Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022

Mr. Speaker, by direction of the House Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 1065 and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.

general leave

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.

Mr. Speaker, the Rules Committee met yesterday and reported a rule, House Resolution 1065 providing for consideration of S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act under a closed rule.

The rule provides for 1 hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The rule provides for one motion to commit.

The rule extends recess instructions, suspension authority, and same day authority through May 13, 2022. Finally, the rule deems H. Res. 1035 as passed.

Mr. Speaker, Vladimir Putin's criminal war of aggression and atrocity against the sovereign nation of Ukraine has dismembered the second largest country in Europe. Putin's soldiers have killed more than 2,700 Ukrainian civilians and more than 100 children in Ukraine. They have raped and murdered untold numbers of women, leaving their bodies in the street. They have wounded thousands of civilians. They have displaced 10 million Ukrainians, creating the largest exodus of displaced persons since the Nazis rampaged through Europe. They have traumatized a nation.

It is a sobering thing to canvas the damage today, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Putin's invasion is intended to deal a fatal blow to democracy in Ukraine and around the world. Putin's lurch into fascist aggression has actually unified and galvanized the democratic world, the democratic nations, and peoples and movements of the world.

I concede that Putin still has his cheerleaders for his homophobia, his corruption, and his white nationalist racism around the world. I concede that some people, even in this body, continue to chant the filthy words ``Russia hoax'' to describe what we know from our own intelligence community of Putin's unceasing efforts to subvert democracy all over the world. I concede that Vladimir Putin has been called a genius by a former twice-impeached President for his assault on a sovereign democratic nation.

The vast majority of Americans and vast majority of democratic societies around the world reject Putin's atrocities against democracy. President Zelenskyy and President Biden have rallied the world against Putin and in defense of the heroic people of Ukraine standing strong against this aggression--people who have more courage in their pinky than Vladimir Putin and his thugs will ever be able to understand.

Mr. Speaker, NATO members have sent or promised at least $8 billion in weapons to Ukraine. The billions we have sent from the United States of

America has made a key difference in allowing the people of Ukraine to defend themselves. The people of America paid for anti-tank and anti- air systems, for helicopters, for drones, for grenade launchers, for 50 million rounds of ammunition, and more.

Today, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 comes before Congress as an important part of the effort to defend Ukraine. This act is rooted in the lend-lease program of World War II, which President Roosevelt proposed in January of 1941, which allowed our government to lend or to lease war supplies and equipment to any nation whose security was defined as vital to the defense and the security of the United States.

Passage of that act enabled Great Britain and Winston Churchill to keep fighting and to survive the fascist Nazi bombardment until the United States could enter the war.

President Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine needs weapons to sustain themselves, and President Biden has answered that call with billions in military assistance since Russia's full-blown invasion began on February 24, a day that will live in infamy in the freedom-loving world.

On April 21, last Thursday, President Biden announced that we will be sending an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, the eighth such installment, which will include 72 howitzers, 144,000 artillery rounds, 72 tactical vehicles, and more than 121 Phoenix Ghost tactical drones. Today, I understand President Biden has asked for an additional aid package for the next several months.

But S. 3522 will streamline current legal authorities under the Arms Export Control Act that allows our government to lend defense articles needed to defend civilian populations. We will eliminate red tape to make it easier for our government to lend or lease necessary military equipment in this struggle to defend Ukraine.

The legislation requires the Biden administration to establish expedited procedures for delivering military equipment to Ukraine and other affected Eastern European countries to defend populations made vulnerable by Vladimir Putin's aggression. It also facilities the provisioning of loaned and/or leased defense articles to Ukraine, easing a myriad of administrative regulations and processes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge everyone to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear from my friend from Pennsylvania that he supports S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. This is a moment of grave emergency in Ukraine as Putin's army continues to bomb hospitals and schools, rape and assault women, and murder the civilian population.

I am, of course, disappointed that even when we agree, the minority caucus insists upon disagreeing and bringing up matters that are utterly extraneous to this resolution. But my friend mentioned authoritarian lockdowns, oppressive procedures, and dangerous and radical policies. I didn't know if he was referring to Vladimir Putin or to the prior President whose dangerous, radical appeasement of Vladimir Putin empowered and emboldened him as Vladimir Putin has tried to undermine NATO; and the last President did everything in his power to undermine NATO and to weaken NATO. But at this point we have the opportunity to rally the democratic world, the democratic nations of the world, the democratic societies, peoples, and movements against Putin's bloody, imperial invasion of Ukraine.

That is what is on the table right now. That is what is on the table in the world today. That is where democracy is on the line.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I think that all of these efforts to distract us from the issue at hand are meant to cover up the very clear pro-Russian and pro-Putin faction at the heart of their side of the aisle.

