope that wisdom will prevail. We need America's help, and we count on it. Sincerely yours, Olexandr Motsyk Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States I also want to say that there has been some conjecture in the news that we have heard the President of Russia say that Crimea really doesn't belong in Ukraine because, back in the 1950s, when there was a Russian leader by the name of Nikita Khrushchev, that he got drunk one night and he kind of consigned Crimea to Ukraine by accident--by accident--because he wasn't thinking. There are also very interesting facts contained in a book published in Moscow in 2003 entitled ``Ukraine is not Russia.'' Do you know who it was written by? It was written by the former President of Ukraine, President Leonid Kuchma. In chapter 14 of that book, President Kuchma devoted 13 pages to trace the history of Crimea and Ukraine. He called it the ``Crimean knot.'' The former President said--when he discusses the politics around the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine in 1954, he says the then-transition to Ukrainian administration after Ukraine became independent and how he dealt with separatist forces during his tenure as President. Kuchma maintains that the transfer of Crimea from Russia to Ukraine came in response to petitions from the Crimeans themselves, who felt Moscow was too far away and insufficiently responsive to their everyday concerns, where their own country, their own capital of Kiev, was likely to be more attentive, particularly on issues of water and other utilities; so they could provide for Crimea better than Moscow, located far, far away. Crimea then, Kuchma writes, was a desert and frontier land. He is referring back to the post-World War II period, particularly after the devastation of World War II. That area was just violated and leveled to such an extent. It is hard for people in the West who have never experienced that to fully accommodate what happened there. The residents believe Ukraine would be a better fit administratively, so he says--President Kuchma who had headed that country--the story of a drunken Nikita Khrushchev ceding Crimea to Ukraine as a gift is a fairytale. Those are his own words. In 1954, right after Stalin's death--and what a butcher he was-- Khrushchev hardly had the unbridled authority to make such unilateral decisions. At the time, he was vying for power inside his own country. The actual act of transferring Crimea to Ukraine was signed by the head of what was called the Presidium, Kliment Voroshilov, not Khrushchev. So the President of Russia maybe didn't read history, I don't know; but the point was the transfer to Ukraine came in 1954. It was a consequential date, and it has remained in Ukraine as part of that region for the entire second half of the 20th century and the first decade of this century. I thought it was important to put that on the Record. I also wanted to say, as a Member of Congress, I am so very, very proud of the work that has been done by the Verkhovna Rada, the legal authority in Ukraine that is holding that Nation together. They are our counterpart. They are a legislative branch of their government, just as we are here. We for many years now, since 1999, have had a parliamentary exchange with Ukraine, founded and signed by all of our Members, with the former speaker of their Parliament, Mr. Oleksandr Tkachenko, and our Speaker here for many congresses back, Speaker Dennis Hastert. That agreement lives today. Over the last decade and a half, we have had many parliamentary exchanges. We have had teleconferences. We have had journeys by Ukrainian parliamentarians here and American Members of Congress there. We believe that the collective intelligence of Ukraine is contained in that Rada. We are very proud of the work they are doing, and we want to continue working with them. Our agreement says that we want to build upon the strategic partnership between the United States and Ukraine, first established in 1996, and that our parliamentary exchange would serve as a conduit in further developing and continuing economic and political cooperation between our two countries. The types of discussions that we have held--and will continue to do in the future--will encompass economic relations, trade, space exploration, health care, the environment, agriculture, natural resources, and any other matter important to the promotion of close ties between the United States and Ukraine. This is a moment for more robust engagement with the Parliament of Ukraine and our own Congress. The idea is that we can learn from one another, we can be mutually supportive, and we know how important legislative bodies are to nations that actually expand freedoms, rights of free speech, rights of assembly, rights of free press, rights of free expression of religion, and we are very proud to be partnered with the Verkhovna Rada. I would also like to read this evening from an excellent article that was written for The New Republic by Yale scholar Dr. Timothy Snyder, the author of a recent bestseller called ``Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin,'' during World War II. It is incredible work. But in this particular article, he talks about where Putin is vulnerable, where his soft spots are. He states at the beginning of the article: In dispatching troops to Ukraine, Russia has violated international law, flouted multiple treaty commitments, and set the stage for a European war. It is right that the American people are paying attention; it is right that we are using our power to try to put the bear back where it belongs and to try to move the situation to stability. The price of poor diplomacy, I think, would be catastrophic. In this article, Dr. Snyder ends by saying: Russian propaganda derides Europeans as fey and helpless, and we too often tend to agree. But the European Union does have instruments of influence. Its greatest power, of course, is its attractiveness to societies on its borders, such as Ukraine. But even where membership is not an option, and the European Union faces unambiguous hostility, it can act. Russia's very contempt for the European Union might force Europeans to undertake a more active foreign policy and to take responsibility for their neighborhood. The United States has to use our power to help push the situation in that direction. I just wanted to ask if our dear colleague from Iowa, does he have his own Special Order, or does he wish to join in this Special Order? Congressman King of Iowa.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman King for being here this evening, also for attending the briefing this afternoon and for participating fully in that effort. As you were speaking, I have a piece of the Berlin Wall in my office. I knocked it off with a hammer in 1989, and I have it framed, and it will be there for the people of my region forever. It is all framed, and it is labeled in memory of that incredible moment. What we learned during that period of time, post World War II, was that we have to maintain our resolve. I say this to the people of Ukraine that we will not forget you, and if liberty-loving nations use their collective power, change is possible, that change for the better is possible. So, for those who have fear and trepidation, know that there have been models of states before. Take Hungary, which was invaded in 1956. I can remember Cardinal Mindszenty, from my own denomination, being locked up. When the Russian tanks came into Budapest, Cardinal Mindszenty became a symbol of freedom for the whole world. He was held in the U.S. Embassy. They gave him a closet there, and I actually saw it when I was traveling in Budapest. He became a symbol in the West for defiance against the regime, and our government played a role in that. Cardinal Mindszenty was not an American. He was a Hungarian. He was a Roman Catholic prelate. He risked his life, and he never came out of that Embassy. He became a symbol. If we look at what happened in the fifties and the sixties in Poland, as labor union members began to demonstrate and be killed, Father Jerzy Popieluszko lost his life in standing up for their right to have a better way of life, and, ultimately, Pope John Paul II became a Pope from inside the Iron Curtain. We saw