WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) joined Chris Jansing Reports on MSNBC to urge Congressional Republicans to act on sending immediate, unconditional aid to Ukraine and Israel. Below is a transcript of his interview and a link to the video:
Click here for a link to the video.
On the Critical Need for Congress to Send Aid to Ukraine and Israel “Well look, what I’ve learned is that Ukraine needs resources now. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But right now. And it is unconscionable to couple that with if we don't do the border, which we haven't been able to do frankly for 13 years. A bipartisan bill passed the Senate in 2013 and nothing has happened since then. It's a very tough issue.” “We ought to do something on the border, but we ought not to make Ukrainian assistance contingent upon that. We ought not to send a message to Vladimir Putin, a dictator and despot who is committing war crimes, that we're not going to give Ukraine the money it needs so that in Johnson’s words, in Speaker Johnson’s words in Florida just a few days ago, that if [Vladimir Putin] takes Ukraine, he will keep coming. And our men and women will be at risk on the field.” “So that I just don't understand Speaker Johnson or frankly the Republicans in the Senate not saying, ‘We're for Ukraine and we need to work on border security. We're for Israel, but we're not going to make it contingent upon some other agreement that we have to make.’ That is not the message that the United States of America, the paragon of freedom and democracy, and the example of freedom, should be saying to the rest of the world.” “This is not just domestic politics. This is about how America is perceived around the world and how we stick by our allies in a timely fashion to make sure that they defeat those who would undermine them either through terrorism or for a criminal invasion to take their country.” “That's, what we ought to be doing and we ought to be doing it now. We have seven [legislative] days left to go before the end of the year. And in Florida, Speaker Johnson said we need to get this done. Well, we do. And all he has to do is put a bill on the Floor and we'll get over 300 votes for aid to Ukraine and over 400 votes for aid to Israel. So, this is not an issue that doesn't have the votes. It just doesn't have the will of the Speaker to put it on the Floor.” On the United States’ Continued Support of Israel “Look, I think that Israel understands that they've had ceasefires and tried to make accommodations with Hamas for — ever since 2007 when Hamas took over and started sending rockets in to threaten communities that were close and communities that [were] not so close, both people and buildings. So that they, I think, have to get rid of Hamas.” “But having said that, we need to send a message to Hamas that we are going to continue to be supportive [of Israel] because in doing that, I think we make it much more likely that the hostages will be released whole and [alive]. I talked to [Ruby] and I talked on behalf of Itay just the other day on the Floor of the House. I talked to [Ruby’s] wife, the mother of Itay, and we have to be focused on getting those […] hostages out of the hands of Hamas — a dangerous organization that has murdered so many people on October 7th.” “So, we need to be doing everything. I think the President is doing everything, but let me tell you what the Congress could do: Congress could pass that money and send the message to Hamas that we're going to support this effort and you need to make accommodations and get those hostages back home.”