Last month in March of this year, the very distinguished gentlewoman from Georgia went on a radio show called the ``Voice of Rural America,'' and she followed Donald Trump's sickening appeasement of Vladimir Putin and blamed Ukraine for the situation.

She said:

You see, Ukraine just kept poking the bear and poking the

bear which is Russia, and Russia invaded. There is no win for

Ukraine here. Russia is successful in this invasion.

When Members of Congress are cheerleaders for Vladimir Putin and are voices of nothing but defeatism, fatalism, and pessimism for democracy in Europe, then they try to distract us with a lot of phony rhetoric about other issues.

She also said:

NATO has been supplying the neo-Nazis with powerful weapons

and extensive training on how to use them. What the hell is

going on with these NATO Nazis.

Mr. Speaker, we have to decide which side we are on.

When Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and Americans looked at what was happening in Europe during World War II and they saw Nazis marching down the street, they did not see very fine people on both sides of the street. They did not start cheerleading for Mussolini, Hitler, and Franco. Yet we have people here who go out and speak on the side of Vladimir Putin and on the side of Russia.

Let's pass this Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act to show where America is. We are not cheerleaders for Vladimir Putin. We are not going to follow the Trump-Putin axis down the road toward autocracy and kleptocracy and sedition and insurrection and corruption and coups in the United States. That is not where we are going.

This is the land of the free, the home of the brave. We stand for democracy here, not Vladimir Putin.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I find this astounding. We are here to talk about aid to Ukraine, how to streamline and expedite aid to defend the people of Ukraine, and they will talk about anything but.

I was willing to believe that the distinguished gentlewoman from Georgia and several other Members were isolated in their Conference. Now, I am starting to think that maybe they are speaking for the whole Conference.

I wonder if my good friend from Pennsylvania would explicitly repudiate some of these statements made by the gentlewoman from Georgia.

Does the minority Conference agree that NATO has been supplying the ``neo-Nazis in Ukraine'' with powerful weapons?

Does the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania support or dissociate himself from the argument that the aid that we send to Ukraine falls ``into the hands of Nazis,'' a statement made by the gentlewoman from Georgia, echoing Putin's filthy claim that his war on the sovereign democracy of Ukraine is, in fact, an attempt to denazify the country?

Of course, we hear distinct echoes in everything that we get from the erudite gentlewoman from Georgia.

Does the minority agree that Putin invaded because Ukraine repeatedly poked the bear?

I mean, I can't understand why they won't talk about defending Ukraine. That is what this legislation is about. That is what this rule is about. They want to talk about anything other than that.

We can debate all of those other important issues in other contexts at the right time. This is how the House of Representatives works. But why are they covering up for the pro-Putin faction within their Conference? I would like them to dissociate themselves from the people who are blaming Ukraine for Russia's bloody imperial invasion and war of human rights violations and atrocities against the people. Please do that.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the United States of America just witnessed the most astonishing spectacle. We are here to debate aid to the people of Ukraine defending themselves against a massive invasion by Vladimir Putin and his army. Then, the minority puts up the distinguished gentlewoman from Georgia, who does not mention Ukraine once.

She does not mention the thousands of Ukrainian civilians who have been slaughtered by Putin's army. She does not mention more than 100 Ukrainian children who have been shot and killed by the Russian army. Instead, she talks about a massive invasion at the border, a massive invasion, which their own speakers have said, today, hundreds of thousands of people have been apprehended in.

That is very different from a military invasion, the one in Ukraine. Of course, the gentlewoman is not going to talk about that. She had a lot to say the other day when she heckled me continuously. When I came to the floor, it was like ``The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' in here with her chanting about the Russia hoax and Russia this and Russia that.

Now, she had the opportunity to tell the world what her views about Russia are. I put them out there, exactly what she has said. She said that the aid that the taxpayers of America are sending to the people of Ukraine to defend themselves against Vladimir Putin and the Russian army falls into the hands of Nazis.

I want to see her proof.

Where is her evidence?

She talks about NATO Nazis. Does the minority believe that our allies in NATO, who are trying to defend the people of Ukraine, are Nazis? Has it come to this?

The gentlewoman talked about massive invasion. We had a massive invasion of our own Chamber. * * *

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the offending remark.

Mr. Speaker, the House rules do forbid engaging in personalities. I accept the advice of the Parliamentarian that I used unparliamentary language to make my point, and I certainly respect the necessity for parliamentary decorum.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close when my friend from Pennsylvania is prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, my good friend from Pennsylvania suggests that this is something that we didn't actually need to bring to the floor, that it could have been done on a suspension vote. And yet, I am certain that my dear friend is aware that a number of suspension votes on things as simple as post office renamings have been voted down by the minority.

There was a distinguished judge who a post office was going to be named after and that was sabotaged on a suspension vote. There have been multiple votes like that.

