Hoyer: If Ukraine Loses, America Loses
WASHINGTON, DC – Last night, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) delivered remarks on the House Floor regarding the historical importance of supporting Ukraine against Russia's illegal invasion. Below is a video and transcript of his remarks:
Click here for a full video of his remarks.
"Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, May 8th, marks 80 years since Nazi Germany surrendered to America and its allies. Victory in Europe, known as 'V Day,' came at a tremendous price. Hundreds of thousands of Americans and millions of others, dead, many more physically maimed and mentally scarred. An indeterminate amount of treasure, exhausted, a continent reduced to ruin.
"On that day, Mr. Speaker, President Truman said, the only way to repay that debt was through ceaseless devotion, and I quote, 'To building and abiding peace, a peace rooted in justice and in all.' He said, and again, I quote, 'We can build such a peace, only by hard, toilsome, painstaking work, by understanding and working with our allies in peace as we have in war.' Mr. Speaker, I was born just a few months before that war began. I was only five years old when Truman said those words. I have lived my entire life virtually amid that biting piece he envisioned all those years ago. I've lived my entire life knowing that America was the world's most consequential nation. I've lived my entire life believing that America was also the nation most committed to freedom, democracy, free markets, and self determination. Even if our deeds sometimes fell short of those goals, the 'Pax Americana' that began in 1945 was not inevitable. As Truman said, it took hard, toilsome, painstaking work, not only by the greatest generation that saw the horrors of World War II, but also the generations that have followed.
"President Kennedy said in his inaugural address, 'The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans - born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage and unwilling to witness for permit, slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today, at home and around the world.' Kennedy spoke of universal brotherhood and sisterhood of all mankind, and the recognition that we are inextricably connected. It reflected the pledge we make to our flag, the symbol of our value and our unity, recognizing that under God, we are 'indivisible.' United around that principle, we did not repeat the mistake we made after 1918. We came together. We made an alliance. We did not disarm. We did not turn back our backs on our allies and the world. We did not try to appease dictators and authoritarians. We continued to express to the world our willingness to partner with Democratic and free nations to defend liberty, as Kennedy said, here and around the world. That is, Mr. Speaker, until 2016.
"Sadly and dangerously, Candidate Donald Trump announced that America might not honor that pledge. He made it conditional, transaction, if you will. Transactional. He was right, of course, to demand our NATO allies, pay their proportionate share for NATO's expenses. But he sent shockwaves of doubt to our allies, to our friends, and yes, to our enemies and our adversaries. He expressed uncertainty about whether the United States would honor its commitment under Article 5 of the NATO Charter to defend a NATO ally in an event that they were attacked, as our NATO allies had done for the United States after the September 11th attacks. Mr. Speaker, in 2017, I worked across the aisle with Speaker Paul Ryan, Leader Kevin McCarthy, and others to pass an overwhelmingly bipartisan resolution that reassured our NATO nations and potential adversaries as well, that the United States would always honor Article 5. It passed, Mr. Speaker, 419 to 3. For over three quarters of a century, the credibility of our commitment to assuring we would never see World War III, which of course, was the assurance of deterrence and resolve against warmongers was unassailable. President Trump, however, as a candidate, put the premise of 'peace through strength and unity' in doubt.
"Which brings me, Mr. Speaker, to Ukraine. I wear the Ukraine flag and the flag of the United States every day. Every morning, I pin this pin on the suit that I'm wearing. When the Soviet Union collapsed, largely because of a failed economic system and the resolve of America, NATO, and the free world, the USSR's captive nations regained their independence and sovereignty. While their histories were unique, their status as independent nation was recognized by the United Nation and most of the world. In 1994, a few years later, the Russians signed an agreement recognizing Ukraine's sovereignty and pledged to respect the integrity of the then existing borders. In exchange, Ukraine turned over all of its nuclear weapons to Russia. Predictably, and sadly, the Russians did not honor their agreement. On February 20, 2014, they invaded a part of Ukraine, Crimea, in an act of international criminal behavior. Two agreements that Russia and Ukraine signed in Minsk – the first in September of 2014 and the second of February 2015 – outlined a Russian commitment to withdraw from Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine and to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity. Instead, Russia continued waging a proxy war in Eastern Ukraine for years.
