National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to urge the adoption of my amendment to ensure that President Biden's lend-lease authority regarding Ukraine is subject to the same requirements under the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act as loans to every other country.

These requirements would not block or do not block any of the current support that our government is providing to Ukraine but would mitigate the risk that the Biden administration or, for that matter, any administration abuses its lend-lease authorities in the future.

The requirements include that the loan is made for a fixed period of time, up to 5 years, and the borrower agrees to repay us all the costs we incur by lending our equipment, such as money to repair or to replace damaged equipment.

Loans have agreements for repayment. Without the requirement that loans have a defined term and a repayment agreement, without those terms it is not a loan. It is a grant or a gift. Funding Ukraine is under the purview of Congress, not the executive branch.

He can simply call it a loan and never require repayment or reimbursement, or he could extend the terms out indefinitely or request repayment in something else like Monopoly money--and I say that in jest.

Other requirements under the Arms Export Control Act include that the President determine that there are compelling foreign policy or national security reasons to lend the equipment rather than actually just selling it, and he considers any impact the loan may have on our national technology and industrial base.

Surely, none of us want the President to lend equipment if he doesn't believe we have a compelling national interest to be involved, or without consideration of the impact on our industrial base.

Finally, it requires that the President provide detailed reports to the Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Committees when he exercises the lend-lease authorities, which is a very reasonable requirement consistent with basic congressional oversight.

Mr. Chairman, I urge support of my amendment and reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I believe in freedom. I believe in liberty. I believe in the right for a country to defend itself. I also believe in accountability. These are taxpayer dollars being used overseas. We have an authority, and we have a responsibility as Congress to oversee these dollars.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, while Members of Congress have diverse views on the conflict in Ukraine and the appropriate role of the United States, which we have talked about a lot when considering this bill, I hope we can broadly agree that Congress must exercise its responsibility to guide and oversee the use of our taxpayer dollars and our defense equipment.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I just want to reiterate that we are not saying that the lend-lease program can't be utilized, we are simply asking that Congress has the ability to set forth terms as is our responsibility.

We have an obligation to the American taxpayer to have accountability for these dollars. It is lend-lease; it is not a gift. If it is a gift, we should authorize it, but it is not. It is either lend-lease or it is not.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the robust debate. I want to emphasize under the lend-lease program there are terms set forth. This is something that we owe the American people. It is something that we would expect if it is utilized for other countries.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

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