In fact, we have a resolution that we put forward to affirm support for NATO and its democratic principles. And that was rejected by 63 Members of the minority caucus; 63 Members voted against a resolution expressing unequivocal support for a strong NATO and for the democratic principles underlying it.

Mr. Speaker, I would love if it were as simple as he was suggesting, that we could all agree to this, but they are not agreeing with the things that we are putting forward about the need to unite for democracy around the world. That is why we are precisely in this situation we are in.

Even when we are trying to talk about the importance of this new lend-lease expediting program to allow the U.S. Government to lend military equipment, to lease military equipment to Ukraine and to get it done quickly, it seems like our friends keep on wanting to change the subject to talk about anything other than that.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know what to say other than I wish we were unified in supporting this rule for the legislation that we are bringing forward to make it a lot easier to get support to the people of Ukraine, the support they need to fight off the bloody military invasion being conducted by Putin's army.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman for his service, of course, and also for his clarification about his particular vote.

The House Resolution we are talking about is 831, calling on the United States Government to uphold the founding democratic principles of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and establishing a center for democratic resilience within the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Of course, everyone in the majority voted for it. I think the vast majority of the people on the gentleman's side of the aisle voted for it, but there were 63 Members who did find this or that clause objectionable and, therefore, voted against it. But that is precisely my point.

My good friend from Pennsylvania takes me to task for saying, Why didn't we just do this on a suspension vote basis, just bring it up here and let it glide through. Because nothing is simple when we are talking about these issues.

There are some people who are out there on the radio calling NATO Nazis and saying that the money that Americans are putting into Ukraine is going

to support Nazis. I haven't heard anybody renounce or repudiate that point of view.

Then there are others who find far more substantive and defensible problems with what we are doing.

In any event, they have been voting against it, so we were not able to do a suspension resolution. So we bring it up to have a discussion about Ukraine to see if we can get unity and then they take us off in 50 other directions.

It is a sad thing to see that when President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine have demonstrated democratic courage, bravery, and valor to the entire world, and democratic societies are trying to get together to mobilize behind democracy to oppose what Vladimir Putin and his gang of thugs in Moscow and their allies in different places, like Orban in Hungary and--well, I don't want to get into the whole rogues' gallery of tyrants and bullies that they have gathered to support them.

We have got to be building the democratic forces. We should be together on this. We should be able to think about this in a far broader way than just talking points for the next election.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank my friend for our lively discussion today. And I am glad to hear, again, that he supports the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, S. 3522. I wish we could have focused on the meaning of this legislation, rather than for them to fight about the rule and to raise subjects that are not part of this legislation.

More than 10 million Ukrainians have been forced out of their homes; have been forced to flee in the worst mass exodus of refugees since World War II. Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed. More than 100 Ukrainian children have been murdered by Putin's Army.

And I have heard the word authoritarian uttered on the other side of the aisle today, and it applies to whom? Not Vladimir Putin. They used it to apply to Nancy Pelosi, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, because they disagree with some interpretations of the rules of the House.

Well, this is a serious moment for people who are serious about democracy in the new century. If allowed to continue, Vladimir Putin will spread his rampage beyond Ukraine into neighboring countries in Eastern Europe, and then other authoritarian and autocratic leaders around the world will decide they will be able to do to their neighbors what Vladimir Putin was allowed to do to his neighbor.

This legislation is named after what President Roosevelt made happen during World War II, the Lend-Lease program that, without declaring war, America would come to the aid of its allies by lending and leasing military equipment to our allies in order to secure the democratic world. And that is where we are again.

So we need to streamline all of the red tape. We need to expedite the delivery of equipment to our allies in Ukraine. And I hope we will hear the end of the constant statements of defeatism and pessimism and surrender that we get from so many people who are out there and continue to take the position of the former President Trump

that Vladimir Putin is some kind of genius for invading his neighbor. He is not a genius. He is a mass murderer. He is not a genius. He is a human rights violator, and he is a perpetrator of war crimes.

The world needs to know where America stands. And we should stand, if we could, unified, for the people of Ukraine, for democracy in Europe, and for democracy all around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the rule and the previous question.

The material previously referred to by Mr. Reschenthaler is as follows:

Amendment to House Resolution 1065

At the end of the resolution, add the following:

Sec. 4. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the

House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the

bill (H.R. 471) to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human

Services from lessening the stringency of, and to prohibit

the Secretary of Homeland Security from ceasing or lessening

implementation of, the COVID-19 border health provisions

through the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other

purposes. All points of order against consideration of the

bill are waived. The bill shall be considered as read. All

points of order against provisions in the bill are waived.

The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the

bill and on any amendment thereto to final passage without

intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally

divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority

member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce; and (2) one

motion to recommit.

Sec. 5. Clause l(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the

consideration of H.R. 471.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, my good friend from Maryland, (Mr. Raskin), for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, the rule before us today provides for consideration of S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022.

Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying that I strongly support this bill, which streamlines existing defense authorities to enable the President to enter into a lend-lease agreement directly with Ukraine and Eastern European countries.

I know I speak for my Republican colleagues in expressing my wholehearted support for the people of Ukraine as they defend themselves and their democracy against Vladimir Putin's atrocities. That is why I look forward--and so do so many of my colleagues--to voting for this bill later today.

However, I have to urge my colleagues to oppose this rule as it continues Speaker Pelosi's authoritarian lockdown of the House of Representatives.

For over 2 years the Speaker has used COVID-19 as an excuse to deny Members the ability to advocate on behalf of the people they represent. This rule keeps those oppressive procedures in place, despite the fact that even the bluest of States are easing their COVID restrictions. This is just further proof that my colleagues across the aisle care only about political science, not about real science.

Further, Mr. Speaker, this rule fails to provide for consideration of legislation to address the serious issues facing the American people. Under the Biden administration, our Nation has careened from one crisis to the next.

Right now, families across the country are facing a 41-year high in inflation and skyrocketing gas and food prices. These are expected to cost the average American family $5,000 a year.

This morning we learned the U.S. GDP fell by 1.4 percent during the first quarter of 2022. This is getting worse by the day. Forty percent of small businesses are planning to raise prices by 10 percent just to keep up with inflation. This economic crisis is not the result of the war in Ukraine as President Biden and the leftists on the other side of the aisle like to claim. This crisis is a direct result of the Democrats' out-of-control spending and their far-left, dangerous, radical policies.

Just look at the fact that inflation has increased every month since Joe Biden has been President. Putin didn't invade Ukraine until February of this year, yet during President Biden's first year in office--again, well before the invasion of Ukraine--gas prices jumped nearly 53 percent, from $2.25 a gallon to $3.44 a gallon. Again, that was before Russian soldiers ever crossed the border in Ukraine.

But talking about borders, let's talk about our southern border. The border crisis is a direct result of Joe Biden's incompetence, and the radical policies of the left are leading to disaster. Thanks to the open border policy of the left, last month over 200,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at our southern border. That is a new Biden-era high. Again, that is over 200,000 illegal immigrants. To put this in perspective for my colleagues, that is roughly three congressional districts.

Since Biden took office, over 2.4 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at our southern border, including more than 40 individuals who are on the terrorist watch list. This is only going to get worse if President Biden gets away with lifting title 42.

So, again, Mr. Speaker, while I support S. 3522 and, of course, the people of Ukraine, I believe this is a missed opportunity to help the American people, the people in southwestern Pennsylvania, and the people throughout this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I, therefore, urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Maryland said that we just can't help but to disagree. Nothing could be further from the truth. This bill could be passed on the suspension calendar. This is going to pass by well over two-thirds vote. It passed, I believe, unanimously in the Senate. The fact that we are here debating a rule on this instead of just passing this on suspension is a waste of time. This bill will pass.

But we have got a real crisis at the southern border. We have got inflation. Even the Biden administration said we are expected to have food shortages. We also are failing to project American power abroad, which is leading to chaos all over the world.

We agree on the issue with Ukraine, yet we are still here wasting valuable time that we could be using to address real problems.

But let's just go back to the southern border. As I mentioned earlier in my remarks, just in March, encounters at the southern border hit a new Biden-era high of over 200,000 individuals encountered at the southern border. In addition to apprehending individuals from the terrorist watch list, Border Patrol agents are seeing an increase in illicit drugs, including deadly fentanyl. Alarmingly, fentanyl border seizures increased by 134 percent in fiscal year 2021. President Biden and House Democrats had this open border policy that is creating a humanitarian and a security crisis both at the border and in our communities where people are literally dying from fentanyl overdoses.

With all that in consideration, the Democrats and the left still want to do away with title 42 and lift it. That is why, Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H.R. 471, the PAUSE Act of to 2021.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik), who is the Republican Conference chair. She will explain the amendment.

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Just two quick points in rebuttal for my friend from Pennsylvania.

First off, if there is concern about the humanitarian crisis on the southern border, the best thing you can do is try to bring order to that southern border. The trek that these individuals have to take is incredibly dangerous. Women and children are often exploited. Coyotes are making literally millions of dollars. Oftentimes, when the illegal immigrants come to the United States, they are put in sort of indentured servant status to the drug cartels and the coyotes.

The perverse thing about arguing that you care about people is that if you really did care about the humanitarian crisis, you would share the Republican viewpoint of law and order.

Secondly, to the fact that we need to act quickly on the bill regarding Ukraine, my colleagues across the aisle could have passed this bill on Tuesday. The fact that we are here wasting time on a bill that could have passed by suspension just shows the lack of seriousness on the other issues facing the American people. To act quickly, my colleagues should have been advocating this bill be run on Tuesday on suspension.

