WASHINGTON – Last night, the U.S. Senate voted to pass a resolution to condemn the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and express condolences to the families of the victims. U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, was joined by U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), Ranking Member of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in introducing the resolution last week.
Full text of the resolution:
Title: Condemning the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and expressing condolences to the families of the victims.
Whereas, on July 17, 2014, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 tragically crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew, including 80 children;
Whereas President Barack Obama has offered President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko all possible assistance to determine the cause of the crash, including the services of the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the National Transportation Safety Board;
Whereas intelligence analysis shows that the plane was shot down by an antiaircraft missile fired from an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists;
Whereas separatists have shot down 10 additional aircraft and took credit for shooting down another aircraft at approximately the same time as Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 crashed in eastern Ukraine;
Whereas separatists blocked international experts from accessing the crash site in the first 72 hours, preventing the proper care of the victims’ bodies and allowing evidence from the crash to be removed and mishandled;
Whereas weapons and fighters have continued to flow across the border from the Russian Federation to eastern Ukraine, and there is evidence that the Government of the Russian Federation has been providing training to separatists fighters, including training on air defense systems;
Whereas this tragic incident has demonstrated that European and other foreign citizens are at risk from dangerous instability in Ukraine;
Whereas, on July 21, 2014, the United Nations Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 and demanded that those responsible be held to account and that all states fully cooperate with efforts to establish accountability;
Whereas British Prime Minister David Cameron asserted, “Russia cannot expect to continue enjoying access to European markets, European capital and European knowledge and technical expertise while she fuels conflict in one of Europe’s neighbors.”; and
Whereas the United States Government has continued to implement sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian individuals responsible for destabilizing Ukraine and failing to end the violence: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) condemns the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in Eastern Ukraine that resulted in the deaths of all 298 passengers and crew;
(2) expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the victims and the people of the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada, and New Zealand;
(3) supports the ongoing international investigation into the attack on Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, including unobstructed access to the crash site;
(4) calls on the Government of the Russian Federation to immediately stop the flow of weapons and fighters across the border with Ukraine, allow an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission on the border, and fully cooperate with the international investigation currently underway; and
(5) urges the European Union to join the United States Government in holding the Government of the Russian Federation accountable for its destabilizing actions in Ukraine through the use of increased sanctions.
