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Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I was pleased to see President Trump say that his administration will resume sending weapons to Ukraine. It is my understanding that they signed an order to do so. He was going to do that using the resources and flexibilities that Congress has provided to him, to his administration.

This commitment is vital, ensuring that Ukraine has capabilities to meet the needs to protect its people and its territory against ongoing aggression.

America's security is closely linked to the stability of the free world. If Ukraine fails to repel Russia's invasion, the consequences will extend far beyond Eastern Europe, threatening the safety, economic strength, and global leadership of the United States of America.

If we allow a dictator to redraw borders by force, then what message does that send to other authoritarian regimes watching closely around the globe--including China? This is a message of weakness that invites further aggression, and it threatens our allies and partners around the globe.

The cost of inaction will far outweigh the cost of action. If Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, the likelihood of a direct confrontation between Russia and a NATO ally dramatically increases, and that would mean far greater costs--not just in resources but potentially in American lives.

The President has tried to negotiate a peace agreement, but Putin has indicated, in almost no uncertain fashion, lack of interest.

The Ukrainian people have demonstrated incredible courage and resilience. They are fighting for their freedom and, by extension, for the principles that underpin global peace and security.

Our response to what we are seeing in Ukraine and across the globe should be to build more capacity and ensure that we have a resilient industrial base, with an ability to handle all the possible threats that the United States faces now and into the future. And 90 percent of the aid we will provide also goes back directly into the American economy, expanding capacity and resources for our own defense industrial base and creating jobs right here at home.

Expanding that industrial base is hugely important to the future, the well-being, the national security of our Nation. By aiding Ukraine, we are replenishing our own stockpiles with new, more advanced equipment and demonstrating American leadership on the global stage.

President Trump also secured a recent agreement at the NATO summit in which members of the alliance agreed to increase defense spending from 2 percent to 5 percent by 2035. This commitment to the defense of Europe and the NATO members is a tremendous development and will bolster our collective strength in an alliance, bringing our allies' spending up to the same levels of the United States.

We need to make certain Ukraine has the equipment necessary to win a just and lasting peace. We are interested in that peace. We want that peace.

The United States must continue our resolute support for Ukraine, showing our adversaries that we are a reliable partner and that attacks on democracy will not go unanswered.

We need to prove, particularly after our withdrawal from Afghanistan, that our allies can rely on us and our adversaries should fear us.

Mr. President, I thank you for your engagement today and, in the past, the things that you have secured to see that there is a bright future for the people in Ukraine.

And I thank you, Mr. President, for my time on the floor.

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