"Mr. Speaker, I believe that the West's failure to respond to the 2014 invasion and the illegal annexation of Crimea led to its second criminal and horrific invasion of Ukraine without provocation in 2022, some three years ago. Our failure to act sent a message not only to Putin, but to the rest of the world that the United States and the free world may not respond to an illegal war [or] invasion. Although President Trump may not be able to blame for how the war began, he may determine how it ends: in victory or defeat, for freedom, democracy, and international law. Mr. Speaker, I fear that this administration is pursuing a strategy of defeat in Ukraine. Trump administration is trying to appease Vladimir Putin, just as Neville Chamberlain tried and failed to appease Adolf Hitler. Trump and many of his loyalists parrot the Russian propaganda lie that somehow, Ukraine, the victim of Putin's unprovoked invasion, started the war. The president has now said he did not mean that, but that's what he said.
"The Trump Administration has halted American efforts to investigate and prosecute Russian war crimes. He pressures Ukraine to forfeit Crimea, a part of Ukraine agreed to by Russia in 2014. He pressures Ukraine to - excuse me, '94. He pressures Ukraine to forfeit Crimea, and large swaths of eastern lands. Crucially, President Trump and other members of the administration have dismissed Ukraine's ambitions and desire to become members of NATO. I believe NAO membership is the best and perhaps only way to assure Ukraine's security. Mr. Speaker, we didn't ask Russia's permission to have Sweden join NATO. We didn't ask Russia's permission to have Finland join NATO. They joined because they correctly feared additional Russian invasions, including the long borders that Finland has with Russia. Why would we ask Russia's permission, therefore, to let Ukraine join NATO? That decision belongs to us, our NATO allies, and Ukraine. No one else. Not once as NATO threatened to invade Russia. That is not Putin's fear. No, he is afraid that NATO will stand in the way of Russia invading others. And yet, Mr. Speaker, even with all of Trump's concessions, Vladimir Putin continues to drag his feet in negotiations. He wanted this war when he launched his invasion three years ago. And, frankly, he still wants it today. He wants conquest, not simply concessions. He is laser focused on restoring and expanding the old autocratic dictatorship known as the Soviet Empire. Even if Putin were to agree to a peace deal, we could never trust him to keep it. Eventually, he'd toss it into the ash bin with the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Budapest Memorandum, the Minsk Agreements of West I spoke, and all other international laws and agreements he has violated over the years.
"Mr. Speaker, Trump risks falling for the same grand illusion that Chamberlain fell for, that feeding the Russian bear will make Putin less hungry for expansion, less dangerous, less dismissive of international law. That did not happen with Hitler, it will not happen with Putin. Supporting Ukraine, Mr. Speaker, is the moral thing to do. But importantly, and centrally, it is also in America's interest, and in the interest of the national security and global stability. Vladimir Putin is a part of a new access axis of aggression; one made up of Russia, China, Iran, North Korea. A Russian victory in Ukraine would embolden, not only Putin, but also expansionist authoritarians everywhere to prey on the free world. When our adversaries doubt our resolve, they become more willing to test our strength. Mr. Speaker, if Putin wins, Xi Jinping wins. Khomeini wins. Kim Jong un wins. Authoritarians, aggressive, acquisitive, dangerous. If Ukraine loses, America loses. Europe loses. The free world loses.
Democracy loses. International law loses. Freedom is at risk. That is, I tell you, Mr. Speaker, the consensus of our allies.
