Pelosi Floor Speech on H.R. 7691, the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on the Floor of the House of Representatives in support of H.R. 7691, the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Gentlewoman for yielding. I thank her and the Ranking Member for their leadership in bringing this legislation to the Floor. It's legislation that will have an immediate and substantial – make an immediate and substantial difference to what is happening in Ukraine.

Mr. Speaker: ten days ago, it was my solemn and extraordinary privilege to lead a Congressional delegation to Kyiv, where we met with President Zelenskyy. In the heart of this war-torn nation, our delegation expressed our deep admiration for the courage of the Ukrainian people as they fought for their democracy against autocracy and endless respect for his, his great heroic leadership.

In return, really, really, just from the start, President Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the American people – which I convey to this Congress and therefore to the American people – for the extraordinary support that we have so far supplied. And now, tonight, more to come. He praised our President for being such a source of hope as well as support to the people of Ukraine – not only for our support but for the unifying force he has been in this fight.

As Putin desperately accelerates his campaign of horror and brutality, Mr. Speaker, horror and brutality in Ukraine, time is of the essence. That's why we are pleased to hear that we could proceed immediately with this bill today, so that it goes through the Senate and to the President's desk, so that the assistance can reach the people of Ukraine and Eastern Europe. It is – we cannot afford to wait. Again, time is of the essence.

The aid package we'll pass today will be pivotal – and others have addressed what is in there in terms of weaponry and security issues, in terms of government and their economy, in terms of humanitarian assistance.

I was very pleased, on the delegation, to be joined by Chairman Jim McGovern, Chair of the Rules Committee, but the chair always of the food security initiatives in the Congress. And he made very clear the link between what Putin is doing in Ukraine and the impact it will have on the rest of the world in terms of starvation, because Ukraine has been the breadbasket of Europe and of the world. And all of the product – whether it's sunflower oil, whether it's wheat, corn, whatever – going to Africa and other places in the world – is essential to their food security. So the brutality of Putin is not just what he's doing in Ukraine, but the impact that it is having on food for the world. So when you are home thinking, ‘What is what this is all about?' – just think about ‘when I was hungry, you fed me' in the Gospel of Matthew.

It also – I was so pleased that Mr. Meeks, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was with us because we talked about sanctions, which are aproduct of his Committee. And I mention that because he knows his subject very well as did President Zelenskyy. But the fact is what we want to see is an end to war. If we could end war by using economic sanctions, all the better – all the better to spare human life on both sides of it. But President Putin has initiated a war – hostilities into a sovereign country – what, with a band leading it, thinking he was going to be well-received with a band? What could he have been thinking? So again, Mr. Meeks, in terms of negotiations, in terms of sanctions and the rest, led our visit very well.

Mr. Schiff, the Chair of the Intelligence Committee: had a very clear conversation with President Zelenskyy and the speaker of their parliament and the foreign secretary – minister, about how – and respectful of what the Ukrainians are doing with their own security and not to be misled into thinking that anything but their own security has led to the some of the successes they have had.

Ms. Barbara Lee, who we just heard from, the Chair of the State Foreign Ops [Sub]committee – just so remarkable in our visit to Poland to talk about how we have not only economic assistance or humanitarian assistance but accountability as well as help for children who are suffering so much there.

Mr. Keating, a member of both the Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committee, was very much into the accountability piece. His vice – he is Chair of the Committee that is Europe, Eurasia, the Environment – global issues that cross borders – and understood the need for us to have public support and have accountability for what we give.

And Jason Crow, member of Armed Services, spoke with great authority about weapons systems and the rest with President Zelenskyy and his team about what they need, what we can convey back and what judgements are made in that regard. What is interesting of Mr. Crow is that he was a member, in another time earlier in his life, which wasn't that long ago – he was a member of the 82nd Airborne. And when we met with the 82nd Airborne in Poland, they were happy to welcome one of their former members, and they were – they spoke the same language. Some hoots and hollers of some kind, I don't know. But nonetheless, it was, it was a very benefit – his participation there was beneficial and especially when it came to comparing notes on weapons systems.

What I think is important for the American people to know is that what Putin has done is not only an act of brutality, it's an act of cowardice. Who but a coward would pretend he's going to war and bomb a maternity hospital? Who but a coward would have his soldiers resort to the cruelty of the rape of children or their parents in front of them, boys and girls? Who but a coward would pile these children in trains and take them to Russia?

All of this would be a matter of coming to justice at some point. But right now, we have to have it come to a conclusion, that you don't do that. It's outside of the circle of civilized human behavior. Putin, coward.

So in any event, what we are doing here is very important. Supplying weaponry and security assistance, government and economic assistance, humanitarian assistance – and I thank Congresswoman Lee and Mr. McGovern for their focus on all of that. For the refugees, for the displaced within Ukraine and for those who are trapped under fire without food or water – fresh water or anything – because their civilian communities are being attacked by the coward Putin.

So we are very proud today. We should all be very proud that we had the opportunity – when Putin decided whatever he decided, to be brutal and cruel and a coward – that we were there to help. It is about democracy versus a dictatorship. Democracy must prevail. The Ukrainian people are fighting the fight for their democracy and for ours as well. We must help them win so that we can have bread for the world and feed the hungry, so we can stop the horrible behavior that they are doing, treating women and trafficking and the rest – trafficking women and girls. This is unbelievable. It's horrible and the world needs – it's important. And the world needs to know why we have decided to go forward with this as soon as possible.

This package builds upon the strong support already delivered by the United States, thanks to the bipartisan, bicameral unity in the Congress and with the Administration. In our government funding legislation last March, we delivered $13.6 billion in humanitarian, security and economic assistance. These resources are already reaching communities on the ground, helping the Ukrainians protect their people and repel Russian forces.

And just yesterday, President Biden proudly signed into law one of our consequential legislative initiatives, the revival of the historic Lend-Lease program. Lend-Lease helped turn the tide in the fight against fascism in World War II, and it will be essential in our mission to rescue democracy from dictatorship today.

The House also passed one that I like to call ‘Seize and Freeze' – seize the Russian assets, freeze them and then – to punish the Russian oligarchs funding this diabolical war – and use the assets, when they thaw, to rebuild Ukraine.

At the same time, America has continued to move together with our allies to level this historic punishment against Putin for his senseless aggression, isolating Russia and devastating its economy. I wish the people of Russia knew what he was doing to them. But he does not allow truth to be heard by the Russian people.

I just want to say one more thing about all of this. And that is: when we talk about our partners in NATO and in the European Union – I want to sing their praises, because they have seen that their dependence on Russian oil is a weapon of war for the Russians. They have seen that, unless they diversify away from Russian oil, they'll always be enslaved by needing that oil. And so I'm so pleased that they have made the decision that, in an appropriate timetable, they will be withdrawing from that, as we did in the House a number of weeks ago, when we said – and the Senate did as well – ‘[we won't] be purchasing any more Russian oil.'

So again, for these and other reasons – it is just an honor to be associated with the courage of the people of Ukraine, the generosity of the people of Poland and other Eastern European countries who are receiving these refugees. They've opened their homes and their hearts to them, and we need to be helpful in every way that we can.

And so I salute our bipartisan leadership in bringing this to the Floor. I also want to thank Mr. Rogers, former Chair of the Committee when I was on the Committee, and I appreciated his remarks earlier. And again, I thank Rosa DeLauro for the efficiency and directness with which she was ready to bring this to the Floor – the minute the President said we can proceed with it as a single measure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I yield back and urge a strong bipartisan vote for this act of mercy. Thank you.