how religious leaders struggled with the people to give them full voice. It is just so historically compelling and from another realm, from an advanced realm of where the human soul seeks to bring a better way of life to people who seem to be fighting against the odds. They don't have a lot of guns and weapons and nuclear weapons and battleships at their behest, but there is a spirit that attends to those who want to build a better way of life. In standing with the people and in thinking with the people of Ukraine, we hope we embody that spirit. We were graced with the presence at the National Prayer Breakfast recently with the head of the Orthodox Christian congregations of Ukraine's Patriarch Filaret. We also had other leaders from the Greek Catholic, the Baptist, the Jewish denominations in Ukraine. I have this hope that as the Easter and Passover season approaches that the religious leaders will find a way to invite the world community that wants so very much for the people of Ukraine to be free, that we will find a way to pray for their future together. We hope the religious leaders of Ukraine invite us. I would love to be in that procession. What a place for the world community to be in this Easter-Passover season. There were Muslims and imams who stood in the square in Kiev; there were Orthodox; there were Baptists; there were Catholics; there were Christian leaders; there were union leaders. What courage. They had no weapons. The weapons were all around them, but they stood their ground. The power of that message is not lost on the people of Ukraine. It is not lost on her neighbors. Frankly, it is not lost on Russia. It is a great power to stand with the spirit of those who want to be free and to find a way to do that, to find a peaceful way to do that. The Russian Government has never known freedom. They have never had a free election. They have no concept of how to run a free society. I first traveled into that region in 1973, trying to find the shattered remnants of our family, and the further I got--the further we drove--we ended up, I remember, going through then-Czechoslovakia as we entered. We were the only civilian car on the road. Every single vehicle on the road was either a little, white delivery truck or a military truck. I can remember our beloved mother, Anastasia, and I were sitting there in the car, and I was driving. The further we got as we headed toward Prague, the military soldiers would lift the tarp up on the back of the trucks and look at us--these two women, driving in this orange car with a Western license plate. We must have been a real curiosity, and completely unarmed as they checked you before you went over the border. I remember going over that border--and the gun turrets and the barbed wire--as we proceeded east and how our luggage and our car was examined at every border. The further we got, the more lonely it became until we were the only vehicle on the road as we entered Ukraine for the first time, crossing the border at a place called Uzhhorod, and the Soviets making us wait 5 hours at the border so they could take our car apart. It was just a little car. We had just two suitcases. They couldn't believe we were Americans. They thought we would have brought seven trunks. They looked under the car. They held us at the border until it was night. There were no streetlights, and there were no traffic signs. We had to find our way from Poland to Lviv, the major city on the western side of Ukraine. In riding over the roads, which had huge rocks, I thought, boy, we are going to get a flat. There were no gas stations. I mean, there was nothing. There was no electricity. We just drove into the wilderness in trying to find that town. When we finally got there, which was very late at night, I saw this little sign called ``In-Tourist.'' That was where they allowed guests or foreigners to stay. I said to Mom: This must be the place. It was dusty. There was nobody. There was nobody on the streets, and there were no vehicles. There was just this tiny, little sign in the window. I went in. There was one desk clerk and one gentleman who was dressed in an elevator operator outfit. He didn't speak any English, and I didn't speak his language. He signaled to me that he wanted me to take the car. He was in the car, and we drove it to the Lviv Opera House, which was in complete disarray. I mean it wasn't fixed up like it is today. The car was then seized. It was put behind those closed gates, and I never saw it again until we left the country. So we had to go everywhere on foot, and we were watched everywhere. We were trying to find the pieces of our family. Our grandparents had come to America 100 years before. I remember how grim it was. I remember people didn't laugh a lot. They didn't have a lot to eat. We tried to find our relatives. We had, through relatives in Poland, tried to notify the village from which our grandparents came. We stayed in the hotel for 3 days, and we thought, well, nobody is coming. Then our mother, who spoke Polish and who could understand Ukrainian and Russian, heard our name on the third day. Here people had been trying to find us for 3 days. We were the only people in the hotel, and they were told that we weren't there. I can remember how awful that was. Of course, the room we stayed in was up on the second floor of a building now that they call the St. George Hotel, but then it was just the In-Tourist Hotel. They stationed a very large woman outside our hotel door there, with a table and a water bottle, and she knew whether we were coming or going or who came in, and there was a listening device in the wall. There were no curtains on the windows, and there was no hot water. I just remember how sparse it was. I am probably in Congress today because of what I experienced back then and the understanding I came to have of what life was like there and how difficult it was. I can't go into it all this evening, but I learned about the suffering of the people firsthand. I think one of the shocking experiences I had was how poorly the Soviet government treated its veterans. They asked me for wheelchairs, they asked me for crutches. I couldn't believe how little respect they had for their own people. So when I see Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine and invade Crimea, he has no respect for the people there. We got into the villages. You could only go to certain approved villages in those days. I found that in the village of our grandparents they had to build an outhouse for us to visit, with this little tiny set of stones going back to the outhouse. Americans say, What? I said, Yes. Their life was so basic. I thought I would never eat a potato again in my life because all we ate was potatoes with lard on top for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and tomatoes that had been canned. They gave us the best they had. I thought, So this is communism. The life of the ordinary person is so pitiful. They had no fresh water. I got deathly ill. There were no doctors. You couldn't get medicine. I learned what dysentery was. I learned what unsafe food was. I learned how the relatives, including one of my great uncles, had been tortured and sent to work camps. They called them gulags. His brother died there. I began to understand the full price that families pay who live under those kinds of systems. So President Putin has no clue to what a free society really means. So much unneeded suffering. We have this moment in history to make a difference. I know the American people are considering how to make that difference. Freedom- loving people around the world are as well. I find the judicious and firm acts of President Obama and Secretary Kerry to be very constructive. America can't be the babysitter for the world. On the other hand, there is a conscience that rises in freedom- lovers, and, thinking together, America will make the right decisions, with her allies around the world, to right this situation and to allow those who want their liberty, after paying such an egregious price, to have that moment in their own history. I see our dear colleague from New York, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who is appropriately attired this evening in full Ukrainian spirit, has joined us. Welcome.

