Providing for Consideration of S. Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend- Lease Act of and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, my good friend from Maryland, (Mr. Raskin), for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the rule before us today provides for consideration of S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022.

Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying that I strongly support this bill, which streamlines existing defense authorities to enable the President to enter into a lend-lease agreement directly with Ukraine and Eastern European countries.

I know I speak for my Republican colleagues in expressing my wholehearted support for the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves and their democracy against Vladimir Putin's atrocities. That is why I look forward--and so do so many of my colleagues--to voting for this bill later today.

However, I have to urge my colleagues to oppose this rule as it continues Speaker Pelosi's authoritarian lockdown of the House of Representatives.

For over 2 years the Speaker has used COVID-19 as an excuse to deny Members the ability to advocate on behalf of the people they represent. This rule keeps those oppressive procedures in place, despite the fact that even the bluest of States are easing their COVID restrictions. This is just further proof that my colleagues across the aisle care only about political science, not about real science.

Further, Mr. Speaker, this rule fails to provide for consideration of legislation to address the serious issues facing the American people. Under the Biden administration, our Nation has careened from one crisis to the next.

Right now, families across the country are facing a 41-year high in inflation and skyrocketing gas and food prices. These are expected to cost the average American family $5,000 a year.

This morning we learned the U.S. GDP fell by 1.4 percent during the first quarter of 2022. This is getting worse by the day. Forty percent of small businesses are planning to raise prices by 10 percent just to keep up with inflation. This economic crisis is not the result of the war in Ukraine as President Biden and the leftists on the other side of the aisle like to claim. This crisis is a direct result of the Democrats' out-of-control spending and their far-left, dangerous, radical policies.

Just look at the fact that inflation has increased every month since Joe Biden has been President. Putin didn't invade Ukraine until February of this year, yet during President Biden's first year in office--again, well before the invasion of Ukraine--gas prices jumped nearly 53 percent, from $2.25 a gallon to $3.44 a gallon. Again, that was before Russian soldiers ever crossed the border in Ukraine.

But talking about borders, let's talk about our southern border. The border crisis is a direct result of Joe Biden's incompetence, and the radical policies of the left are leading to disaster. Thanks to the open border policy of the left, last month over 200,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at our southern border. That is a new Biden-era high. Again, that is over 200,000 illegal immigrants. To put this in perspective for my colleagues, that is roughly three congressional districts.

Since Biden took office, over 2.4 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at our southern border, including more than 40 individuals who are on the terrorist watch list. This is only going to get worse if President Biden gets away with lifting title 42.

So, again, Mr. Speaker, while I support S. 3522 and, of course, the people of Ukraine, I believe this is a missed opportunity to help the American people, the people in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the people throughout this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I, therefore, urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Maryland said that we just can't help but to disagree. Nothing could be further from the truth. This bill could be passed on the suspension calendar. This is going to pass by well over two-thirds vote. It passed, I believe, unanimously in the Senate. The fact that we are here debating a rule on this instead of just passing this on suspension is a waste of time. This bill will pass.

But we have got a real crisis at the southern border. We have got inflation. Even the Biden administration said we are expected to have food shortages. We also are failing to project American power abroad, which is leading to chaos all over the world.

We agree on the issue with Ukraine, yet we are still here wasting valuable time that we could be using to address real problems.

But let's just go back to the southern border. As I mentioned earlier in my remarks, just in March, encounters at the southern border hit a new Biden-era high of over 200,000 individuals encountered at the southern border. In addition to apprehending individuals from the terrorist watch list, Border Patrol agents are seeing an increase in illicit drugs, including deadly fentanyl. Alarmingly, fentanyl border seizures increased by 134 percent in fiscal year 2021. President Biden and House Democrats had this open border policy that is creating a humanitarian and a security crisis both at the border and in our communities where people are literally dying from fentanyl overdoses.

With all that in consideration, the Democrats and the left still want to do away with title 42 and lift it. That is why, Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act of to 2021.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Stefanik), who is the Republican Conference chair. She will explain the amendment.

Just two quick points in rebuttal for my friend from Pennsylvania.

First off, if there is concern about the humanitarian crisis on the southern border, the best thing you can do is try to bring order to that southern border. The trek that these individuals have to take is incredibly dangerous. Women and children are often exploited. Coyotes are making literally millions of dollars. Oftentimes, when the illegal immigrants come to the United States, they are put in sort of indentured servant status to the drug cartels and the coyotes.

The perverse thing about arguing that you care about people is that if you really did care about the humanitarian crisis, you would share the Republican viewpoint of law and order.

Secondly, to the fact that we need to act quickly on the bill regarding Ukraine, my colleagues across the aisle could have passed this bill on Tuesday. The fact that we are here wasting time on a bill that could have passed by suspension just shows the lack of seriousness on the other issues facing the American people. To act quickly, my colleagues should have been advocating this bill be run on Tuesday on suspension.

Here to talk more about these issues is the Republican leader of the Oversight and Reform Committee, Mr. James Comer of Kentucky, who recently led a delegation to the southern border.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I would request to have words taken down.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I would tell my colleague across the aisle that I still have several speakers, just so we are on the same page.

Mr. Speaker, there were comments made prior regarding why we, on our side of the aisle, are not talking about the underlying bill.

The answer to that is very simple. Let's put this into perspective.

We are here debating the rule.

We are not debating final passage. In fact, we don't need to debate final passage because the vast majority of my colleagues agree on this particular bill. We are not here debating final passage of the bill.

We are debating, in essence, the rest of the legislative calendar for the day. We simply are arguing that in this calendar and in the agenda for the rest of the day, we should be considering other important matters, such as the crisis at the southern border.

So I just felt like I needed to put that in perspective.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, let me just be clear. We are not going down several roads. We are going down one road with this argument and that is the southern border.

I am willing to bet that this vote will pass, the underlying bill will pass with over a two-thirds vote. We could have tried to run this on Tuesday. Even if it did fail, we could have been here running it today.

We have delayed this when we have serious business to discuss, particularly the southern border. And that is what we are debating; the fact that the legislative business for today should include the crisis at the southern border.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, let me just start by reiterating that I and the vast majority of my colleagues support S. 3522, and we look forward to voting on that bill later today. We need to bolster Ukraine's defense capability and protect vulnerable civilian populations in Ukraine.

However, we are debating the rule right now. The rule before us extends Speaker Pelosi's authoritarian COVID lockdown that has stripped rank-and-file Members of their ability to advocate for the people they represent.

Let's just look at the stats. Ninety percent of the country is in a low-risk community level. That is according to the CDC; over 90 percent of the country. So why is the Speaker so afraid to let the House get back to work?

If the Speaker followed the real science, not the political science the left has followed through this entire pandemic, the Speaker would allow the people's House to resume regular business.

Further, this rule is a missed opportunity to address the serious issues that are facing American families. American families are getting hammered by inflation. Gas prices are out of control. The border crisis is raging, and we are being told by President Biden that we are expected to face food shortages in future months.

On top of all that bad news, just this morning, we learned the GDP decreased at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2022. Our GDP is decreasing. This is the weakest showing since the pandemic recovery began and this falls well below the projections of economists.

So, instead of passing legislation to address the serious economic crisis we are facing and the serious security issue we are facing at the southern border, Democratic leadership is sending the House home a day early. We were supposed to be here tomorrow. Yet, we are getting sent home early, despite all these issues facing the American people.

We can do a lot more for this country and the American people. For that reason, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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