State Senate Passes Ukraine Resolution After Emotional Appeal From 2 Lawmakers
DENVER (CBS4)- Two state senators, with personal ties to Ukraine, made an emotional appeal to their colleagues to pass a Resolution condemning Russia's invasion of the country. Senator Joann Ginal stood at the well of the Senate and searched for the words to explain her feelings, but she didn't need words. Her face conveyed the sorrow and despair words couldn't.
Her grandparents immigrated here from Ukraine and Russia, leaving family behind, "My mother's mother is from Kiev, my mother's father is from Moscow. I don't know how to express my concern."
She spoke as the Senate considered a Resolution "Concerning Support for Ukraine against Russian Aggression."
The Resolution by Senator Chris Hansen, a Democrat from Denver and Senator Bob Gardner, a Republican from Colorado Springs, reads: "Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Seventy-third General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein: That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly: Proudly stand alongside Ukraine, its people, and its leaders during this horrific and unnecessary war and vow to support Ukraine and hold Russia fully accountable for its catastrophic decision to invade; Condemn, in the strongest possible terms, Vladimir Putin's violent attack on the people of Ukraine and strongly endorse the swift and severe economic sanctions and stringent export controls that President Biden's administration has imposed on Russia; and Urge Russia to immediately cease its violent, illegal, and immoral assault upon Ukraine, end the needless bloodshed, and return to diplomacy and the rules-based international order that has ensured peace and prosperity for so many."
Gardner was in Ukraine for the 2014 election, after Ukrainians carried out a revolution that led to the resignation of their president over his ties to Vladimir Putin.
"They came in from work, they came in with their children, they came to vote, desperately having overthrown a corrupt government just months before and having 100 people die in Freedom Square," said Gardner.
Eight years later, Gardner noted, those same people are once again fighting and dying for their freedom, "If you saw some of the scenes of fathers putting their families on the train to stay behind and fight, it's gut-wrenching. We must support Ukraine in every way we can."
Ginal is worried not only about Ukraine but surrounding countries, "I rise in strong support for the people of these countries."
While the resolution doesn't call for additional action, Senator Hansen says he thinks Russia should be cut off from the international financial system called SWIFT. He also warned Russia's President expects the U-S to back down in the face of rising gas prices.
"President Putin has made a gamble. He's made a gamble that the West's reliance on Russian oil and gas will put him in a strong position and that this will be a win for his idea of a greater Russia. We have a responsibility in this country and this state to call his bluff."
Resolutions are meant to be statements of the legislature's position. They do not carry the force of law. The House will take up the Senate Resolution next week.