"This year, I visited five of our European allies on Congressional Delegations: one led by Mike Turner, the former Chair of the Intelligence Committee, and the other led by Michael Rogers, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. I spoke to leaders and many others at the Munich Security Conference. They all agreed: Russia must not win its war of aggression. They are committed, not only to Russia's strategic defeat, but also to securing a lasting piece like the one that began in 1945: a peace through strength and resolve. Our allies, Mr. Speaker, also recognize that we all need to do more. Experts predict Russia will field a two million strong army by 2030. Right now, Russia produces more ammunition in three months than NATO does in an entire year. That includes America, of course. That has to change, and it is. Of NATO's 28 nations, 23 reached and exceeded the alliance's requirement for a minimum 2% of GDP for defense spending. Poland, Estonia, and Latvia are now over 3%. Lithuania and Finland will be over 3% in 2025. For context, the U.S. spent 3.38% of GDP in 2024. Poland and Estonia are already higher. Most of our NATO allies, Mr. Speaker, already have plans to increase spending further in the years ahead. The only action that would deter Putin's expansionist vision and break through his KGB psychology is one strong enough, resolved enough, and credible enough to dispel any doubt that waging war against the West would come at an untenable cost. However, if we shrink from the concept of victory in Ukraine. against a despotic, illegal invasion, Russia and other authoritarian regimes may not believe that the West will act. We can only secure 'peace through strength' if we help Ukraine deal Putin a definitive strategic defeat.
"Mr. Speaker, most Members of this Congress agree. The Congress has had at least 12 votes on the issue of supporting Ukraine since Russia's savage invasion on February 24th. Less than two weeks later, Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly voted to support Ukraine's defense. 84% of the Members voted yes. Two months later, there was a second vote. 87% of the members of this body voted yes. Over the next two years, there were ten more votes on support for Ukraine. They received an average of 80% of the votes of the U.S House of Representatives. We provided Ukraine with the military aid. It needed to stay in the fight, and with incredible resolve, extraordinary courage, and a commitment to their freedom and to their land, with our help, with the help of our NATO allies and others free loving nations around the world, they have hung in there for longer than anybody thought was possible. Now, however, we need to give Ukraine the resources it needs to win the war. This Republican majority will do, I think, what Trump asks. All he has to do, Mr. Speaker, is pick up the phone, and tell them to put Ukraine's supplemental on the Floor with his support.
"He has made an economic deal - I don't know fully the details, but that gives us a further stake from an economic standpoint, of a business standpoint, from a transactional standpoint, which, of course, our president focuses on so often, but if we put that bill on the Floor, it will pass overwhelmingly. Concessions, Mr. Speaker, will never get Putin to the negotiating table.
Only strength will do that. Truman told Stalin – excuse me, Truman told Stalin to lift the blockade of Berlin. Kennedy told Khrushchev to stay out of Cuba. And he did, just as Stalin, as Gorbachev tore down that wall. Reagan told Gorbachev, ‘Tear down this wall.' He did. Why? Certainly not because America made endless concessions and kowtowed to our adversaries. No, those presidents succeeded because America stood strong, stood up for its values, and stood up for its allies for freedom. He clearly cares about his image, and his image – and I refer to he as President Trump – his image that he likes to portray is 'winning.' Mr. President, make Putin get out of Ukraine. You said this war would never have started if you were president. Now that you are president, make Ukraine whole and make the aggressor leave. Tell him to go home, to stop taking lives and start making the lives of his people better.
"President Trump must, if we are to maintain the peace, secured 80 years ago if our children are to have a world we want for them. A world of peace and decency and respect for one another, a world where transgressive are held accountable. Mr. Speaker, the world to build a more secure world remains just as hard, just as toilsome, yes, just as painstaking, as it did, eight decades ago, as Truman pointed out. But it remains just as important today as it was then and has been for 80 years. Mr. President, let us stand up for freedom. Let us stand up for law and justice, and stand with the courageous Ukrainians who, like us, want to protect their land, protect their families, protect their economic wellbeing, protect freedom. Mr. President, I think you can do it. Please do. I yield back the balance of my time."