Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I thank her and the ranking member for their leadership in bringing this legislation to the floor. It is legislation that makes an immediate and substantial difference to what is happening in Ukraine.

Mr. Speaker, 10 days ago, it was my solemn and extraordinary privilege to lead a congressional delegation to Kyiv, where we met with President Zelenskyy. In the heart of his war-torn nation, our delegation expressed our deep admiration for the courage of the Ukrainian people as they fought for their democracy against autocracy and our endless respect for his great, heroic leadership.

In return, really just from the start, President Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the American people, which I conveyed to this Congress and, therefore, to the American people for the extraordinary support that we have so far supplied--and now, tonight, more to come.

He praised our President for being such a source of hope as well as support to the people of Ukraine--not only for our support but for the unifying force he has been in this fight.

Mr. Speaker, as Putin desperately accelerates his campaign of horror and brutality in Ukraine, time is of the essence. That is why we are so pleased to hear that we could proceed immediately with this bill today so that it goes to the Senate and to the President's desk so that the assistance can reach the people of Ukraine and Eastern Europe. We cannot afford to wait. Again, time is of the essence.

The aid package we will pass today will be pivotal, and others have addressed what is in there in terms of weaponry and security issues, in terms of government and their economy, in terms of humanitarian assistance.

I was very pleased for the delegation to be joined by Chairman Jim McGovern, chair of the Rules Committee, but the chair always of the food security initiatives in the Congress. He made very clear the link between what Putin is doing in Ukraine and the impact it will have on the rest of the world in terms of starvation because Ukraine has been the breadbasket of Europe and the world. All of the product--whether it is sunflower oil, whether it is wheat, corn, whatever--going to Africa and other places in the world is essential to their food security.

The brutality of Putin is not just what he is doing in Ukraine but the impact that it is having on food for the world. So when you are home thinking of what this is all about, just think: ``When I was hungry, you fed me,'' the Gospel of Matthew.

I also was so pleased that Mr. Meeks, the chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, was with us because we talked about sanctions, which are a product of his committee. I mention that because he knows his subject very well, as did President Zelenskyy. But the fact is, what we want to see is an end to war. If we could end war by using economic sanctions, all the better, all the better to spare human life on both sides of it.

But President Putin has initiated hostilities into a sovereign country with a band leading it, thinking that he was going to be well- received with a band. What could he have been thinking?

Again, Mr. Meeks, in terms of negotiations, in terms of sanctions and the rest, led our visit very well.

Mr. Schiff, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, had a very clear conversation with President Zelenskyy, the speaker of their parliament, and the Foreign Minister about how respectful of what the Ukrainians are doing with their own security--and not to be misled into thinking that anything but their own security has led to some of the successes they have had.

Barbara Lee, who we just heard from, the chair of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Subcommittee, just so remarkable in our visit to Poland to talk about how we have not only economic assistance or humanitarian assistance but accountability, as well as help for children who are suffering so much there.

Mr. Keating, a member of both the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Armed Services, was very much into the accountability piece. He is chair of the committee that is Europe, Eurasia, environment, global issues across borders and understood the need for us to have public support and accountability for what we give.

Jason Crow, a member of the Intelligence Committee and the Armed Services Committee, spoke with great authority about weapons systems and the rest with President Zelenskyy and his team, about what they need, what we can convey back, and what judgments are made in that regard.

What is interesting about Mr. Crow is that he was a member at another time, earlier in his life--which wasn't that long ago--he was a member of the 82nd Airborne. When we met with the 82nd Airborne in Poland, they were happy to welcome one of their former members. They spoke the same language, some hoots and hollers of some kind. I don't know. But nonetheless, his participation there was beneficial, especially when it came to comparing notes on weapons systems.

What I think is important for the American people to know is that what Putin has done is not only an act of brutality; it is an act of cowardice.

Who but a coward would pretend he is going to war and bomb a maternity hospital?

Who but a coward would have his soldiers resort to the cruelty of rape of children or their parents in front of them--boys and girls?

Who but a coward would pile these children in trains and take them to Russia?

All of this will be a matter of coming to justice at some point, but right now, we have to have it come to a conclusion that you don't do that. It is outside the circle of civilized human behavior.

Putin: Coward.

In any event, what we are doing here is very important. It is buying weaponry and security assistance, government and economic assistance, humanitarian assistance.

I thank Congresswoman Lee and Mr. McGovern for their focus on all of that, for the refugees, for the displaced within Ukraine, and for those who are trapped under fire without food or fresh water or anything because their civilian communities are being attacked by the coward Putin.

So, we are very proud of this effort today. We should all be very proud that we had the opportunity, when Putin decided whatever it is he decided, to be brutal and cruel and a coward, that we were there to help.

It is about democracy versus dictatorship. Democracy must prevail. Ukrainian people are fighting the fight for their democracy and, in doing so, for ours as well. We must help them win so that we can have bread for the world and feed the hungry, so we can stop the horrible behavior that they are doing in treating women and trafficking women and girls. This is unbelievable.

It is horrible, and the world needs to know why this is important. The world needs to know why we have decided to go forward with this as soon as possible.

This package builds upon the strong, ongoing support already delivered by the United States, thanks to the bipartisan, bicameral unity in the Congress and with the administration.

In our government funding legislation last March, we delivered $13.6 billion in humanitarian, security, and economic assistance. These resources are already reaching communities on the ground, helping the Ukrainians protect their people and repel Russian forces.

Just yesterday, President Biden proudly signed into law one of our consequential legislative initiatives, the revival of the historic lend-lease program. Lend-lease helped turn the tide in the fight against fascism in World War II, and it will be essential in our mission to rescue democracy from dictatorship today.

The House also passed one that I like to call seize and freeze: seize the Russian assets, freeze them, and then, to punish the Russian oligarchs funding this diabolical war, use the assets, when they thaw, to rebuild Ukraine.

At the same time, America has continued to move together with our allies to level a historic punishment against Putin for his senseless aggression, isolating Russia and devastating its economy.

I wish the people of Russia knew what he was doing to them, but he does not allow the truth to be heard by the Russian people.

I want to say one more thing about all of this, and that is, when we talk about our partners in NATO and the European Union, I want to sing their praises because they have seen that their dependence on Russian oil is a weapon of war for the Russians. They have seen that unless they diversify away from Russian oil, they will always be enslaved by needing that oil.

I am so pleased that they have made the decision that, in an appropriate timetable, they will be withdrawing from that, as we did in the House a number of weeks ago when we said--and the Senate did as well--we won't be purchasing any more Russian oil.

So again, for these and other reasons, it is just an honor to be associated with the courage of the people of Ukraine and the generosity of the people of Poland and other European countries that are receiving these refugees. They have opened their homes and their hearts to them, and we need to be helpful in every way that we can.

So, I salute our bipartisan leadership in bringing this to the floor.

I also thank Mr. Rogers. He was chair of the committee when I was on the committee, and I appreciated his remarks earlier.

Again, I thank Rosa DeLauro for the efficiency and directness with which she was ready to bring this to the floor the minute the President said we can proceed with it as a single measure.

I urge a strong bipartisan vote for this act of mercy.

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