Ukraine Support Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the fine ranking member from the State of New York, who has worked so very hard on this for the time this evening, and to all of our colleagues who support H.R. 2913, the Ukraine Support Act.

Mr. Speaker, it is not a partisan bill. Democrats voted for it. Republicans voted for it. Independents voted for it.

In 2014, without provocation, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin first invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Since 2022, he has been killing its people with his full-scale invasion.

Our free world must stand tall against tyrants, not mollycoddle them. Liberty is not negotiable. The war-torn people of Ukraine are not asking us for charity. They are asking for our partnership, along with our closest, time-tested allies in the European Union.

During the last century, in World Wars I and II, over 330,000 American soldiers' lives were sacrificed for liberty, for us. The greatest gift the 20th century bequeathed to us was their victory.

Liberty must not be squandered. It must be reaffirmed. For this Congress, that time is now.

We must not turn our backs on Ukraine's long-suffering people, especially over 20,000 children of Ukraine maliciously abducted by Russia and being inhumanely reprogrammed on Russian soil. That is a war crime.

Now, Iran, in cahoots with Putin's Russia, makes the drones killing American soldiers in the Middle East. It is Iranian-made suicide drones that Russia launches to murder thousands of Ukrainians in their homes and its soldiers at the front.

Ukraine has come to America's defense with its cutting-edge interceptor drones. Consider their noble commitment. Now, will we come to Ukraine's aid?

The people of Ukraine fully know their fate is intertwined with our own. A ``yes'' vote sanctions Putin's Russia, that dictatorship. A ``yes'' vote forestalls further Russian encroachment across the European Union, our time-tested allies. A ``yes'' vote aids Ukraine.

If we fail to secure liberty's front in Europe, the next strategic reality we will face is defending our interests against an emboldened, nuclear-armed, expansionist Russia at a much, much higher cost.

Mr. Speaker, voting ``yes'' for liberty is an imperative, first, last, and always.

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