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney of New York for taking time out of a very busy day to work way over time tonight and to be here and to join our plea for the people of Ukraine. Thank you for your leadership in the Ukrainian Caucus, and thank you for wearing a peasant blouse, which has a long, deep history in Ukraine. Ukraine breadbasket to Europe breadbasket to the world--now the third largest exporter of grain, despite all of the hardship that the corrupt government of that country has placed on their farmers, who simply want to earn a living from the soil and share their great gifts with the world. They have faced so many roadblocks. Thank you for appreciating the artistry and magnificent beauty of that country and for your steadfast support of liberty both here and abroad. You have just been a magnificent member. We thank you so much for coming down here this evening. As she was speaking about New Yorkers who are going to gather in Four Freedoms Park in New York City, a home to people from throughout the world, I wanted to say that there are more Ukrainians living outside Ukraine than inside its borders because of the tragedies that have occurred there over the last century and more, particularly because of the Stalin and Soviet period. Ukrainians live in Canada, Portugal, Italy, Argentina, and Australia. The pieces of humanity are strewn across the globe, and as I mentioned in earlier remarks this evening, millions of her own people were either starved to death or murdered. They were killed by their own government, the government of the Soviet Union, which tried to eliminate Ukrainian culture, Polish culture, the Jewish religion. Now we are worried about the Tatars in Crimea because they don't share the majority religion. They are a minority. The history of tyrannical leaders in that part of the world has, unfortunately, been to kill those who don't agree with them rather than to create a civil society in which all views can be expressed, even though we might not agree with them. So we worry about the people there. We are trying to be a voice for them here in our own country--a voice for freedom, not for brutality or repression. A voice for encouragement, not force alone. I want to thank Congresswoman Maloney and Congressman King for joining us this evening. May God bless America, and may God bless the people and the legitimate government of Ukraine as she seeks to build a freedom of liberty and justice for all her people. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member of the full committee, Mrs. Lowey, for yielding me this time. I am very proud of the Appropriations Committee at this moment for bringing the first bill to the floor that stands with freedom-lovers in Ukraine and around our world. We know a threat to liberty anywhere is a threat to liberty everywhere, and I rise in heartfelt support of this loan guarantee legislation to allow Ukraine time to stabilize and secure its liberty. This money will be repaid, and I commend the bipartisan leadership of this House in acting with dispatch. President Obama and Secretary Kerry have been working overtime on Ukraine's crisis to exert every effort to bring the nations of the free world together in their mutual self- interest, and that interest is liberty. There are some Russian violations of international law in treaties that are so abhorrent they demand the strongest action. Russia's invasion of its undefended neighbor, Ukraine, cannot be allowed to stand. The now-20-year-old Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurance, signed in 1994 by the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine, set the path for Ukraine to give up thousands of nuclear weapons, and she remains undefended because of it. The Budapest Accords welcomed the accession of Ukraine to the treaty of nonproliferation of nuclear weapons as a nonnuclear weapons state, so her inability to defend herself against such a powerful neighbor is very clear. This week, in a joint statement, leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and our country said: We join together today to condemn the Russian Federation's clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in contravention of Russia's obligations under the UN Charter and its 1997 basing agreement with Ukraine.

Ms. KAPTUR. This diverse group of nations from throughout the world coming together further illustrates the isolation Russia is certain to face if she does not relent and fall back from its aggressive push into Crimea. In summarizing my remarks today, let me place on the Record, from the last century, no place in the world suffered more than the land of Ukraine, no place had more people forcibly starved, murdered, brutally beaten, buried alive, imprisoned, arrested into forced labor, including some of my ancestors. I know, having traveled to Ukraine, how much the people of that great country want liberty. This is a moment that history will record in our new century the 21st. Joining with nations around the world, let us give Ukraine a bit of a lift to get her over this critical period she is facing. I also wish to place into the Record information about what the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has done in Ukraine to date. I will tell the body today that journalists are not being allowed to report from Crimea. They are being blocked and beaten by the government of Russia, from the reports we are getting on the ground. How is the world community to know the full truth of what is occurring? Russia is moving the world backwards, not forwards. This bill is an important step in helping Ukraine to transition as we join with countries from throughout the world to condemn the violation of Ukraine's sovereign borders and to help give her the courage to stand up to those who would take her liberty away. This will be the first time in modern history that that country has a chance to become the truly borderland great nation that she is meant to be, reaching west and north and east and south. I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation, which is a loan guarantee to help lift that country over this most trying time and difficult crisis in its recent history. I thank the gentlelady for yielding me this time. [From Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Secretary General, March 6, 2014] OSCE to Send Military and Civilian Personnel to Ukraine Update at 12:00, 6 March: As of now, twenty-two OSCE participating States are participating in the activity, having sent up to two representatives each. Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. One representative from the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre is also participating. Vienna, 5 March 2014.--Eighteen OSCE participating States decided to send 35 unarmed military personnel to Ukraine in response to its request. The matter was discussed at a joint meeting of the Permanent Council and the Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) in Vienna on 4 March 2014. The visit is taking place under Chapter III of the Vienna Document 2011, which allows for voluntary hosting of visits to dispel concerns about unusual military activities. Ukraine has requested all OSCE participating States to send military representatives from 5 to 12 March 2014, starting in Odessa. This is the first time this mechanism has been activated. As of now, eighteen OSCE participating States have responded positively to the request sending up to two representatives each. Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. One representative from the OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre will also be participating. The military visit participants are on their way to Ukraine now. OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said: ``It Is my hope that this military visit will help to de-escalate tensions in Ukraine. By providing an objective assessment of the facts on the ground, the OSCE will be better placed to foster a political solution to the current crisis through dialogue.'' ``Confidence-building and transparency are key elements of the OSCE approach to security, which seeks to foster openness and dialogue as the best way to resolve conflicts in our region,'' he added. The Vienna Document 2011 is one of the main confidence- building measures developed by the OSCE. Under this document, all participating States are required to share information on their military forces, equipment and defence planning. The Document also provides for inspections and evaluation visits that can be conducted on the territory of any participating State that has armed forces. Note to editors: Chapter III of the Vienna Document 2011 (full text see at http://www.osce.org/fsc/86597)

