[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 677 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 677
Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for exacerbating
global food insecurity through its illegal, unprovoked full-scale
invasion of Ukraine.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 12, 2023
Mr. Peters (for himself, Mr. Kean of New Jersey, Mr. Keating, and Mr.
Fitzpatrick) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for exacerbating
global food insecurity through its illegal, unprovoked full-scale
invasion of Ukraine.
Whereas Ukraine has historically been a significant supplier of agricultural
products for global markets, providing food for nearly 400 million
people around the world, is the world's fifth largest exporter of wheat,
and provides over 11 percent of cereals to the world;
Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an unprovoked,
full-scale invasion of the sovereign country of Ukraine;
Whereas throughout the invasion, the Russian Federation has consistently mined
Ukrainian farmland and bombed grain silos;
Whereas, beginning on that date, the Russian Federation implemented an illegal
naval blockade of Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, disrupting Ukraine's
food exports, driving up global food prices and exacerbating global food
insecurity;
Whereas given many developing countries' pre-war reliance on Ukrainian
foodstuffs, the Russian Federation's illegal blockade of Ukrainian ports
disproportionately harmed millions of people who were already struggling
with food insecurity before the war;
Whereas, in May 2022, the European Union established and provided significant
investment for Solidarity Lanes as road, rail, and inland waterway
alternatives to facilitate the export of Ukrainian agricultural and
nonagricultural products to global markets despite the Russian
Federation's illegal naval blockade of Ukraine;
Whereas Ukrainian ports along the Danube River serve as an important alternative
route for the export of Ukrainian goods, and are now a critical Black
Sea shipping outlet for millions of tons of Ukrainian grain, but cannot
accommodate all the grain previously transported from Black Sea ports;
Whereas the Ukrainian Danube River ports have repeatedly been struck by Russian
attacks following the Russian Federation's withdrawal from the Black Sea
Grain Initiative, destroying thousands of tons of grain and damaging
necessary port infrastructure;
Whereas, on July 27, 2022, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, Turkey, and the
United Nations launched the Black Sea Grain Initiative ``to ensure the
safe passage of commercial vessels carrying grain, foodstuffs, and
fertilizers, including ammonia, in and out of three Ukrainian ports;
Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhny (Pivdennyi)'';
Whereas under this initiative, teams of Ukrainian, Russian, Turkish, and United
Nations officials inspected cargo ships inbound to or outbound from
Ukrainian ports and traveling along a specified humanitarian corridor;
Whereas until the Russian Federation suspended its participation, the Black Sea
Grain Initiative facilitated the export of nearly 33 million metric tons
of grain;
Whereas, during the period in which the Black Sea Grain Initiative was active,
the Russian Federation reportedly delayed inspections of eligible
vessels, reducing the amount of agricultural products that were exported
from Ukraine to millions of people who relied on them;
Whereas, on July 17, 2023, the Russian Federation suspended its participation in
the Black Sea Grain Initiative and soon thereafter announced that it
would consider civilian vessels traveling in the Black Sea to be valid
military targets;
Whereas despite the Kremlin's claims to the contrary in justifying its decision
to suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia is making significant
profits from its grain exports;
Whereas the Russian Federation defended its suspension of participation in the
initiative by falsely claiming that Western sanctions enacted against it
in response to its invasion of Ukraine prohibited exports of Russian
agricultural products to the world, despite longstanding humanitarian
carve-outs in European Union and United States sanctions regimes;
Whereas, since suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative,
the Russian Federation has launched missile and drone strikes against
ports previously involved in the Initiative such as Odesa and Mykolaiv,
in addition to inland ports on the Danube River, damaging port and grain
processing infrastructure, at least 5 civilian vessels, and destroying
more than 180,000 tons of grain; and
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 (2018), to which the
Russian Federation agreed, calls ``on all parties to armed conflict to
comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law
regarding . . . taking constant care to spare civilian objects,
including objects necessary for food production and distribution'': Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the Russian Federation for suspending its
participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative;
(2) calls on the Russian Federation to immediately resume
participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative or pledge
noninterference for commercial grain shipping in the Black Sea
without any preconditions to avoid a global food crisis, and
demands the Russian Federation ceases the targeting of
Ukrainian grain storage and port facilities;
(3) affirms that the Russian Federation's unprovoked full-
scale invasion and illegal naval blockade of Ukraine are to
blame for rising global food insecurity, and affirms that
civilian vessels are not targets of war;
(4) considers the Russian Federation's weaponization of
hunger to be a deliberate element of its strategy to coerce
Ukraine into agreeing to an unfavorable negotiated settlement
to the war;
(5) believes rising global food insecurity worsened by the
Russian Federation's unprovoked full-scale invasion and illegal
naval blockade of Ukraine threatens United States national
security;
(6) commends the European Union's Solidarity Lanes for
being excellent examples of the benefits of burden sharing in
tackling shared challenges;
(7) supports any other efforts to work with like-minded
allies and partners to meet the food needs of countries most
impacted by food insecurity arising from the Russian
Federation's invasion of Ukraine; and
(8) expresses solidarity with all people affected by food
insecurity resulting from the Russian Federation's war against
Ukraine.
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