America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology, and Economic Strength Act of 2022
Floor Speech
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Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I returned to the United States Sunday night after leading a bipartisan Senate delegation visit to Poland and Germany. Ten Senators--Republicans and Democrats--traveled together to demonstrate America's unwavering support for the freedom-loving people of Ukraine and affirm the strength of the world's most powerful alliance.
I will never forget an engagement with Ukrainian civil society leaders. This group of passionate, strong women demonstrated Ukraine's spirit and their will to fight. They delivered a very clear message to the United States. They said that Ukraine can win, but they need more lethal aid delivered now.
Our bipartisan delegation departed with the conviction that the United States, Ukraine, and the free world have the will and the means to stop Vladimir Putin's tyranny. I am here on the Senate floor today to state my belief that Ukraine will beat back Vladimir Putin's bloody invasion. They will throw the Russian army out of their country, and they will declare victory over this lawless criminal incursion.
Folks, Ukraine can win this war. When the shooting is over, the Russian military will be broken, and the Russian economy will collapse--consequences brought about by Putin's chosen isolation and rejection of the free world. He and his cronies, their futures are not bright either. Putin's propaganda media machine will break down. He will be marked by the international community as a war criminal and, I predict, will be held accountable by his own people. His best days are behind him. Freedom will win.
Most of us thought these outcomes were improbable just a few weeks ago. The President's policymakers circulated intelligence assessments in the first days of the invasion which concluded unequivocally that Ukraine didn't stand a chance. They predicted Putin would topple Kyiv within 3 to 5 days. Tomorrow marks 1 month since the start of the war. The Russian military is disorganized and demoralized. Four separate divisions are all competing for logistics resupply.
Putin knows he is losing, and he is panicking. He jailed his deputy chief of intelligence, and his military is burning the bodies of their Russian casualties. Russia's manpower and ammunition are tapping out while, on the other side, Ukraine's forces are hanging tough.
The weapons the United States and our allies and partners provided are being deployed with lethal proficiency. The frontlines have been frozen for over a week, and Russian casualties are greater than 1,000 a day.
Ukrainians are intercepting unclassified calls and eliminating Russian field commanders. Most crucially, the Ukrainian people are ready to fight to the last man. The Russian army is a force of teenaged conscripts, subjects of an authoritarian war criminal whose delusions of grandeur about the old Soviet Union drove this invasion. The Ukrainian army is made up of free citizens who chose freedom over Russian tyranny. Putin's invasion doesn't change Ukraine's choice, and they will not go quietly.
Given all of this, has the United States shifted its strategy? Do we believe we can help make a Ukrainian victory a near certainty? We all know why we must come to Ukraine's aid. This body's memory is not that short. The United States is an agreement-bound partner with Ukraine. We entered into an agreement. We are their partners.
In 1994, Ukraine dismantled and surrendered its nuclear armament entirely in exchange for our security guarantee--the protection of the world's greatest superpower. Our agreement resulted in a prosperous Ukraine and made the world a much, much safer place.
Before Vladimir Putin attempted to snuff it out for good 3 weeks ago, the American people and the world benefited from the breadbasket of Europe's vital agricultural sector and energy production. Ukraine has been an invaluable economic and security partner for nearly 30 years.
Putin is not only testing that agreement today in the streets of Kyiv, Mariupol, and Kharkiv, he wants to break freedom's momentum all around the globe. Folks, we can't allow that to happen. We must not.
If it has not been made clear enough already, an unshakeable commitment to allies and partners keeps Americans prosperous and our families safe. Authoritarians--whether it is the Taliban, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, the terrorists who rule Iran--they cannot dictate terms to our security and our economy. We still are the world's superpower 28 years after we made a security agreement with Ukraine. America cannot be pushed around.
We also know how we can come to Ukraine's aid. Congress just passed $14 billion of support for Ukraine, which included nearly $2 billion of lethal weaponry. That aid--those weapons and that logistical support-- must flow right now. I fought for a provision in the aid package that allows the President to draw down on pre-positioned military equipment, and I will be ensuring he follows through and gets these weapons into Ukrainian hands. There is no excuse for American inaction.
The Commander in Chief now has the authority to transfer pre- positioned weapons and logistical support, including as many as 40 Soviet-style helicopters purchased for Afghan security forces, to the Ukrainians. America's commitment to Ukraine and our NATO allies demands we expedite the delivery of weapons and capabilities to Ukraine. Any delay due to the fears of escalation is reflective of a doctrine of appeasement that will only further embolden our adversaries.
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said recently that success for the U.S. mission in Ukraine is, at the end of the conflict, a free and independent, sovereign Ukraine.
Folks, I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment, but if that is our mission, America has to provide more support to enable Ukraine to win this war. We cannot hold back. The U.S. mission in Ukraine must go beyond ensuring the country merely has the means to defeat itself-- defend itself against Russian aggression, defeat the Russians. Now is not the time to be risk-averse.
This administration did little to deter Putin's march on Kyiv, an invasion set in motion as early as April 2021. President Biden lifted sanctions on Nord Stream 2, framed the United States-Russia relationship as stable and predictable as late as June of last year, and canceled European Command military exercises calling them ``too provocative.''
Public opinion, Congress, and even European nations have hammered, begged, dragged, and pushed the Biden administration to action. From economic sanctions to the Russian oil ban, the administration has led from behind and from a position of weakness.
Take the Polish MiG debacle; three Sundays ago, Secretary Blinken gave Poland a green light to transfer MiG fighter jets to Ukraine. The following Tuesday, the White House did a flip and rejected the transfer of planes out of fear Putin would see the move as escalatory. Forty-one Republicans joined my letter voicing displeasure to the President for his failure to act. Letting an adversary define your military's rules of engagement, letting the aggressor dictate the boundaries of our response is not just a folly, it is suicidal.
The administration crossed their fingers and hoped Putin would play nice. Well, folks, we know Putin. He didn't play nice, and deterrence failed. But the failure of this administration's doctrine of appeasement doesn't mean Ukraine will lose the war.
I commend actions taken to shore up the NATO alliance following the invasion, but our Commander in Chief must now lead and give Ukraine the means to win. If he is to continue being the most powerful man in the free world, he must act as such.
Delaying the loss of Ukraine to Vladimir Putin is not a strategy. Success is not a Russian-occupied Ukraine. Success is not a protracted insurgency. Success is a free, independent, and sovereign Ukraine. Defending freedom in Ukraine is defending freedom everywhere. Authoritarianism cannot prevail in this conflict.
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