Remember is that it is in fact the russianspeaking population in the east, as well as the ukrainianspeaking in the west, that voted for independence for ukraine. That voted strongly to have a separate state. And if the this issue is allowed to stand without the world responding, the question is, is that argument then made in latvia and estonia . Is that argument made in all of the former russian states . I do not think in any way this is comparable to kosovo. In kosovo nato responded to a Brutal Campaign of ethnic cleansing by former ugeslaskian forces. In crimea, russia attempted to justify its actions by fabricating the myth of widespread violence against the ethnic russian population. Even going as far as to equate it to the bloodshed occurring in syria. Clearly this is not true. We know its not true. In terms of the election itself, opponents were sigh lenlsed, international silenced, international monitors were barred, crimean charters themselves boycotted the very election. Voters were not given the option of preserving crimeas current status within ukraine. Independence and de facto independence were the only options. And the bogus vote there was also unnecessary because the Ukrainian Government had made it clear that it was willing to discuss increased autonomy for crimea. Now, here is the problem going forward. We know the view taken internationally on this subject. The u. N. Security council condemns russias unprovoked aggression against ukraine and russia stood alone, stood slupetly alone in this case absolutely alone in this case. Because even ukrainians themselves have gone to the sites of the Russian Media reported attacks against ethnic russian minorities to show that is not occurring. Hat is in fact propaganda. We cant let this stand. One of the other things were doing in this bill is improving our broadcasting into ukraine in the region to dispel these myths and spread the truth about the situation there. So, im going to reserve the balance of my time at this time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from new york is ecognized. Thank you, mr. Speaker. I now yield two minutes to the gentlewoman from texas, ms. Jackson lee. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized for two minutes. Ms. Jackson lee let me thank the managers of this legislation, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs committee, and the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs committee for their leadership and for their commitment as i acknowledge the other body as well. This morning a bright announcement came from mr. Putin, that he was drawing russians to a program of exercise in the name of labor and defense. Someone said reminiscent of s drew tory, when other their nations together in Massive Public exercises to show the world that they were not going to be part of the world order. I believe that we should be engaged, that diplomacy is right. I also dont believe in condemnation of a nation purely for its ideological disagreement. But in this instance it is important for the United States to make a public stand. As a member of the interparliamentarian exchange, meeting with europeans over the years, i know that they are proud of the democracy that theyve maintained since the horrors of world war ii. Today the United States, the pass and of this legislation and ultimately hopefully the signing by the president will tell the world that the United States stands firmly on democratic principles. The people of ukraine, those in kiev and places around, still have the knowledge that america stands by it economically, with loan guarantees, but it also stands against a despot who has illegally moved into a sovereign nation with no provocation, undermining the military base of ukraine. And so id ask my colleagues to join against a despot and for a people and support the underlying legislation. I thank mr. Engel for the time. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Royce i yield two minutes to the gentleman from texas, mr. Poe, chairman of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on terrorism, nonproliferation and trade. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from texas is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Poe i thank the chairman for the time and i also thank the chairman and the Ranking Member for bringing this legislation to the floor and a very speedy and efficient manner in a very speedy and efficient manner. I will also say i have Great Respect for my friend from california, mr. Rohrabacher. He knows a lot about Foreign Affairs. But we disagree on what the evidence shows in this particular matter. Mr. Speaker, mark twain once said that history doesnt repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Well, russias quite the poet these days. In 2008 russia invaded georgia. Confiscated 1 3 of that nations territory. The world watched. Complained a little bit. The world moved on. There were no consequences. And the russians, mr. Speaker, are still there. Again, second verse, same as the first. The napoleon of siberia has invaded ukraine and seized crimea. Putin is bent on establishing a sovietstyle empire and allegedly uniting russianspeaking people throughout the world. Who knows who his next target will be . It could be our friends in maldovea, the rest of ukraine, or estonia. Russia has been able to maintain dominance over the region because of its vast energy sources, especially natural gas. Six countries in europe rely 100 on russia for their natural gas. Russia uses gas as a political and economic weapon to manipulate these countries. I was in ukraine in winter when russia turned off the gas for political reasons. It was cold. It was dark. This bill helps disarm that hostage tactic. It includes my amendment that commits the u. S. To helping ukraine use american natural gas. There must be consequences for the bully putin, for invading other nations like ukraine. Justice requires there be consequences. And, mr. Speaker, justice is what we do. And thats just the way it is. