Ukraine Strategy

Floor Speech

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Mr. MILLER of Ohio. Madam Speaker, I rise to speak about the ongoing brutal and unjust war that is still wreaking havoc in Eastern Europe to this day and about America's role.

Make no mistake, Vladimir Putin is an evil tyrant whose brutal army is devastating the people of Ukraine. Like many others, I look forward to seeing him in The Hague.

My position on providing aid to Ukraine has been clear. Ukraine should have the tools it needs to win this war, its war, with the help of other countries, not just the United States.

The United States, especially with the American President, who holds many of these powers, absolutely cannot provide a blank check without robust oversight and something else that has been lacking: a clear strategy to end America's involvement.

Before I became a Member of this House, the previous Congress gave the Biden administration the resources it needed to help the Ukrainians end their war. However, the piecemeal approach taken by this administration has prolonged, rather than ended, the fight.

Frankly, just like former President Trump has said, the United States of America has the tools to end this war in 24 hours, bring that thug Putin to the table, stop the killing of innocent civilians, and allow Ukraine to maintain its independence.

I believe the American people, as well as the Ukrainians fighting on the front lines, have little use, if any, for weak and ill-equipped weaponry that simply prolongs the war rather than bringing it to an end once and for all.

A piecemeal approach to helping Ukraine is wasting taxpayer dollars, and I do not know anyone who is in favor of wasting American tax dollars.

What we need is a strategy, oversight, and accountability:

A strategy that explicitly defines what victory looks like so we know when America's involvement is at an end; oversight so that the American people know how their tax dollars are being spent; and accountability for this administration's failures to implement these elementary pillars of decisionmaking.

Another far-reaching, multi-billion-dollar supplement without these three key tenets is not what the American people want or deserve. Frankly, it is not what the Ukrainians want either.

The Ukrainians have taken significant steps to restore accountability to their government and weed out corruption, so I believe they understand just how important a transparency is.

Madam Speaker, Ukraine can end this war, Ukrainians can have peace, the innocent killings of civilians at the evil hands of an evil dictator can stop. We can share the tools Ukrainians need without depleting our own capabilities. However, the United States cannot be drawn into another forever war without a meaningful strategy that defines how we know when it is over. We cannot put American servicemembers in harm's way, and we certainly cannot waste taxpayer dollars.

We were supposed to learn this lesson after Vietnam, and, instead, we ended up with a 20-year war in Afghanistan. We cannot make the same mistake again.

Madam Speaker, I represent one of the largest Ukrainian-American populations in the House of Representatives. My constituents are Americans who are the family members of Ukrainian soldiers. They are Americans who are faith leaders, and some are even first-generation Ukrainian Americans. All of them are grateful for the American assistance and that of our allies, and every single one is ready for this war to come to an end, just as I know so many others are, as well.

It is time for this administration to be up front with the American people and articulate a coherent strategy to define our end goal.

Let us all work together to commit to saving taxpayer dollars, increasing crucial oversight of our operations, logistical and tactical support, and finally commit ourselves to developing the strategy needed to save innocent lives, help the Ukrainians end their armed conflict, keep America out of this war, and ensure this does not go on another day longer.

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