Here to talk more about these issues is the Republican leader of the Oversight and Reform Committee, Mr. James Comer of Kentucky, who recently led a delegation to the southern border.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer).

Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Georgia (Mrs. Greene).

Mr. Speaker, I would request to have words taken down.

Mr. Speaker, no objection.

Mr. Speaker, I would tell my colleague across the aisle that I still have several speakers, just so we are on the same page.

Mr. Speaker, there were comments made prior regarding why we, on our side of the aisle, are not talking about the underlying bill.

The answer to that is very simple. Let's put this into perspective.

We are here debating the rule.

We are not debating final passage. In fact, we don't need to debate final passage because the vast majority of my colleagues agree on this particular bill. We are not here debating final passage of the bill.

We are debating, in essence, the rest of the legislative calendar for the day. We simply are arguing that in this calendar and in the agenda for the rest of the day, we should be considering other important matters, such as the crisis at the southern border.

So I just felt like I needed to put that in perspective.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Guest), my good friend.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Green), my good friend, to rebut the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. Speaker, let me just be clear. We are not going down several roads. We are going down one road with this argument and that is the southern border.

I am willing to bet that this vote will pass, the underlying bill will pass with over a two-thirds vote. We could have tried to run this on Tuesday. Even if it did fail, we could have been here running it today.

We have delayed this when we have serious business to discuss, particularly the southern border. And that is what we are debating; the fact that the legislative business for today should include the crisis at the southern border.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), my good friend, and a good pharmacist, to talk more about the crisis at the southern border.

Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, let me just start by reiterating that I and the vast majority of my colleagues support S. 3522, and we look forward to voting on that bill later today. We need to bolster Ukraine's defense capability and protect vulnerable civilian populations in Ukraine.

However, we are debating the rule right now. The rule before us extends Speaker Pelosi's authoritarian COVID lockdown that has stripped rank-and-file Members of their ability to advocate for the people they represent.

Let's just look at the stats. Ninety percent of the country is in a low-risk community level. That is according to the CDC; over 90 percent of the country. So why is the Speaker so afraid to let the House get back to work?

If the Speaker followed the real science, not the political science the left has followed through this entire pandemic, the Speaker would allow the people's House to resume regular business.

Further, this rule is a missed opportunity to address the serious issues that are facing American families. American families are getting hammered by inflation. Gas prices are out of control. The border crisis is raging, and we are being told by President Biden that we are expected to face food shortages in future months.

On top of all that bad news, just this morning, we learned the GDP decreased at an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2022. Our GDP is decreasing. This is the weakest showing since the pandemic recovery began and this falls well below the projections of economists.

So, instead of passing legislation to address the serious economic crisis we are facing and the serious security issue we are facing at the southern border, Democratic leadership is sending the House home a day early. We were supposed to be here tomorrow. Yet, we are getting sent home early, despite all these issues facing the American people.

We can do a lot more for this country and the American people. For that reason, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1065, I call up

the bill (S. 3522) to provide enhanced authority for the President to enter into agreements with the Government of Ukraine to lend or lease defense articles to that Government to protect civilian populations in Ukraine from Russian military invasion, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on S. 3522.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022.

When Russia launched its renewed war against Ukraine, it thought Ukraine would fall in a matter of days. Putin and Russia thought the West would be divided, unable to offer Ukraine the support that it needed. They thought the world would believe their Russian lies. They thought that we would never stay together.

Well, Madam Speaker, on all accounts, Putin has been proven wrong. Two months ago, the people of Ukraine united in defense of their home. I visited Ukraine at that time, before the invasion, and they said: We will fight; we will defend our democracy and our country.

Then what happened? President Biden kept all 30 nations of NATO together, joining with and bringing along other allies and other democracies from around the world, all united like never before. We have jointly imposed devastating sanctions on Russia and provided Ukraine with billions of dollars of security, humanitarian, and economic assistance. And we have demonstrated to Putin and to the Russian Government that their actions have left them isolated.

At the time, our goal was clear: Help Ukraine do what we heard the people ask us to do, defend themselves. But it is now abundantly clear that we must adjust our assumptions and our strategies and that we must help Ukraine, as Secretary Austin said, win.

I strongly support the efforts of the administration, in coordination and in close cooperation with Congress, to provide as much assistance as we can to help Ukraine protect itself. We must look forward to what Ukraine needs to fend off the renewed Russian offensive in the east and, ultimately, win this war, to retake territory, to liberate the towns and cities from Russian occupation and ongoing Russian war crimes, and to maintain and regain their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

This bill is a further step in that direction of thinking toward the long term. It can and must be part of a strategy to not only continue providing Ukraine with the weapons systems its soldiers are well trained to use, including Russian tanks and planes, the U.S.- and NATO- origin antiair and antitank missile systems and drones, but also to step up our training efforts. Through additional training, we will be able to provide more and more advanced equipment.

