Transcript of Pelosi Remarks at Roundtable with Local Ukrainian Leaders

San Francisco – Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Bay Area Ukrainian community leaders to discuss Congressional support for Ukraine's defense of Democracy and hear about the issues affecting the Ukrainian community with the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. I'm honored that my colleague from across the Bay, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, is with us. In Congress, we call her Madam Chair. She is the Chair of a very important [Subcommittee] that does the funding for our humanitarian and even some military assistance, our cooperation globally in the world. She's called a Cardinal – they call them Cardinals in the Appropriations Committee, if you're Chair of one of these [Subcommittees]. So we have some Jewish Cardinals. We have some – all kinds of Cardinals there.

But Barbara's role in accompanying – to going on this trip, to being a key part of this trip was very important to us. Because when we came home, we had to deliver a package. So let me just talk to you about that.

There are many honors that are afforded Members of Congress, certainly Speaker and Madam Cardinal – Chair of an important Committee. I don't know that any of them surpass the privilege we had to go to Ukraine, to see the fight for democracy happening right before our very eyes, to witness the courage of the Ukrainian people fighting for democracy, not just for Ukraine, but heading – staving off an assault on Democracy, globally.

We saw and heard about the brutality of the Russian assault, and pretty soon we'll be to – the 100th day since that brutal assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine. This is important to our country. It's important to our President. He has made that very clear to us. And under his auspices, we were able – we were afforded the opportunity and all of the security to visit Ukraine.

When we were there, we heard first and foremost from President Zelenskyy an expression of gratitude to the American people, to our President, to the Congress for what Congress had – America had already done or committed to do. We wanted to hear what he saw as the priority of needs that we could talk about.

We have in our midst – our Members know that – weaponry, and they know about food and all of that. So let me just talk a little bit about that and then open – hear from Barbara and the Consul General and then from each of you.

There are four categories of discussion that we had there. Of course, security, security, security was the overarching – but in security, weaponry. And that was the request of the, of the President, was that we would have these multilateral – the MLRS's. And that came back as one of our primary missions, right, Barbara? To visit the White House and talk about the need for the distance, to counter the advantage the Russians had in terms of distance. And I'm so pleased that the President has met that request, as you know.

The second – and our Members know their weapons. You know, they, they – again, one of – the one person who was taking lead on weaponry, Jason Crow, said he was so convinced of the need and the knowledge that the president displayed about why and when and how and all the rest that he said we should make t-shirts when we go to the White House that say ‘MLRS.' We didn't have to go that far. But nonetheless, the president – President Zelenskyy's arguments, very persuasive.

Sanctions. Our Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Meeks – sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. The president gave me a 15-page – gave us each a 15-page report about what sanctions were working, which weren't and their evaluation of them, but also renewed what he had already asked me weeks before about our having the – Russia on the State Sponsor of Terrorism list. That is something that we, again, made an appeal to the White House for, and I do believe – well, I know that's one of your questions. We can go further into that. But that is a high priority for us. In fact, I said if Russia is not on that list, tear the list up, because nobody should be on there more than Russia at this time for the brutality that we saw and how they have – how would you say? Brutalized their own military to turn into such horrible rapists and all the rest.

Humanitarian assistance. The president was very clear about humanitarian assistance. He said it falls into three categories. Our refugees outside the country of Germany and some of the Eastern European countries, refugees overseas, displaced persons within – and that's another, say, seven and a half million people – displaced people – within Ukraine. And then people needing humanitarian assistance who are under assault, another like ten and a half million people. So the different categories of, of need and urgency and all of that.

The next thing would be economic assistance. And that was – that had to do with what the government needed to meet its needs for paying the army, paying teachers – which is a high priority – and meeting their needs and that. Now on the humanitarian, just to get back to that. It's really – food is a security issue, it's an economic issue, it's a humanitarian issue. But the, the blockading – the preventing of food – to grain and sunflower oil and all the rest to be exported to the rest of the world makes it a food security issue in Africa and other places. So again, it's about not having an income of selling that. It's also about the important part of it not being available to feed people and to get food to people within Ukraine. And again, to have the economic advantage of that. So that – Jim McGovern is ‘Mr. Food Security' in the Congress, and he understands these issues and that, that provoked a need for other weapons in terms of harpoons and the rest of it in terms of demining the port and the – so again, the intense discussion about how we do our humanitarian assistance, how we do our economic assistance. We came back – and again, we'll answer questions but just to get more quickly to all of you.

What – before we went, we had a package of $13.6 billion – which was a huge package, $13.6 billion. That was just about being exhausted, especially when it came to weapons. There was just no more – there were no more money. We put together a package when we came back, under Barbara's leadership as an Appropriator, that – Madam Chair – which was $40 billion, three times more than what we had done before. Again, weapons, humanitarian, economic. The sanctions not necessarily an outlay of money, but nonetheless, a priority in our, in our policy. We pass it immediately. The President even said, as important as COVID is to us, since the – certain people on the other side of the aisle don't want to do COVID, let's just move, don't hold up the Ukraine aid. And we passed it immediately. We were ready. We ordered – assoon as he said that, we posted it and passed it the next day. You have to post a day in advance. Unfortunately, there was a delay in the Senate because of whatever. And – but now they have passed it. And that money is on – that is on its way, and very important.

We're very proud of our President in terms of unifying everyone around this, including his role in helping to unify the West in terms of our – and not only the West, beyond that – NATO, as well as EU and the rest. NATO includes, you know – then we have some of our G7 countries that include countries that are not necessarily in NATO. And the – just the unity of the EU and NATO and G7 and the rest has been something quite remarkable. And we – we think that every country was responsible for that unity, but our President played a very important role in it.

We can talk about oil and how the EU has told us that they think that their purchase of oil or any security products from Russia is funding the war in Ukraine. Diversification, diversification, diversification is necessary so that that blackmail is not there. But again, we can talk further and to all those things.

But really, I said, when I came back, it was like watching Washington cross Delaware, to see the bravery of the leadership of the President of Ukraine. He's remarkable, but also all of the people helping him and every person in Ukraine being so much a part of the sacrifice necessary, the courage needed and the idealism that goes with it and the pride in their Ukrainian identity. So sad, contrasted with the brutality of the Russians there.

So that's kind of where we are. And the President put out this statement yesterday, very positively, about what we're intending to do. We can't do any of it without the money. And Congresswoman Lee is the Chair of one of the most significant [Subcommittees] that – in funding it all. She also is a champion worldwide for diplomacy and finding peaceful means of solutions, as well as a recognizing – meeting the needs of people and how they are affected there. And of course, we'll talk about here at home as well.

Madam Chair.