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in continued support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation of Ukraine and stand with the people of that country for their liberty and full human rights. The first objective of international efforts to calm Ukraine must be the overriding goal of no more bloodshed. The world community of nations must step up forcefully to affirm Ukraine's new government, and not just for the sake of tomorrow. Morally, nations that had supported Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin or were bystanders to communism and Naziism that slaughtered millions and millions of people inside those borders owe Ukraine an historical debt. No place on Earth suffered more. As the demonstrators on Maidan have proven, tyrants and corrupt officials couldn't kill Ukraine's people's longing for freedom and liberty. This is Ukraine's moment, and it is a breakpoint in liberty's march that history will judge. Where do we go from here? Our path must be diplomatic, economic, humanitarian, and military. Diplomatically, the international community must affirm Ukraine and her interim government. I commend President Obama and Secretary Kerry for their leadership. Yesterday, the OSCE announced that 18 participating countries will send 35 unarmed military observers to Ukraine. Let them reveal the truth. Countries with large Ukrainian diaspora, like our country, along with Poland, Canada, Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Kazakhstan, should seek constructive means to help. Further, the world community and OSCE should assure sufficient election monitors are recruited and trained for the upcoming elections in Ukraine on May 25. Then, economically, the world community should proceed to work through Ukraine's financial challenges. However, any financial assistance to Ukraine should be contingent on repayment, and Ukraine's new government must clearly define performance standards and lay out a reasonable plan to repay any foreign aid. Transitioning from a kleptocracy to a functioning state will require technical assistance, management expertise, and loaned personnel from governments throughout the world. In addition, the United States and other nations should impose targeted financial, economic, trade, and travel sanctions on Russian assets on a timetable that demonstrates our resolve. The United Nations and global supporters of Ukraine must respond if Ukraine requests humanitarian relief to those places most in need. As long as Russian aggression persists, its participation in the G8 should be suspended. And, finally, militarily, the parties to the 1994 Budapest accords should enforce that agreement. In addition, Ukraine exists in an inferior military posture to its more powerful neighboring states. To remedy this shortcoming, NATO should create a new category of provisional membership for nations whose military has fought alongside NATO member forces in the war on terrorism. Ukraine has. As a true borderland region, Ukraine is positioned to be truly a bridge between East, West, North, and South in that most important region of Central Europe. The free world must walk with Ukraine as she moves toward a more free and democratic future. There is no turning back.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, during Black History month, I rise today to recognize Lancelot C.A. Thompson of Toledo, Ohio. Toledo Blade newspaper reporter Federico Martinez wrote about Dr. Thompson when a room at the University of Toledo was dedicated in his name recently. A chemistry instructor, Dr. Thompson was the first African American professor hired by the University of Toledo, in 1958. He explained his initial reception to the reporter: while driving to work through what was considered a white neighborhood, ``The police would pull me over and accuse me of failing to stop at the stop sign. `What are you doing over here?' the police would ask me. When I told them I was faculty at the university, they would call me a liar and give me a ticket.'' Arriving on campus the reception was no better. School security would try to stop him from entering the faculty parking lot. Sometimes they would threaten him; other times they would mock him for claiming that he, a black man, was a professor. ``They tried to stop me from parking in the lot,'' Dr. Thompson said. ``But I did anyways.'' Dr. Thompson retired from the University of Toledo in 1998 after 40 years of teaching. He recently returned to campus for a special honor: the unveiling of the Lancelot C.A. Thompson Meeting Room in the University of Toledo's Student Union. At the ceremony, University of Toledo Athletic Director Mike O'Brien noted, ``Over the years, Lance has been an adviser, a mentor, and most of all, a friend to many of our student-athletes,'' Among the over one hundred attendees was Dr. Thompson's longtime friend John C. Moore who said the recognition was both overdue and well-deserved. He explained that Dr. Thompson was a pioneer who paved the way for other African American professionals at the university. ``He is such an intelligent gentleman who is really concerned about the fate of his fellow man. He's very educated and still wants to learn something new every day. He's fearless, and he makes it look so easy.'' Lancelot Thompson was born and raised in Jamaica. His parents were teachers. He was an accomplished athlete who competed in the broad jump and 400-sprint relay during the 1946 Pan American Games held in Barranquilla, Colombia, and again during the games held in Guatemala. Both times he took second-place honors in the competition. He was a 24- year-old high school teacher when he received track scholarship offers from Morgan State University in Maryland and Tennessee State University. He recalled, ``Many people in Jamaica, they told me, go to Morgan State; they will lynch you in Tennessee.'' So he boarded a plane for Morgan State University and it didn't take long for Dr. Thompson to be introduced to American racism and discrimination. ``Jamaica is a biracial country, so we didn't have those problems,'' he said. ``In Jamaica, it's more about class issues. The first time I got to an airport I saw no black people, so I started to look for a place to sit down. A black janitor came over and told me I wasn't allowed to sit in that section. He sent me to another part of the airport where other black people were. That was my first experience in America.'' The airport experience was just the beginning of more to come. The reporter writes that upon boarding a train to Baltimore he was dragged and deposited in the ``black coach'' section of the train. ``Everybody in there were black southerners,'' Dr. Thompson said. ``I didn't understand a single word they said.'' In spite of the racism, Lancelot Thompson earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from Morgan State in 1952 and a doctorate in physics and inorganic chemistry from Wayne State University in 1955. He went home to Jamaica with the goal of ``trying to revolutionize the way we were teaching chemistry. The school books in Jamaica were old and outdated, and it was difficult to get the `powers-that-be' to understand how much chemistry had changed over the years.'' In 1957 Dr. Thompson attended a job fair in New York. He explained to the reporter that he applied for and received numerous interview requests. He soon realized that was because potential employers didn't know he was black. ``A guy from Alabama, when he saw me, he turned so red I thought he was going to have a heart attack. `You know where Alabama is, don't you?' the man asked me. `Yes sir,' I told him. `You know we probably don't want you,' he said. `I probably don't want to go,' I said.'' When Dr. Thompson applied for the University of Toledo job, he included a photo so there would be no surprises. The person who interviewed and hired him, Jerome Kloucek, dean of the arts college, never mentioned race, Dr. Thompson recalled in the newspaper feature. ``Some of the faculty was a little uncomfortable, but I was comfortable. I was used to being around white people.'' In addition to teaching chemistry, Dr. Thompson created the university's first track team. More importantly, he started the annual Aspiring Minorities Youth Conference. He served as assistant dean for undergraduate study in the college of arts and sciences from 1964-66, becoming the dean of student services from 1966-68. He was then promoted to vice president of student affairs, from which he retired in 1988. He retired as a teacher in 1998. Along the way, in 1964, Dr. Thompson was voted the school's Outstanding Teacher. It was always important to Dr. Thompson to mentor young people, especially African American young people. He explained, ``Being the only black faculty at the university for four years, I had to be a mentor. There was nobody else for them. It didn't matter if it was a black, white, Hispanic, or Asian student, my job was to teach and mentor all students.'' Explaining he was even harder on African American students Dr. Thompson said, ``Oh yes, I was hard on them. I made sure they did the work. I was harder on them than the other students because I knew they had to be a little better than the whites to get the job. You had to be prepared.'' Lancelot Thompson's legacy is carried on in those students and all those he taught. His footprint on the school carries forth through today. We salute his spirit, his tenacity and his courage even as we offer thanks for all he has given to decades of University of Toledo students and our community. Thank you always, Dr. Lancelot Thompson.