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Delegate Long urges committee to back resolution condemning forced transfer of Ukrainian children
Summary
Delegate Long told the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee that House Joint Resolution 10 calls attention to the verified forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, citing figures from Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice and United Nations findings, and asked for a favorable report; the committee took no vote on the resolution at the hearing.
Delegate Richard Long urged the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee to issue a favorable report on House Joint Resolution 10, which he said documents the abduction and forced transfer of Ukrainian children by the Russian Federation.
Long framed the resolution as a moral imperative, telling the committee: "This is not a foreign policy issue. This is a moral issue." He summarized numbers he said were verified by Ukrainian authorities, saying "nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported or transferred with 19,915 cases formally verified by Ukraine's Ministry of Justice," and that "today, over 1.66 million Ukrainian children living in Russian-occupied territories remain at risk of indoctrination and militarization." Long said investigations identified at least 210 sites where children were taken and described studies reporting re-education and exposure to militarization in those locations.
Long also cited return statistics and recovery efforts, saying about 2,000 children have been returned and that 95% of those returns were led by Ukrainian civil society and government efforts rather than formal diplomatic processes. He told the committee that the United Nations has concluded these actions amount to crimes against humanity, and he recounted an example in which at least 46 children under age five were taken from Kurjan Children's Home in 2022 and moved to Crimea. "HJ10 is about whether we as a state are willing to stand on record when clear violations of human rights are occurring," he said.
The presentation was delivered during the committee's public hearing; Delegate Long offered to take questions but none were asked. The record shows the committee concluded the public hearing on HJ10 without taking a committee vote during this session. The transcript attributes the numbers and characterizations above to Delegate Long and references verification by Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice and findings described as those of the United Nations; the committee did not introduce or cite additional evidence during the hearing.
Next steps: the committee closed the public hearing on HJ10 and made no immediate committee recommendation on the resolution during this meeting.
