With Twenty Four Hours To Go Before the District Work Period, Hoyer Sounds Alarm Over Need for Aid to Israel and Ukraine
WASHINGTON, DC — Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor this morning urging Republican leadership to bring unconditional aid for our allies Ukraine and Israel to the Floor before the House adjourns for the two-week district work period. Below is a transcript of his remarks and a link to the video:
Click here for a link to the video.
“I thank the Speaker. Madam Speaker, we have less than 25 hours until we adjourn for two weeks. We'll go home, we’ll see our families, we'll see our constituents, and nobody on the front line of Ukraine will be going home in 25 hours. That was a privilege that our Ukrainian and Israeli allies do not have and, I would say, those who are at risk in Gaza do not have.
“If the Speaker agrees that we should move forward, that we need to secure the aid that Ukraine so desperately needs, why hesitate? Why put this off? Putin won't in his quest to conquer Ukraine. Hamas won't in its mission to destroy Israel. We cannot afford delay in our defense of freedom and democracy.
“Mr. Speaker, the clock is ticking. May it sound in our ears as loudly as the Russian salvos that batter the trenches in Ukraine and the missiles that slam against [the] Iron Dome in Israel and, yes, the bombs who fall on the helpless.
“Madam Speaker, the tens of thousands of Ukrainian children and abducted by Russia don't get to adjourn their captivity, neither do the 134 hostages held in captivity in Gaza, nor do those who are craving humanitarian relief in Gaza.
“When Russian troops encircled the city of Avdiivka last month, the Ukrainian defenders within didn't get to pack up and head home for two weeks. No, the city fell so quickly that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were trapped even before they received the order to withdraw. Why? One soldier who made it out explained, quote, ‘it was the lack of ammunition – no question.’
“There are 435 of us that sit in this body that can send that ammunition today, or at the latest, tomorrow – and yet we fail to act.
“This is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue.
“The world relies on America to be its leader - to bring stability where stability can be accomplished, to bring safety and freedom where it is achievable.
“Mr. Speaker, let us act. Let us act together – in that over 300 votes with respect to Ukraine and with some 400 votes with respect to Israel. That is the American majority that we represent – not Republicans and Democrats – but America that is willing to stand not only for its own freedom, but for the freedom of others around the world.
“I was at the Elton John concert last night. It was a wonderful concert by a wonderful musician. And he stood and he said to us at the end of that concert, he said, ‘You know, as I was growing up as a teenager, and in my early 20s, all of my heroes were American.’ Now he was talking about the spreading of American music throughout the world, and particularly to his home country of England, but America has been the heroes in coming to the aid of those in Europe and other places in the world whose freedom was at risk.
“And yet, my friends, we remain silent in the sense of voting to pass a bill that was passed by 70 Members of the United States Senate. Republican and Democrats – all Americans – saying: we are here, we are coming, and we will stay steadfast – to defend you, your people, and your freedom against the aggressors who would undermine freedom's holy light.
“We are America. We have a responsibility that no other nation has. And it is to be that city on the Hill, to be that beacon, to be that torch of liberty, and to be that country that will respond in a timely fashion to defend freedom here and around the world.
“Let us act before we leave this town. I yield back.”