Ranking Member Schatz Opening Remarks At Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing On Abduction Of Ukrainian Children By Russia

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, delivered the following remarks at the subcommittee’s hearing on the abduction of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation.

“The systematic abduction of Ukrainian children by the Russian government is a horrific tragedy for the thousands of families victimized by Putin. But it’s also an issue of global concern. Here in the Senate, colleagues on both sides of the aisle have been working to support efforts to track and return children and hold perpetrators accountable,” said Senator Schatz.

Schatz continued, “But I want to be perfectly clear: any peace plan that lets Putin walk away from this war – having illegally seized Ukrainian territory, kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian children, and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people on both sides – with no consequences is unacceptable.”

A transcript of Senator Schatz’s remarks can be found below. Video is available here.

Thank you, Chairman Graham, for convening this hearing and for your continued leadership on this important issue.

The systematic abduction of Ukrainian children by the Russian government is a horrific tragedy for the thousands of families victimized by Putin. But it’s also an issue of global concern. Here in the Senate, colleagues on both sides of the aisle have been working to support efforts to track and return children and hold perpetrators accountable. That vital work continues, and I hope today’s discussion will add to those efforts.

But I want to be perfectly clear: any peace plan that lets Putin walk away from this war – having illegally seized Ukrainian territory, kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian children, and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people on both sides – with no consequences is unacceptable. It would set a very dangerous precedent for the world, not to mention, undermine future peace in the region. I’m disappointed that the State Department declined to participate in today’s hearing. But I hope that the administration will be briefing us about these talks very soon.

As I noted, there has been a bipartisan effort to address Russia’s mass abduction of Ukrainian children. And yet, earlier this year, the Trump administration abruptly ended a contract which jeopardized work to get critical data, including on abducted children, to the Ukrainian government and European law enforcement.

It’s one of the many instances where the administration has eliminated, undermined, or disregarded bipartisan priorities that are under the purview of this subcommittee. And it’s why it’s so important that we negotiate and enact a bipartisan SFOPS bill for the current fiscal year. The bill is critical for protecting American interests through targeted security and economic assistance for key allies and partners, like Ukraine.

And to do that well, the bill needs to restore transparency, strengthen the State Department’s workforce, meet our international commitments, and ensure compliance with the law. We shouldn’t have to wonder whether funds are being spent as we intended or hear second-hand that critical efforts that we all support are gone.

For today, I’m interested in hearing from our witnesses about what’s required to return, reintegrate, and rehabilitate Ukrainian children and how we can best help.

I’m also interested in how we can support law enforcement efforts, including national prosecutors and courts, as well as the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Putin for war crimes associated with the abduction of these children.

I want to thank our witnesses for their testimony. And I look forward to the discussion.

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