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, as we reflect on the events of the past month in celebration of the contributions made to our nation by African Americans, I would like to submit Diane Nash's story. Diane Judith Nash was born on Chicago's South Side on May 15, 1938. Diane's father, Leon Nash, migrated north from Mississippi and held a clerical job in the military during World War II. Dorothy Bolton Nash, Diane's mother, also migrated north from her Tennessee birthplace. Raised by her grandmother, Carrie Bolton, until she was seven, Diane was taught to turn a blind eye toward racial injustice and strive to be a polite and accepting girl. Growing up, she attended the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament parochial school, which was operated by nuns who taught only minority students. Later she would attend public high school and go on to Washington, DC, to begin her college career at Howard University. In 1959, Diane decided to transfer to Fisk University in Nashville. It was in Nashville where she was first exposed to the full force of Jim Crow and its effect on the lives of African Americans--exclusion from restaurants, schools, and facilities common to everyday life. After experiencing such shocking discriminatory events, Diane decided to search for a way to challenge segregation. She began attending non- violent civil disobedience workshops led by Rev. James Lawson. Rev. Lawson had studied Mahatma Gandhi's techniques of nonviolent direct action and passive resistance while studying in India. By the end of her first semester at Fisk, she had become one of Rev. Lawson's most devoted disciples. In 1960 at the age of 22, she became the leader of the Nashville sit- ins, which lasted from February to May. Unlike previous movements, which were guided by older adults, this movement was led and composed primarily of students and young people. Students would sit-in at segregated lunch counters, accepting arrest in line with non-violent principles. Diane, with John Lewis, led the protesters in a policy of refusing to pay bail. While participating in the Nashville sit-ins, Diane first met one of her fellow protestors, James Bevel, whom she would later marry and raise two children, a son and a daughter. Diane helped found the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and quit school to lead its direct action wing. In 1961, Diane and ten fellow students were arrested in Rock Hill, South Carolina for protesting segregation. Once jailed, they would not accept bail. Originally fearful of jail, Diane was arrested dozens of times for her activities. In 1962, although she was four months pregnant she faced a two year prison sentence for contributing to the delinquency of minors whom she had encouraged to become Freedom Riders and ride on the buses. ``I believe that if I go to jail now,'' she wrote in an open letter, ``it may help hasten that day when my child and all children will be free--not only on the day of their birth but for all their lives.'' In September 1963, Diane and others were shocked by a church bombing in Birmingham which killed four young girls. After learning of this, they committed themselves to raising a non-violent army in Alabama. This plan eventually culminated in the Selma to Montgomery marches for voting rights in Alabama in early 1965. Marchers repeatedly attempted to cross the Pettus Bridge, only to be attacked by Alabama troopers armed with clubs and tear gas. The initiative culminated in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which guaranteed the vote to citizens regardless of race. President John F. Kennedy appointed her to a national committee that prepared for the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Diane also worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as an organizer, strategist, field staff person, race relations staff person, and workshop instructor. In 1965 Diane was awarded the Southern Christian Leadership Council's Rosa Parks Award for planning and carrying out the tumultuous campaign for voter registration in Selma, Alabama. In 2003, Diane received the Distinguished American Award presented by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. A year later, the LBJ Award for Leadership in Civil Rights was bestowed on Diane by the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. One of her most recent honors was the award of the National Civil Rights Museum's freedom Award in 2008. Diane Nash is an outspoken advocate of civil rights for African Americans, women, veterans and young people. She is one of the most iconic female leaders to emerge from the era now commonly known as the civil rights movement. She has spoken at countless colleges and universities, youth organizations and human rights conferences. She currently resides in Chicago, where she has worked for several decades in tenant organizing housing advocacy, and real estate. Diane's life work has been to empower young people to feel that they can bring awareness to any injustice they may be experiencing in their lives through non-violent means. Recently, Mrs. Nash traveled to Toledo, Ohio to speak at the University of Toledo's Aspiring Young Leaders Conference. She held the young audience spellbound as she related her life's story and quest for full equality of all people in our socity. At age 76, Diane Nash is inspiring the next generation and leading nonviolent advancement in American society. What an incredible and rare woman is she. Thank you Mrs. Diane Nash for your brave and effective life dedicated to highest principles of human progress.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to pay tribute to an American hero, Mr. George Sajewych, a U.S. citizen who experienced firsthand the violence in Kiev while peacefully assembling in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. An esteemed, long-time retired broadcaster for the Voice of America, originally from Chicago, Mr. Sajewych was one of many journalists to have endured ruthless violence firsthand when he was beaten by Berkut police forces. The attack left him bleeding in the street, surrounded by the shreds of the helmet that he had worn for protection. His motorcycle helmet shattered by the beating. He was hospitalized after having suffered serious injuries. I commend Mr. Sajewych for his fortitude and continuing resolve in standing for freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press, the fundamentals of an open society. I urge our President to swiftly impose targeted financial and travel sanctions on any Ukrainian Government official found to have endorsed this brutal violence and to channel all financial assistance offered by our country to Ukraine only to those who are committed to upholding the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of press. Let us praise Mr. Sajewych for his courage and inspiration, standing at liberty's side.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, this weekend the world watched the close of the Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Our Nation distinguished itself. Right next door, in the nation of Ukraine, another Olympic struggle was going on as tens of thousands of young people, the future of that country of Ukraine, rose in peaceful assembly and achieved their goal of removing corrupt leadership and of offering the hope that life in Ukraine could be better for all. May I encourage the leaders of Ukraine's Parliament, the Verkovna Rada, to rise to this occasion, to embrace all of that great country, to keep the peace, to move toward democratic reform, so that the full potential of that remarkable place on this Earth can be reached for the first time in modern history. May Ukraine extend west and south and east and north. Her power is yet to be fully realized, and we congratulate those who are moving toward peaceful progress in that nation. May God go with you.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I want to thank Ranking Member Eliot Engel of New York for his great leadership and Chairman Chris Smith of New Jersey for bringing this vitally important resolution up tonight. Madam Speaker, I rise to express my support for House Resolution 447, supporting the courageous democratic aspirations of the people of Ukraine. I want to thank, on a bipartisan basis, Congressman Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania for his cochairmanship of our Ukrainian Caucus. We all stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. The people of Ukraine have the human right to choose their own future, free of intimidation and fear. What courage it took for these interfaith religious leaders at Maidan to stand with their religious symbols, icons, and crosses and other religious garb, along with their leaders, with their backs to the barricades, protecting the students as they faced the police. Over the past few months, the world has stood witness as Ukrainians have risen up, united in their desire for a more free, transparent, and democratic Ukraine. If one knows anything about the history of Ukraine, one knows what it took to do that in that place. The passage of House Resolution 447 here this evening means that our Congress stands in solidarity with those in Maidan and that we lend our support to the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians peacefully demonstrating in the freezing, bitter subzero temperatures for over 2 months for a more democratic and better future for all their people. If there is a God--and I believe there is--surely he or she will look down on this place and bless these people. The Ukrainian national anthem opens with the words: Ukraine's glory has not yet died, nor her freedom; upon us, fellow compatriots, fate shall smile once more. Indeed, fate shall smile once more upon Ukraine. Long live Ukraina. Long live her young people who hold in their hearts the democratic future of that nation. Madam Speaker, I urge the passage of H. Res. 447. I say to my colleagues here, this is a most important crossroads in history. Truly, this country can be the borderland nation that links West and East and South and North in that important part of the world. The world needs Ukraine. She is already the third-largest grain exporter to the world's people. Her talent, her artistry, her vision has been quashed for so many, many, many decades and generations. Now is her moment, and we stand with her people, aspiring to that better day for all.

Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR. I would just say to the gentleman, looking back at the history of Ukraine and that region, the fact that you would have leaders of the Jewish faith, leaders of the Islam faith, leaders of Christian faiths, be they Orthodox or Uniate or Roman Rite, all--all-- risking their substance, it is just incredible. This should be on the front page of every newspaper in the world, and world opinion should move progress forward and help those people who have stood in that bitter cold weather for over 2 months. Unless you have traveled to Ukraine and experienced those temperatures yourself, you would not fully appreciate what they are enduring.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to the life of a great American, Patricia McNamara Beazley, a magnificent woman and citizen whom we laid to rest today in Toledo, Ohio, after a mass at Gesu Church, a place that she called home. Pat Beazley was an extraordinary human being. The minute you met her you felt like a member of her family. She was an artist of family, a dedicated wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and an artist in her own right. Her paintings abound not just in her home but throughout our country and, certainly, in her home community. Her son, Michael--a personal friend--her daughters, her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren, and her wonderful husband, Ben, just know that our entire community stands with you. We know what a builder of family and community Pat was. We celebrate her life--her life of love, her life of contributions to others, her very quiet way of building friendships and, in so doing, building a community that was strong--her church family, her community of artists and, obviously, her own family. We say ``thank you'' to the Beazley Family for sharing Pat with us these many, many decades. We have been so blessed by her presence, and the beauty of her life and the beauty of her works will remain with us always. May she rest in peace, and may God give comfort to those who remain behind to carry forward her legacy. [From: Toledo Blade] Patricia Beazley, 83, an award-winning artist known for her skill in portraiture and in depicting family scenes and children, died Wednesday in her Sylvania Township home. Mrs. Beazley developed complications after a series of strokes the last few years, her son, Michael, said. Mrs. Beazley and her loving, surviving husband, Ben, raised three gifted children--Michael, Mary Beth and Trish. Their grandchildren & great grandchildren pay tribute to their lifetime of love and devotion. Pat was an artist in every sense of the word. She accepted commissions and she created formal portraits, such as of professors and administrators at the University of Toledo and Ohio State University. Families commissioned her to depict a mother with a baby or a montage of family scenes. On occasion, she was asked on short notice to do a portrait that could be displayed at a wake or funeral service. She created the familiar picture, ''Daughter Too,'' of the pig-tailed girl eating an apple on the side of Al Peake & Sons & Daughter Too produce trucks. ``Her biggest strength as an artist was she really captured the likeness,'' her daughter Mary Beth said. ``A friend of hers stopped by and said, `She captured the spirit.' '' Mrs. Beazley worked primarily in pastel, though she was versed in other media. ``She enjoyed anything from the still lifes to the flowers,'' her son said. ``Her line of pencil drawings she used to call `captured moments.' She always took joy in the craft and a special pride in the reactions of the families she did work for.'' Her work has been selected for the annual Toledo Area Artists Exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art and for a Pastel Society of America exhibition and has been included in other shows at the museum and through the Athena Art Society and other groups. She received a Grumbacher Bronze Medallion, and at several exhibitions, her works were deemed best-of- show. Her mother was an amateur artist, but Mrs. Beazley did not take an art class until she was 39. She actively resisted training as a child, she told The Blade in 1981, because ``I just knew I wasn't good enough.'' She also was active at Gesu Church and volunteered for the League of Women's Voters--she produced a public television program featuring debates among local candidates--and on behalf of civil rights. She'd painted a mural on the kitchen wall when the family lived in Chicago. She began sketching.--See more at: http:// www.leg acy.com/obituaries/toledoblade/obituary.aspx ?n=patriciabeazley&pid=169562150#sthash.VE uVwBOk.dpuf

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the further outsourcing of American jobs through more unfair trade agreements. The Obama administration is currently working on the next executive branch job-killing so-called ``free trade'' agreement. They are calling it the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP. The contents of this agreement have been kept secret from the American people and Members of Congress and, as well, the general public wherever they might live. The administration is using the same old failed trade model called ``fast track'' to negotiate this, which means whatever they negotiate, we don't get to see, and then they bring it up here under a fast track procedure. That process ties our hands. They bring it up in one lump-sum vote, with no amendments allowed. And they usually do it in a lame-duck session of Congress after election and just try to ram it through, usually very late in the evening, often in the early morning hours. Since fast track was first used, the United States has accumulated red ink--trade deficits, more imports coming in here than exports going out--for nearly three decades. We have accumulated over $9 trillion in trade deficits. If you want to know why we have a budget deficit, it is because we have a trade deficit. We have outsourced too many jobs to low-wage havens. Go out and try to buy anything made in America; right? The American people know this inherently. More than 7 million good- paying American manufacturing jobs have been lost since fast track was first passed. Every poll of U.S. opinion tells this Congress: What do the American people care about? Jobs and the economy. Jobs and the economy. They care about economic recovery. So why is this administration using the same old model that goes back to 1975? Now they are looking at the Pacific, the Pacific region, as if we haven't had relations with some of those countries before. But every other agreement has resulted in red ink. The American people want job creation, not job outsourcing. Actually, if this President were to refurbish this failed trade model and really fix it, it would be the first time in modern history that our trade policy would yield job creation in this country, net job creation in this country and real income growth for the American people. Now, let's look at a couple dimensions of this. The trade deficit in 2012, the last year for which we have confirmed numbers, was half a trillion dollars, $534 billion. That alone resulted in over 2 million lost jobs in this country. That number has just been getting worse with each passing decade, more and more jobs lost. Let's look at some of the countries. Let's take China. The trade deficit in 2000 with China was about $83 billion. It has increased four fold. It has quadrupled. In 2012, for which we have confirmed numbers, we had over $315 billion in trade deficit with China. Every billion equals 4,000 lost jobs in this country. So we are net negative with China--a job loss of over 1,200,000 more U.S. jobs. With Japan, we have been solidly negative for decades. In 2012, our trade deficit with Japan was $76 billion. With Mexico, they said after NAFTA, oh, it is going to be great for America; there are going to be millions of jobs in the United States. Wrong. Our jobs were outsourced. In fact, in the year 2000, we had a $24 billion deficit with Mexico. By 2012, that had gone up three times more to $61 billion in the red--in the red--our jobs going there, their exports coming here, not the reverse. That's 244,000 more lost jobs. The numbers don't lie. In Korea, we had a discussion with some of the President's advisers. They said, well, you know, that was supposed to be the new trade model, the Korean trade deal that this President proposed was going to change everything. Well, guess what? We are in the red with Korea, too. In 2000, we already had a $12 billion trade deficit. Yes, more red ink. After the new Korean free trade deal, in 2012, it has nearly doubled. It is $16.6 billion. And in 2013, just through November, it is nearly $20 billion. That is a doubling of the trade deficit with Korea and 80,000 more lost U.S. jobs. So if this fast track free trade is such a great trade model, how is it working for the American people? It isn't. None of these trade deals are working. It might be working for certain transnational corporations who can pay their investors more because of the profits they are making off of cheap labor in low wage haven and the lack of environmental regulations in these other countries, but it is not working for the benefit of the American economy, the American people. It is time to change the trade model. Let me just put two other numbers on the record here. We have over 1.5 million Americans over 45 years of age who still are unemployed. These are people who have worked their whole lives. We can't even get them unemployment benefits and their jobs have been shipped out someplace else. Mr. Speaker, later in the week I will talk about the cost of environment degradation in this country because of imports that are not properly regulated by the Department of Agriculture coming over our border and doing harm from coast to coast. It's long, long over due for a new trade model that benefits our nation and creates jobs here at home.