The administration already has the authority to lend and lease equipment to allies and partners to support the United States' national security interests, and it has already been using all the funds that Congress has given it previously. This bill will allow the administration to cut through the red tape in existing lend-lease authorities to facilitate another channel by which all this vital support can be provided.

Specifically, this bill streamlines the processes to facilitate the administration's provisioning of lent or leased defense articles to Ukraine or Eastern European countries impacted by Russia's invasion for fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2023. It does so by exempting the administration from provisions of law that limit the duration of loaned equipment to 5 years only, as well as exempting such loaned and leased equipment from repayment of costs incurred by doing so.

In short, it does not create a new program, as lend-lease authority is already enshrined in law, but it gives the administration added flexibility in using an existing program to get vital support to Ukraine.

I strongly support this bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to show the same unity that our allies have shown as we fight off this vicious invasion by Putin and Russia in Ukraine.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader of this body.

Madam Speaker, first, let me thank Representative Spartz. She traveled with me when we visited Poland, and I know she was recently over there. She has relatives, and I think we saw her with--I think it was her grandparent, who is in her nineties, on Easter Sunday, celebrating and standing with the Ukrainian people. I thank the gentlewoman for her support even though she isn't a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, particularly for standing up for justice. I thank her personally for that.

I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), my friend and leader.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from the great State of Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a dynamic Member of Congress.

Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman.

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the great State of Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the very distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).

Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.

Madam Speaker, I think it is important to note that S. 3522 is a smart and critical step to give another piece of artillery to the administration so that it has flexibility as it needs to provide Ukraine the support that it needs so that it has the ability to win.

It is also important to show, and that is why it is important for us to be on the floor today, as Mr. Wilson has indicated, the unity that we have here in the United States House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I will tell you that working with Mr. McCaul and Mr. Wilson and Mrs. Spartz on the other side of the aisle, as well as with all of my colleagues on the committee on the Democratic side of the aisle, and working with the Speaker and the majority leader, it is that unity that is going to win this war.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), the great Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time at this time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume for the purpose of closing.

Madam Speaker, as we stand here right now, in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Secretary Antony Blinken is testifying and talking about his recent visit to Kyiv, asking--well, replying to questions that Members on both sides are asking.

And the sense of unity that has been talked about here today, about us being united against Putin's aggression, about us standing together and trying to make sure that we do all that we can to help the Ukrainian people, and that unity, that unity, is what is going to make sure that we preserve democracies around the world.

It is the unity that we have seen with the United States in the lead, keeping 30 NATO countries together, which no one thought would happen before this incursion.

It is the unity of bringing our Asian allies together. It is the unity bringing our Western Hemisphere allies together. It is the unity bringing our African allies together.

It is that unity right here in the United States Congress. Working together is what is going to prevail.

There was a question asked before I left the hearing. One Member said he was at a townhall meeting, and someone asked the question: Well, what does this mean to me? That was the question.

Secretary Blinken said, with which I agree: What does it mean? Well, when you look at what is at stake, number one, the world is asking: What happens? Are there any consequences for a country that decides just to go invade someone else's sovereign property? If we allow that to happen, if it could happen there, it could happen anywhere.

The questions of what we do, what we stand for, who we are, and what our values are, are on the line right now, not only in Ukraine but for all of us who believe in democracy.

When you look at the consequences and the lack of care of the rest of the world by this invasion by Mr. Putin--we are going to have to do hearings

now to talk about starvation. People around the world will starve because of the lack of wheat.

We are looking at what he tried to utilize with reference to energy resources. It has a reverberation back here in the United States as we are looking at what is taking place with rising oil costs, with rising food costs.

This is about us around the world, some, yes, making sacrifices so that we can show the world that unity. And together, we will prevent evil from occurring.

We have seen it once in the 1940s. I never thought I would have to see and fight it again in 2022. This is a trying time for the camera of history, which is rolling.

I, again, thank Mr. McCaul because I have been working very closely with my ranking member to make sure that we have one voice on this. We have talked often and made sure that we are working in a bipartisan manner. I thank Mr. Wilson for managing this bill on the floor and working collectively together in that regard. I thank the leadership on both sides of the aisle because with that, Ukraine will win.

When Ukraine wins, the American people win; the world wins; democracy wins.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank the distinguished Mr. Wilson for yielding as well.

Madam Speaker, I am so pleased that this legislation has such strong bipartisan support on the floor of the House. It removes all doubt in anyone's mind that we are all committed as a Nation, as a Congress-- House and Senate--in terms of this legislation. I thank both gentlemen for their leadership.

Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the gentleman is working with the ranking member, Mr. McCaul, on this important issue as well, and I thank him for affording me this opportunity today.