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Engel thank you, mr. Speaker. May i inquire of how much time each of us has . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman has eight minutes remaining. And the gentleman from california has no minutes remaining. Mr. Engel has none . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from californias time has expired. Mr. Engel i ask unanimous consent that the gentleman from california be allowed to control three minutes of my remaining time. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Engel thank you very much, mr. Speaker. What were doing this morning is the congress at its best. What were doing this morning is standing up to a bully and telling him that his actions will not stand. What were doing is saying that in the 21st century, it is no longer acceptable for dictators to invade other countries. And what were saying to the people of ukraine is that we stand behind you, were with you, we havent forgotten you and were going to do Everything Possible to make you whole again. Were going to do Everything Possible to let you know that the west wants to partner with you. Were going to do Everything Possible to stand up for freedom and democracy with you. I think thats a very noble cause. Its not pie in the sky. No ones advocating a war with boots on the ground against russia. But we are advocating that there has to be some standards in the world. If we let putin get away with this, then it sends a green light to putin that he can continue to do this and to every other despot and dictator around the world that they can do whatever they like and the world is just indifferent or too afraid to act. I think this is a opportunity an opportunity and i think this is a time when one day well be able to say to our grandchildren that we acted together. I want to again commend chairman royce for working with me in a bipartisan fashion and we will be going to ukraine together in a few short weeks to show the ukrainian people that america stands with them. I urge my colleagues again to support the bill and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Royce thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield one minute to the gentleman from indiana, mr. Messer, a member of the committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr. Messer thank you. Mr. Speaker, i rise in support of this important bipartisan bill and commend chairman royce and Ranking Member engel for bringing this measure forward. Todays legislation makes clear that as a nation we speak with one voice regarding russias aggression. The situation in the ukraine is undoubtedly complex. The history between crimea and russia dates back centuries, close to 60 of the population identifies as ethnic russians. But several facts are clear. Russia has amassed troops and perpetrated a breach of International Law with its unwarranted aggression. The elections in crimea took place under an illegal occupation, it did not resemble anything close to a real election. And consequently the results should not and cannot be recognized. Lastly, there is little doubt that if the world does not act, russias territorial aggression will expand and continue. Whatever the complexities, this invasion of a sovereign country is not justified. Period. Todays bill makes clear america will not tolerate russias territorial aggression in ukraine or elsewhere. I urge my colleagues to support it. The speaker pro tempore the gentlemans time has expired. The gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Engel may i inquire, mr. Speaker, how much remaining time i have . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman has 3 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Engel ok. Then i yield two minutes to the gentleman from michigan, the Ranking Member of the ways and means committee, mr. Levin. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. Without objection. Mr. Levin i rise in strong support of this bill. As ukraine is fighting for its independence and the people of ukraine are fighting to preserve and to deepen their democracy, we must stand squarely with them. Its been said here, including by the majority leader, that this is a first step. And id like to make very clear we really should be taking in this bill another step. We should be in this bill as was proposed in the senate and by many of us some assistance to make sure that the i. M. F. Can perform its fullest role. That was the preference of president obama. E made it clear we should act, the u. S. We should also be able to help the i. M. F. To act as fully and effectively as possible. So i think today instead of anybody here coming and criticizing the president , they should essentially be supporting him in his efforts to have the fullest array of assistance to the ukrainian democracy. So if this is only the first step, lets take some additional steps and stand together on a bipartisan basis instead of at times i think taking partisan shots verbally at the president of the United States. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from california is recognized. The gentleman from new york is ecognized. Mr. Engel thank you, mr. Speaker. May i inquire how much time i have . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from new york has 1 1 2 minutes remaining. Mr. Engel i yield one minute of that time to the gentlewoman from ohio, ms. Kaptur. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady from ohio is recognized for one minute. Ms. Kaptur i want to thank the esteemed Ranking Member of new york, eliot engel, a dear friend, for yielding time in support of Ukraine Support act, h. R. 4278. And for his leadership from the time we traveled to ukraine together and to congressman royce, the chairman of the committee, to reaffirm americas strong support for liberty and the people of ukraine at this really critical time in World History and the history of central and eastern europe. The assistance that is contemplated here is in the form of a loan guarantee, and will aid ukraines efforts to recover its own missing assets to pay the money back. Ukraine is fully capable of earning its way forward. Its already the Third Largest grain exporter in the world. This is nothing that cant be repaid. In addition, the bill authorizes 10 million for International Broadcasting to ukraine. I can guarantee you i did an interview with voice of america about a week ago. I received emails from people in ukraine. They are waiting to hear the song the speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. Ms. Kaptur pass this legislation quickly on a bipartisan basis and stand for freedom. The speaker pro tempore the gentleladys time has expired. The gentleman from new york is recognized. Mr. Engel thank you, mr. Speaker. In closing let me again say what a pleasure it is to work with chairman royce in a bipartisan basis. And you can see, again, strong bipartisan support for this bill. Ms. Kaptur didnt mention that she was cochair of the ukrainian caucus. We have members on both sides of the aisle all standing together to say, the United States stands with the people of ukraine. Please vote yes. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The gentleman from california is recognized. Mr. Royce i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. Mr. Royce thank you, mr. Speaker. This is not a new cold war. President reagan ended the cold war. The way he did that, frankly, was by leading, but also with a strategy which drove down the price of oil and gas which was the stranglehold which not only russia had over eastern europe, but also funded the ability of the former soviet union, militarily, to carry out an expansion program. Today you have the circumstance where president putin relies almost solely, 70 of the exports, 52 of the budget as i indicated, comes from a monopoly position on oil and gas. That is why i think it is very important that we understand what the polls and what the hungarians understood when they exported 2 billion cubic yards of gas last year to ukraine in order to try to keep the ability of russia from manipulating the situation into leading to the very chaos that was brought about. We need to understand when the u. S. E. U. Annual summit just occurred, and the e. U. Asked us to be part of a program to ship gas into that market in order to offset this monopoly control and pricing by russia, that we should be part of this. This is part of this bill. But also part of the bill is the important consequence of communicating to the people in that region and offsetting the propaganda that russia right now is sending into the country. We address that issue as well in this legislation. As well as Good Governance issues and the steps that are needed in order to reform the economy inside ukraine. In order to set up the rule of law, independent courts. The polls are on the groundworking on this issue right now. The United States needs to support that effort. And this sends one last message that if youre in the business of helping to invade a country also on thursday the house passed a bill that would cut payments to medicare doctor said to go into effect monday. Over the next 50 minutes, we will show you that debate followed i a reporter by a report. Voice vote instead of a roll call vote. Unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and and insert remarks extraneous materials in the record on the bill. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Pitts mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Pitts mr. Speaker, i wish i was getting ready to vote on a bill that would permanently repeal and reform the Sustainable Growth rate. In the chamber we passed a bill that would do that and that would fully offset the cost of the repeal by delaying a provision of the Affordable Care act that the Administration Just keeps delaying themselves. In fact, it was partially delayed again just yesterday. Unfortunately, we have reached another doc fix deadline. I believe that we must act to protect americas seniors and ensure that they can continue to see the doctors they know and trust and that is why i have introduced legislation that represents a bipartisan, bicameral agreement that would give us additional time to work out our differences and pass permanent repeal. We are closer than ever to reaching that goal. We have an agreement on policy. We need to overcome our differences about the responsible way to pay for those new policies. I hope that we can act before we reach the new deadline of march 31, 2015. In fact, we should try to reach a bicameral agreement before the end of this congress. Im glad that Speaker Boehner has offered his continuing support to this effort. With the house having acted, we hope that the senate can also pass an s. G. R. Repeal that has real payfors. Then, we can begin the process of working through our differences in a conference committee. Im sponsoring this bill today because it is my earnest hope that this is the last patch well have to pass. I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from new jersey. Mr. Pallone thank you, mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman virginia tech. Mr. Pallone mr. Speaker, im sorry but i simply cannot support yet another temporary s. G. R. Patch. This bill is bad for seniors and its bad for doctors. We want to achieve a permanent solution to this ongoing problem. This bill does nothing to achieve that goal. In fact, it sets back months and months of hard work. What we should be considering today is a bipartisan, bicameral agreement that my colleag