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, tonight, the President will deliver his State of the Union address to the Nation. Our Nation is great because of the patriotism, strength, and self-sacrifice of our people. In that spirit, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to give honor to two fallen Toledo firefighters, Stephen Machcinski and James Dickman. Mr. Machcinski is survived by his parents, sister, and brother. Mr. Dickman is survived by his wife, 3-year-old daughter, 1-month-old son, and parents. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these brave men. These heroes responded to a two-story apartment building fire where people were reported inside. Toledo Mayor Michael Collins said it best: The average person would run in the opposite direction than they do, but that is their profession. As we all go about our busy lives every day, we often fail to recognize that we likely owe our way of life to someone else because of their sacrifice. Firefighters, police officers, and other emergency and law enforcement personnel put their lives on the line for us every single day. We should all take a moment every now and then to say thank you to these extraordinary citizens. Our hearts go out to the families who lost such brave and generous loved ones. May they be comforted with the knowledge that Stephen and James died in a noble profession founded to protect and serve our people and our Republic. They accomplished their mission for our city. We are forever indebted to them, and are flying flags over this Capitol today in their memory. Calling For an End to Violence in Ukraine

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I want to reference as well this morning the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads: Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. Sixty-five years after the ratification of this most important document, police in Ukraine continue to brutally fend off protesters and journalists, who have been demonstrating for over 2 months in the bitter cold for their human rights and democratic freedoms. We know there have been countless injuries, and now, sadly, there have been five deaths. Kiev, a beautiful and historic city, now resembles a war zone, covered with ash and burning fires. The situation in Ukraine grows more dire everyday, and we in Congress have the responsibility to stand with Ukraine's freedom marchers. I call on our fellow Members to support the passage of H. Res. 447, which supports the democratic aspirations of the people of Ukraine and calls for condemnation of the regime's undemocratic practices. We implore President Yanukovych and the opposition leaders to advance the cause of freedom for all the people of Ukraine. Last evening, Ukraine's parliament rightly repealed its early passage of the anti-free assembly laws, and its prime minister resigned. These are hopeful signs to calm the unrest. As we gather this evening to learn about the state of our own Union, let us not forget the state of our trusted allies around the world. I ask President Obama to please draw attention to the economic and political crisis in Ukraine here tonight. No more blood should be shed in Ukraine. The world community looks to Ukraine to live up to the magnificent nation she can be, linking East and West, North and South. Her potential is unlimited. Ukraine's people, who have suffered so much, not just currently, but over the last century, are owed their most deserved day in the sun. History's clock is ticking. May God be with them.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, it is un-American that House Republicans are refusing to hold a vote on extending benefits for Americans who have worked and are now unemployed. It is particularly astounding, with a Speaker from Ohio, where unemployment has just ticked up, that the Republican Party refuses to bring up a vote on extending unemployment benefits. Since 1948, this is the first time that Congress has allowed extended unemployment benefits to expire with unemployment rates as high as they are. Long-term rates, especially among older workers--people who have worked their entire lives--are at the highest levels and doggedly resistant to amelioration. More than 1.3 million Americans, including nearly 40,000 Ohioans, have lost benefits because of House Republicans. If House Republicans get their way, by the end of this year, 5 million Americans and their families will have been denied unemployment benefits--people who have worked their entire lives. Speaker Boehner, that includes more than 128,000 Ohio families being denied benefits they have rightfully earned. My office has been receiving call after call from constituents who don't know why they lost their benefits and asking what they can do now. In one particular case, a woman put in the required years for her job and was ready to retire. She believed in work. She valued work. She spent her life doing it. Unfortunately, suddenly, just before she put her papers in to retire, she was laid off. She lost her job as a result of cutbacks, through no fault of her own. Her husband is disabled and unable to work. Extended unemployment benefits were helping the family make ends meet. Republicans in this House took away this family's ability to pay their bills. She is now begging friends and relatives to help pay their heat bill, to keep the lights turned on, and to pay their medical bills. The uncertainty and stress this family is now facing is unfair and completely un-American. Extending unemployment benefits to people who work is not only the right thing to do, it actually is better for our economy. The Economic Policy Institute estimates if we do not extend unemployment benefits, it will cost our economy 310,000 more lost jobs because people who aren't able to hold their family budgets together anymore don't buy as many groceries, can't pay their gas bills, can't pay their mortgages, and they fall into poverty. Why would Congress want millions more falling into poverty while creating more job loss in the Nation? Creating jobs and growing our economy should be our first priority here in Congress. As Paul Krugman put it in a recent New York Times article: No matter how desperate you make the unemployed, their desperation does nothing to create more jobs. So let's come together to strengthen our economy, to stop offshoring millions and millions of jobs in this country, and let's extend unemployment benefits to the people in this country who have earned them. Until then, I urge Republicans to at least allow a vote on restoring unemployment benefits to those Americans who have worked for a living and deserve the respect of this Congress.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the ranking member from New York for yielding me time. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the fiscal year 2014 omnibus appropriations measure, a critical, critical step in the direction of regular order. My hat is off to Chairman Rogers and to Ranking Member Lowey for their diligent efforts to bring this important agreement to the floor. I also want to thank Chairman Simpson, our subcommittee members, our Senate counterparts, as well as our exceptional staff, Rob Blair and Taunja Berquam, for their dedication and hard work, especially over the holidays, crafting this legislation. The Energy and Water bill makes America work. For example, it keeps the West alive, funding critical water projects across 17 States. We support science activities necessary to American manufacturing and our future competitiveness, and it contributes to our national defense importantly. Over the last 10 years, our country has spent $2.3 trillion importing foreign petroleum rather than being energy-independent here at home. In fact, those imports are a chief strategic vulnerability. We must have the wisdom, the will and the fortitude to invest in the solution for our people. This agreement restores an all-of-the-above energy strategy, including renewable energy programs and help on sustainable energy programs for the next generation. The bill also increases funding for the Corps of Engineers, one of the most important jobs programs that we could support in this country to improve our Nation's waterways that provide the foundation for economic growth. In terms of job creation, this bill makes critical investments in this country from coast to coast. You can't really move cargo unless you have open harbors. The compromise bill that we will vote on today is an important step in that direction and, even more importantly, a step toward regular order, which this Member certainly welcomes. Again, I rise in support of this legislation, and urge my colleagues to join me in voting for the entire measure, but certainly on the energy and water portion of this bill, so vital to America's future.