Madam Speaker, 81 years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt came here to the Congress of the United States, to the House of Representatives, where I am proud to say my father, Thomas D'Alesandro, served as a Member of Congress. And President Franklin Roosevelt delivered a bold and historic request.

In his 1941 State of the Union Address, President Roosevelt explained that democracy itself was under dire threat not only in Europe, but around the world. And he called on Congress to lend a hand to our Allies overseas, bolstering their defenses so they could defeat the evils of fascism.

It was this initiative that would be enacted just two months later that undeniably turned the tide of the Second World War. And the Lend- Lease program would help propel the allies to a victory that preserved the promise of democracy for generations to come.

Today, we see an echo of that chapter in history as a murderous tyrant seeks to conquer its neighbor and dismantle its democracy. And this moment demands we summon a commitment to respond.

The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 revives this pivotal program, waiving time-consuming requirements and the President authority to send critical defensive resources to Ukraine.

It is important to note that it is about time. Time is very important when lives are at stake.

In doing so, we enable the administration to move faster to bolster Ukraine's security forces, empowering them to repel the Russian invaders; protect innocent civilians; and preserve their cherished democracy.

As war rages on Ukraine, every minute matters. It is about time. This strong action could mean the difference between lives saved and lives lost. In any given battle, it could mean the margin between victory and defeat.

It is with astonishing unity that the Senate sent us this important legislation after passing it with a unanimous vote.

And as we hope to secure a strong bipartisan vote here in the House, let us salute the leaders of this legislation, Chairman Gregory Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He acknowledged his ranking member, Mr. McCaul from Texas; Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina, who is managing the bill on the Republican side today; and Congressman Steve Cohen, who helms the Helsinki Commission and played a role in this legislation.

Madam Speaker, restoring the Lend-Lease authority is just the latest action proudly taken by this Congress to strengthen Ukraine and to decimate Russia. We have delivered billions in humanitarian security and economic assistance for Ukraine, including the $13.6 billion in the latest supplemental, and more to come, as our President has put forth a request earlier today that we will turn into legislation, turn into support democracy in Ukraine and, therefore, democracy in the world. I salute the President for his leadership.

These resources are already--of the $13.6 billion, are already reaching communities on the ground and helping Ukraine repel Russian forces. But we need to do more.

As we prepare to take up the President's new supplemental request, we are moving in lockstep with the administration and our allies to isolate Russia and devastate its economy.

From severing normal trade relations to banning the import of Russian energy, our strong actions in the House and in the Senate have made Russia weaker in every way. And the House took its first steps to prosecute Russian war crimes so the perpetrators can be held accountable for the unthinkable, grotesque, diabolical atrocities.

Later today, with the blessing of the Embassy of Ukraine, we will unveil in the Speaker's Dining Room--and we invite our Members to come and their guests--a photo exhibit that captures many of these atrocities.

These haunting photographs show the horror and heartbreak of Russia's callous aggression of Ukraine, and serve as an important reminder of our moral duty to continue to take swift, decisive action to help.

Going back to Lend-Lease, upon the enactment of the historic Lend- Lease law in March of 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt called upon the conscience of our country when he declared: ``The light of democracy must be kept burning. It is not enough for us merely to trim the wick or polish the glass. The time has come when we must provide the fuel in an ever-increasing amount to keep the flame alive.''

Madam Speaker, our task today remains the same.

I do want to acknowledge also another item, and I thank Mr. Chairman and others for their support of this. We are doing Lend-Lease today. We talked about what we did in the omnibus bill, the supplemental, $13.6 billion.

We talked about severing our purchase of oil. We have talked about severing our normal trade relations. But we also did something yesterday when we did what I call ``seize and freeze.'' Seize the assets of the oligarchs and the Russians, that money, and freeze it. And when it thaws, to use that money to help rebuild Ukraine after the victory over the Russians.

So, again, we are thinking of what we need to do in humanitarian assistance;

what we need to do in economic assistance; what we must do in security assistance, weapons, et cetera. But we have to do some other aspects as well.

Our task today, again, remains the same as it did with the original Lend-Lease. Make no mistake. Russia invaded with the stated goal of ending liberty and self-governance in Ukraine. Yet, with unimaginable courage and determination, the Ukrainian people are putting their lives on the line for democracy; not only for their own nation, but for democracy writ large for the world.

It is about freedom versus dictatorship; autocracy versus democracy. The Ukrainian people are making the fight for all of us. We must help them.

So, it is our duty to honor their heroism at the front lines of the battle for freedom by helping to fuel this righteous fight.

