Hoyer: The Seats in This House are Empty Today, While Democracy and Freedom Are Under Siege in Ukraine
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor today about House Republicans’ failure to secure unconditioned aid for our allies Ukraine and Israel before the end of the year. Below is the transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:
“I thank my friend and I thank him for yielding. He's one of the great gentlemen of this institution — a man of faith, a man of great intellect, a man whose heart and conscience form his stances on issues, and I am so blessed to be his friend. I thank him for yielding.
“Mr. Speaker, save for the Gentleman from Texas. These seats are empty. The House of Representatives have adjourned for the year. We have adjourned to go home, and Mr. Speaker — I say we've adjourned, we won't adjourn technically until we finish Special Orders and maybe perhaps one-minutes — but we have no more business. And we have an unfinished agenda — an unfinished agenda to confront the enemies of freedom and democracy.
“Mr. Speaker, when President Zelenskyy came to our nation’s capital back in September, he visited the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution in the National Archives. Standing before our nation’s founding documents, he said, and I quote President Zelenskyy: ‘It is not the evil empire, but the lack of unity that can bring freedom to its knees.’ He reiterated that message this week as our members prepare, and are currently, returning home for the holidays.
“We get to return home and celebrate with our families in comfort and in warmth. Mr. Speaker, the Ukrainians huddled amid snow and mud on the frontlines of freedom will not have that luxury. The tens of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Putin’s regime do not get that privilege — neither do their families.
“Zelenskyy is right, Mr. Speaker, we do face another evil empire today, a new ‘axis of evil.’ Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, the autocrats in Iran and in other parts of the world, and its many proxies – including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels, and others — all stand as threats to democracy and to freedom.
“As these dictators and despots continue their assault on democracy, freedom, and international law, they watch whether the free world — of which we should be, and for all intents and purposes are, the leader of — waiting for that free world to stand together to oppose them.
“We will not have that opportunity until 25 days from now.
“These past few months, Congress [had] an opportunity to send them that message of unity and strength. We have not done that. Over 300 Members of the House, Mr. Speaker, voted to provide Ukraine additional aid all seven times it came to this Floor. So, we are not, not united on this issue, we simply have not brought it to the Floor to express that unity and message to all the world.
“An overwhelming majority of Members also wanted to provide aid to Israel, including myself. Mr. Speaker, Speaker Johnson acknowledged the need to aid our allies, saying in Florida the other day, and I quote: ‘Ukraine is another priority. Of course, we cannot allow Putin to march through Europe and we understand the necessity of assisting there.’
“Mr. Speaker, we’ve all gone home without undertaking that responsibility. Sadly, we apparently don’t understand the urgency of that assistance. Instead of giving us a clean vote to act [on that] consensus, Speaker Johnson needlessly complicated the issue by tying it to his Conference’s partisan proposal to overhaul our border policy.
“That decision Mr. Speaker, was inconsistent with his co-sponsorship of H.R. 395 back in 2017, which said and I quote, the purpose of that bill was to ‘end the practice of including more than one subject in a single bill enacted by Congress.’ Mr. Speaker, the reason we have not acted on Israel, the reason we have not acted on Ukraine, the reason we have not come to the defense of democracy and freedom in Ukraine and to oppose terrorism in Israel, the reason — contrary to that one purpose bill which Speaker Johnson was the sponsor of – he wants to put multiple issues in that, including border security, which we've been working on for 15 years and haven't been able to come to consensus. But we should, and we are, in consensus on Ukraine. But we did not act.
“Evidently, they think that ethical principles only applies when it’s politically convenient.
“I agree we need to fix our broken immigration system and address the situation at the border, but this is not the way to do it — not at the expense of the defense of freedom and democracy.
“House Republican leadership spent the last week advancing a sham impeachment inquiry, a bill about whole milk, and legislation about duck stamps while Ukraine twisted in the wind.
“Our House should have only had one priority this week: ensuring democracy’s survival. By failing to provide this aid, our Congress signaled to our friends and foes alike that America chooses reluctance over resolve, doubt over determination, and division over decisiveness.
“That posture of uncertainty puts our national security at risk. The ‘America first’ contingent of the Republican party sends an even more damaging message. Time and time again, leaders of the American far-right praise Putin, demonize Ukraine, and spread misinformation about the war.
“Tucker Carlson – once one of the most watched people on American TV – has become one of the most watched people on Russian state television, where propagandists often play clips of his segments. President Trump continues to play into Putin’s hands as well. Trump recently said that if reelected in 2024, he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours. Only one way to do that – give up, retreat, turn tail on the defense of democracy and Putin. In response, Putin said — and this is instructive —Putin said, ‘We cannot help but feel happy about it,’ meaning, Trump’s claim that he would end the war in 24 hours. Giving up is the only way to do that.