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Thank you. Congressman Mark Pocan, you are such a breath of fresh intelligence and fresh energy in this Congress of the United States. I am so proud of the people of the Badger State for sending you here and for the hard fight that you have exhibited from day one of your swearing in for the improvement in our economy, for the creation of jobs in this country, for the reemployment of all of those who, coast-to-coast, are looking for work but can't find it. Thank you very much for your service to our country and for bringing us together here tonight. I would like to say that trade policy is the major reason that America can't employ all of the people seeking work. Our trade policies are the major reason that we can't balance our budget. If we take a look at the additional pressure on outsourcing more U.S. jobs that is going to come because of the recent introduction of the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership--or fast track, as it is called--it is employing the same old failed trade model. And that model is, when you have more imports coming in here than exports going out, you are in the negative. And when you are in the negative on trade policy, you lose jobs. In fact, we are losing jobs by the container load. On average, every day, because of fast track agreements that have already been passed, we are losing about 15 American manufacturing establishments that are closing every day. You can go into any town in Madison, Wisconsin, and Cleveland, Ohio, and Parma and Toledo, Ohio, and see shuttered companies. And what is amazing is, if you go to Newton, Iowa, and go see where Maytag used to be located and then go down to Monterrey, Mexico, you will see Maytag operating down there. But all the workers in Newton lost their jobs. That was a great product. And we can look in industry after industry and see the same thing. I have got Bridget helping me hold this chart up--I am going to refer to this in a second--and I want to thank her very much. She is a Member of Congressman Pocan's staff. The fast track model was established in the 1970s, before any of us ever got here, as a way for the executive branch to exclude Congress from trade negotiations. How about that? It is just another overreach by the executive branch here inside this Congress and our ability to exert our legislative authority under the Constitution of this country. Since that fast track process was adopted, this failed trade model of executive branch control over our country has racked up over $9 trillion in trade deficits. People say, Why do we have a budget deficit? Well, a budget deficit is only a reflection of our economy not being able to produce enough income to pay the bills because we have lost so many jobs. This trade deficit has gotten worse every year since the mid-1970s and racked up $9 trillion--more imports coming in here than exports going out. Indeed, through this period, America has lost nearly--just in the manufacturing sector--7 million jobs, a third of the manufacturing jobs of this country, because of the fast track process. What fast track means is, when the executive branch sends one of these trade deals up to Congress, they tie our hands. We can't amend it. The Rules Committee shuts it down. They bring it to floor and we can't do anything about it because they have negotiated in secret and we can't know what it is. What kind of crazy process is that for the people of the United States of America? Fast track has changed America's way of life. This amount of trade deficit--$9 trillion--translates into lost jobs. It translates into poor-quality goods. I tried to buy a coat over the holiday season. Go find quality material. Go find it. I would be real interested if you can. I was just interested in how sleazy the fabric has become and how poor the craftsmanship and craftswomanship. And I know the people making that, whatever country the label says, I know they are paid almost nothing for the work that they do. And we see our middle class shrinking. And who is making the money off that transaction? Surely not the person making it in some other country, and surely not the person who is buying it here in our country. Free trade agreements such as NAFTA, which was passed back in the mid-1970s--the China PNTR, which was then passed in the late 1990s; and then Korea, which was just passed a couple of years ago--were passed under the fast track procedure. We were promised these agreements would create jobs and help balance our trade deficits in an effort to strengthen our economy. It is so interesting to go back and read what the proponents said. You would think if we hadn't passed those agreements, the entire Western world would collapse. Well, guess what? It is. Parts of it inside this country are collapsing. Let me go through some of the promises that were broken. They said NAFTA, which was passed back in the early 1990s, was supposed to create 200,000 jobs in our country. Find them, because what actually happened was, we have lost nearly a million jobs. If you look at this chart, the hole that just got deeper, in terms of trade deficit, related to our trade with Mexico and Canada. The United States ended up being the loser. One million Americans lost their jobs because of NAFTA. If you go to these other countries, you can actually find the plants. I saw Trico Manufacturing, that used to make windshield wipers in Buffalo, down south of the border. The workers at that company couldn't afford to buy cars, much less the windshield wipers that have to go on them, and the quality of the Trico products deteriorated. Interesting. It is a pattern that is repeated and repeated and repeated. Now, they said that Korea, which was passed just a couple of years ago, was supposed to create 70,000 new American jobs under the Korean Free Trade Agreement. Guess what? America has already lost 40,000 jobs to Korea, and all those cars they were supposed to buy from us, 50,000 cars, for the millions they send in here? They are not buying them. They are not buying them. There is a huge additional trade deficit now being racked up with Korea because of that agreement. So NAFTA had the exact opposite effect on our trade deficits than they were promised. Instead of helping to balance our trade deficit, NAFTA helped to dramatically increase it. The same was true with Korea. NAFTA and China, those two countries, if we look at the Mexico-Canada trade agreement called NAFTA, we have accumulated $1.5 trillion of red ink; $1.5 trillion. The same can be said for the Korea deal, and in the year after the Korean Fair Trade Agreement, America's trade deficit with Korea increased by $5.8 billion. Every billion translates into lost jobs of between 4,500 American workers and 10,000, depending on whether it was the industrial sector or the retail sector. Enough is enough. America doesn't need anymore so-called free trade fast track agreements because the model is wrong. It is destroying our middle class. What this country needs is investment in key industry such as manufacturing, to create jobs and grow our economy. I wanted to say a word about this big dip right here, which represents what happened after we signed the agreement with China. If you look at the amount of goods that are coming over our borders now, 99.5 percent of the shoes coming into this country come from there, come from countries that have no ability to stand where citizens like us can speak freely, and have added to the angst facing our middle class in this country. We need investment in key industries, and we know that manufacturing, if there is investment there, at least 2.91 more jobs are created in other sectors, almost three jobs for every single job created in a manufacturing plant. So Congressman Pocan, thank you for bringing us together tonight. We need a new trade model for America, a pro-American trade policy that begins to result in trade surpluses like we used to have after World War II up until the mid 1970s, when America had a strong and growing middle class. This is the wrong trade model. We need a new trade model. Thank you so much for fighting for this and for the defeat of fast track on the TPP.