Notice of Intention to Offer Motion to Discharge Committee on Rules From Further Consideration of House Resolution 518

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(c) of rule XV, I rise to provide notice of my intent to offer a motion to discharge the Committee on Rules from further consideration of House Resolution 518.

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Mr. MEEKS. I did sign.

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Mr. MEEKS. I do.

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Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my motion to discharge House Resolution 518 so that we can consider my bill, the Ukraine Support Act, on the floor this week.

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Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to vote ``aye,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

The yeas and nays were ordered.
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Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, the vote we will be taking tomorrow is of historic importance. It is a question of whether we will be able to vote to support Ukraine, punish Russia, and stand for our values.

Let me be clear. I always prefer to move important and complex legislation through regular order.

I asked for the Ukraine Support Act to be marked up in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. I have asked for simple, bipartisan bills on Russia, including some that have passed overwhelmingly in previous Congresses to move through committee or to the floor.

Unfortunately, each and every time I have inquired about moving a bill to address Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, no matter how bipartisan, I have been turned down. Of course, I am not alone in my frustrations about the inability to move important bills through this Congress. Many Members, on both sides of the aisle, have felt frustrated by the failure of this House to get important legislation across the finish line.

This Chamber must legislate on the important domestic and foreign policy issues of the day. That is our constitutional duty.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is the largest land war in Europe since World War II. The invasion of a smaller democratic nation by a large authoritarian state is as black and white and pure and simple as it gets.

This vote is not a process vote. It is a statement on whether this Congress and all of its Members stand with and support Ukraine and the people of Ukraine in its fight for freedom, its fight for democracy, and its fight for liberty.

It is also a marker of whether we are against dictatorship, lawlessness, brutality, and the Russia-China no limits pact. I know where I stand. I am solidly on the side of America. I am solidly on the side of Ukraine, and I am solidly on the side of justice.

The previous question was ordered.

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

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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