“Mr. Speaker, we have seen this kowtowing just recently on Capitol Hill. This week, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted, quote: ‘Zelenskyy is here in DC today begging for your money,’ our money, ‘and warmongering. Washington wants to give him limitless American dollars.’ That of course is not true, but it warms the heart of Vladimir Putin. She went on to say, ‘How much money will Washington spend to slaughter an entire generation of young Ukrainian men as Washington fights its proxy war with Russia?’ I can remember, because I’ve been here a long time, when Republican friends accused the Democratic side of the aisle [for] too often blaming America first. Of course, that is what Marjorie Taylor Greene said.
“It is disgusting to say we are ‘slaughtering’ Ukrainians when Putin’s forces are doing just that every day. We are doing everything possible to keep Ukrainians alive. Ukrainians courageously give their lives — as so many of our American forebears have done — in defense of their country, in defense of their sovereignty, and defense of their people's lives. Ukrainians courageously are giving their lives to defend their democracy, their country, and their families. They will continue to do so with or without our support.
“Our aid, however, may well determine whether their sacrifice leads to victory or to defeat. And yet, Mr. Speaker, the chairs are empty. In another tweet, Congresswoman Greene asked, quote: ‘Why doesn’t anyone in Washington talk about a peace treaty with Russia? A deal with Putin promising he will not continue any further invasions.’ Putin’s promises have no credibility. ‘Washington wants a war,’ she said, ‘not peace.’ That is a lie. Washington wants peace, but it is not prepared to pay for peace with being dominated by a dictator.
“Believe me, we want peace – but we want a peace that lasts. A promise of peace from Putin is worthless. He is a former KGB officer turned dictator who has built his career one lie, one deception, and one betrayal at a time. He already broke one peace agreement: the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. In which [Russia], agreed to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders in exchange for Ukraine’s nuclear arsenal. He got the nuclear arsenal. Ukraine was either the third or fourth largest holder of nuclear weapons in the world, and they gave them up in return for Putin’s promise that their borders would be secure and unviolated.
“And then he went into Crimea and the West’s response was weak. And he's in Crimea today, notwithstanding the fact that that is under Ukrainian sovereignty. Putin went back on that pledge when he took Crimea. He didn't stop with Crimea however, he went into eastern Ukraine and there’s no reason to expect that he will stop with Ukraine.
“Winston Churchill once said: ‘An appeaser is one who hopes that if he feeds the crocodile enough, the crocodile will eat him last.’ But surely, the crocodile will eat them. John F. Kennedy shared the same wisdom in his book Why England Slept. He wrote: ‘Any person will awaken when the house is burning down. What we need is an armed guard that will wake up when the fire first starts or, better yet, one that will not permit a fire to start at all.’
“The seats in this House are empty today while the fire threatens democracy and freedom in Ukraine, which is the frontline of democracy and freedom today.
“Mr. Speaker, the fire rages. Our inaction only stokes the flames. If you don’t believe me, listen to what Russian state TV is saying. Allow me to quote from the transcript of a broadcast earlier this week:
“‘What's happening in the U.S. is beneficial for us’ – that is a quote from Russian TV, controlled by Putin. The seats are empty and the Russians, not the Russians, Putin is happy.
“They went on to say, ‘Ukraine is losing; Russia is winning. This is it – their funding and weapons came to an end.’ They were relying on the United States of America — that shining city on the hill that stands for freedom, individual rights, democracy, religious freedom. That beacon on the hill is less bright today because these seats are empty.
“[Russian TV] said: ‘As of now, well done, Republicans.’ [Their] words, not mine. ‘Well done, Republicans for standing firm – that's good for us.’ ‘Us’ is Russia. ‘Us’ is the dictator. ‘Us’ is the aggressor. ‘Us’ is the international lawbreaker and criminal and murderer.
“Just a few hours ago at the end-of-the-year press conference, Vladimir Putin himself said of Ukraine, quote: ‘Everything is coming from the West, but the free things will run out some day and it seems it is already happening.’
“In other words, Putin is saying, the West is retreating from the defense of freedom. And the seats in this body are empty. There’s nothing that Putin and the rest of the axis of evil likes to see more than our Congress divided, our country divided, and our coalition divided. We must not give them that satisfaction. If we neglect to send these resources without condition and without delay, we fail not only the people of Ukraine but the people of Israel and the people in Palestine to whom we want to give relief and humanitarian aid.
“We fail the America envisioned by our founding fathers – a nation with the courage to stand up to forces of empire and despotism. We fall short of the principles they enshrined in our founding documents – the very same documents that President Zelenskyy made his pilgrimage to a few months ago.
“Mr. Speaker, when we return to the Capitol on the 9th of January, each Member of this Congress will face a choice. Will we, as Zelenskyy said, allow ‘freedom to be brought to its knees,’ or Mr. Speaker, will we be standing strong – standing united– against the evil empire? Regrettably, the seats are empty today.
“Every week, every day, every hour we fail to act, we risk allowing the enemies of freedom to make that decision for us. We must not let that happen. I yield back. I thank the Gentleman for yielding me the time.”