Ranking Member DeLauro Floor Remarks on Ukraine Security Funding Bill

***WATCH: DeLauro, “We must stop Putin in his tracks right now. The world must see our resolve. We need to support Ukraine.”***

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor in support of the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, one of three national security funding bills being considered by the House. A summary of this bill can be found here.

I rise in strong support of the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act. This provides Ukraine with desperately needed aid and munitions to fight back against Putin’s tyranny.

Vladimir Putin’s greed, aggression, and unyielding pursuit of power have led to grievous loss of life and humanitarian devastation. The cruelty against innocent civilians at the hands of Putin and his cronies is devastating.

And, we know very well that Russia’s invasion is not only a threat to Ukraine’s physical security but also a threat to the very core of Ukrainian and global democracy.

Putin is betting that he can outlast the will and the determination of Ukraine, the United States, and other Western Allies. Some in this body seem inclined to prove him right. We must prove him definitively wrong.

It is completely misguided. It is an affront to our nation’s history and our heritage to suggest we would be putting America first by retreating from the world stage.

We put America first by demonstrating the power of American leadership – that we have the strength and resolve and the heart to fight for the most vulnerable people, protect their freedom, and preserve their dignity.

This bill will provide $14 billion for the training, equipment, weapons, logistics support, intelligence, and other supplies and resources to support Ukraine’s military – and it will provide nearly the same amount for us, the United States, to replenish our own equipment stocks.

It also provides $9.5 billion in forgivable loans to support the Ukrainian economy and $20.5 billion for the U.S. Armed Forces to assist in Ukraine with mission support, intelligence support, pay, equipment, and other resources.

If Ukraine does not receive this support that it requires to defeat Russia’s outrageous assault on its sovereign territory, the legacy of this Congress will be the appeasement of a dictator, the destruction of an allied nation, and a fractured Europe.

Gone will be the postwar order that has kept Europe free and prosperous. Gone will be our credibility, in the eyes of our allies and of our adversaries. And gone will be the America that promised to stand up for freedom, democracy, and human rights, wherever they are threatened or wherever they are under attack.

Our allies are facing existential threats, and our friends and foes around the world are watching, waiting, to see how America will respond.

Vladimir Putin is watching. Our allies in NATO and across Europe are watching.

What course will America take? We must stop Putin in his tracks right now. The world must see our resolve. We need to support Ukraine.

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