Transcript of Pelosi Remarks at Unveiling of U.S. Capitol Photo Exhibit on Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova for the unveiling of a U.S. Capitol photo exhibit on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Good afternoon, everyone.

It's with great emotion as well as pride that I welcome the Ambassador to what is the Speaker's Dining Room. We usually have pictures of California in here, this being the Speaker's Dining Room.

Today, we have something much more important than that. Because of the privilege granted to us by the Embassy, by Madam Ambassador – and again, what we saw in the presentation that the President of Ukraine made to the Congress, showing the photographs of brutality existing, that have existed in Ukraine and continue to proceed there.

We are having this, hosting this – and we'll have some out in the hall when Members are returning and our guests come. So again, it is a manifestation – an emotional time to the people of Ukraine. With a praise for their heroism that is just almost unimaginable, but so is the brutality they are suffering.

In our conversations, we hear that the Russians may have this much in terms of firepower – they have more. But in terms of motivation, they're outdone by the Ukrainian people, and these photographs are a manifestation of it.

We're very – it's been one of the privileges of service here to serve with the Ambassador from Ukraine at a time that – who would have suspected or expected the tyranny and the dictatorship to weigh in so much across the border into a sovereign country? Such brutality. That we were blessed, Ukraine was blessed, we are blessed by the representation of Ambassador Markarova. She has been brilliant; she has been understanding; she has been patient; she has been teaching us, and she has us on a fast course – a master class on how democracy is at stake. Courage is at hand, and the Ukrainian people are so – are so worthy of our support.

And with that, I'm very pleased to welcome Madam Ambassador Markarova of Ukraine.

Ambassador Markarova. Thank you. Hello. Well, Madam Speaker –

Speaker Pelosi. Congressman Danny Davis of Illinois, joining us. Members are voting now. I don't know who's in charge. They called the votes, and I imagine [inaudible] but nonetheless.

Ambassador Markarova. Hello, Congressman, it is a pleasure to see you.

Congressman Davis. Thank you.

Speaker Pelosi. Zoe Lofgren of California, Chair of the House Administration Committee.

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Speaker Pelosi. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Ambassador. Let us applaud our Ambassador. Now, again, a Member said to me, ‘Do you want us to be here and vote or do you want us to be downstairs?' I said, ‘No, I need you to vote and participate and to substitute.'

What you see here are parents weeping over the lifeless bodies of their children. Imagine. Innocent civilians lying dead in the streets or in mass graves. Homes reduced to rubble and a maternity hospital destroyed, just for example. These are some – and this will rotate. We will have others.

We've been joined now by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania. Thank you for joining us. She presented the Rule today for the Lend-Lease legislation and made such an impassioned plea for this cause. Thank you so much. And we've been joined by Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence of Michigan. She's a Member of the Holocaust [Memorial Council] and therefore knows this story of, just, man's inhumanity to man.

But let me just go to a place where the Ambassador went. This has been quite a week. Yesterday, we passed what I call ‘seize and freeze.' It has a better name than that. It's about seizing the assets of the oligarchs, freezing them, and when they thaw, it will be time for us to rebuild Ukraine using that Russian money. They destroyed the country, and now we want them to pay for it after the victory.

I see that we have Jan Schakowsky coming from Illinois and joining Danny Davis from Illinois. As I mentioned, I know you're blessed with many Ukrainian Americans in Illinois. Thank you for joining us.

So that was yesterday. Seize and freeze; thaw and rebuild the infrastructure. Today, we have the Lend-Lease bill that you're all familiar with. In 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt came here, did the State of the Union address and introduced Lend-Lease. By March, it became the law of the land. We're refreshing it for now to help with Ukraine, as well as other Eastern European countries who are helping in this fight for democracy.

And as Madam Ambassador indicated this morning, our President – and we're so proud of him. He's been so strong and so unifying – has put forth the legislative, the proposal for security, economic assistance and humanitarian assistance, which we now will, the Appropriations Committee has immediately – and Congresswoman Lawrence is on that Committee – will be turning that into legislative language. We have a committee week next week and hopefully be able to vote on as soon as we come back.

But as the Madam Ambassador indicated, all of this has been very bipartisan – seize and freeze, Lend-Lease – in both Houses. And the Appropriations Committee will come together – what we call the Four Corners: House and Senate, Democratic and Republican – to turn this into legislation, to turn it into law, to turn it into tangible support for the people of Ukraine.

Bobby Scott – Chairman Bobby Scott of Education and Labor Committee from the state of, from the state of Virginia. Thank you, Bobby, for joining us. And I'm sure Bobby – I mean, Bobby works with children all the time. We all share the concern that we see in these photographs. But in any event, if you have any questions, I'm sure Madam Ambassador would be happy to answer them, as well any of us.

Any questions? Okay. Well, thank you all so much.

Congresswoman Lofgren, as Chair of the House Administration Committee. She's really our boss, when we want to hang a picture or change the décor, anyway. We have to go to Zoe Lofgren.

Chair Lofgren. We all thought this was a good idea.

Speaker Pelosi. We call her the ‘Mayor of Capitol Hill,' because if we want to get something done that affects how we present the Capitol, Zoe Lofgren is our champion of that.

But thank you all. And again, Members will be coming in to – in a tranquil time to study. It is very emotional for us to see. But that motivates us to do so much more. And again, Madam Ambassador, thank you for being such an intellectual leader, such an inspiration to us and such a friend to our country. Thank you so much.