It is with endless admiration for the Ukrainian people and their leadership, President--just everybody. I won't start naming names. All of them. We have had visits from so many of them--and their unyielding commitment to keeping alight democracy's precious flame that I urge a strong, bipartisan ``aye'' vote for this vital legislation.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), the chairman of the committee, for yielding. I thank him for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor quickly and effectively. I thank Mr. Wilson, who represents the minority, and also Mr. McCaul, who is the ranking member of the committee, for bringing this. I thank Mrs. Spartz for bringing this issue to the personal attention of all of us, with her personal knowledge of Ukraine and her love of her native country.

Madam Speaker, in 1940, after the Battle of France had ended and the Battle of Britain was beginning, Winston Churchill stood before the House of Commons and declared that the United Kingdom would fight on, if necessary, for years; if necessary, alone.

Britain would fight by itself for some time, but it was not alone. Even though America was not at war, we made a strategic and moral determination that we must help Britain defend itself against fascism. To do that, we set up the lend-lease program, which cut through red tape and enabled critical American military aid to reach our Allies quickly so they could win the Battle of Britain, hold back the forces of fascism, and begin a counteroffensive in North Africa.

Lend-lease established America as what President Franklin Roosevelt called the great arsenal of democracy.

Today, the battle for democracy is taking place in another European nation, Ukraine. The Ukrainian people are the ones engaged in combat directly. They are at the point of the spear. They are the ones experiencing death and destruction and displacement. They are directly in the line of the Russian troops to repel Vladimir Putin's criminal and unprovoked invasion, an act that recalls the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941: unprovoked, unjustified, unacceptable.

But they are not alone in this fight. Already, the Biden-Harris administration and our allies have sent billions of dollars' worth of lethal military aid to help Ukraine defend itself against Putin's unlawful and immoral aggression.

I heard the words of my friend from South Carolina that Putin has brought us together, has unified us, unified us as a NATO alliance, unified us as a European Union and the United States of America, unified us as a Congress, that this shall not stand. Already, the Biden-Harris administration and our allies have sent billions of dollars' worth of lethal military aid to help Ukraine defend itself against Putin's unlawful and immoral aggression.

Putin, of course, meant the battle for Kyiv to be short-lived, to last days, and to see Ukraine's democratic government overthrown and a quisling regime installed.

The battle of Kyiv, however, was won by the forces of freedom, thanks to the extraordinary heroism and courage of Kyiv's defenders and the antitank weapons and other equipment supplied by America and its NATO allies. They are not alone.

Now, with war raging in Ukraine's east, we are rapidly sending additional arms to the Ukrainians that will help them hold the line against Russian forces and engage in the kind of counteroffensive that will defeat Russia's invasion.

How extraordinarily ironic it is that Putin urges us not to escalate the war as Putin escalates it hourly, unjustifiably, criminally, despicably. Every negative adjective you can find applies to the unwarranted, unprovoked, and unacceptable aggression Russia has made on its neighbors.

As I told The Danish Foreign Policy Society when I was visiting with our allies earlier this month, the invasion of Ukraine must end in a strategic defeat for Putin and global criminality. Anything less would send a dangerous signal to other dictators around the world that wars of aggression could yield net gains. That must not happen.

America and our allies must ensure that the only thing Putin gains from the invasion of Ukraine is a hard lesson learned through bitter defeat and loss. Let there be no mistake; that is the only outcome we can accept.

The lend-lease bill we will pass today is a bipartisan expression of the House's support for Ukraine and the continued provision of the lethal arms it requires to defend its freedom, its sovereignty, and its people.

I thank, as I said earlier, Chairman Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member Michael McCaul, Representative Joe Wilson, and staff members of the Foreign Affairs Committee for their work on this bill.

The Senate passed this legislation unanimously earlier this month. I urge my colleagues: This is not a partisan issue. This is about freedom. This is about democracy. This is about morality. This should not be an issue that is at all dividing the 435 of us who have the honor to serve in this body.

Once this legislation is enacted, the Biden-Harris administration will have another tool to ensure that military aid reaches Ukraine quickly and efficiently so that it can be deployed to the front lines and defend democracy. We owe freedom nothing less than that.

The White House has already requested additional funding for military and humanitarian aid, and the House will stand ready to take action once there is agreement on the path forward.

I tell Chairman Meeks of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I tell Chairman Smith of the Armed Services Committee, as soon as that is ready to move, I will move it as soon as it is possible.

The White House has urgently requested the resources that Ukraine needs. Can we do any less than that? In the meantime, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, as I said, unanimously. Let us show Vladimir Putin, let us show the dictators and autocrats of the world, let us show them what happens when democracy is attacked.

Hitler thought when he took Sudetenland and the free world did little that he could then go to Poland, and he could go to Russia, and he could go to Africa, and he could go to France, and he could go someplace else.

The free world led by America must make it very clear that it will not stand for this, that America will be part of an extraordinary alliance of free nations, moral nations, who believe in law, not might makes right.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to unanimously and decisively approve this legislation.