From The Office of Congressman Seth Magaziner (D RI):
Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) spoke on the House floor urging Speaker Mike Johnson to call a vote on Ukraine funding.
The Senate passed an emergency defense spending bill on Tuesday which would provide military assistance for Ukraine and Israel, among other foreign aid provisions, with more than a dozen Republicans on board. Speaker Johnson has indicated that he won’t bring the overwhelmingly bipartisan bill to the House floor for a vote, delaying critical military supplies and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight against Putin’s illegal and brutal invasion.
“The time has come for the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, to make a decision.
“Two years ago, the Russian army — at the direction of Vladimir Putin — invaded Ukraine, a peaceful nation, a democratic nation, an ally of the United States. Putin’s missiles rained down on schools and hospitals. His bullets took the lives of children and the elderly.
“This is not the first time Vladimir Putin has invaded another country, slaughtering thousands of innocent people for no purpose other than his own selfish ambition. And if he is allowed to succeed in Ukraine, he will not stop there.
“We must continue to support Ukraine, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because if the United States abandons Ukraine, we endanger our own national security.
“After the attacks on this country on September 11th, more than 50 nations, including Ukraine and all of our NATO allies, came to America’s defense in the war on terror.
“The strength of our military is multiplied by the strength of our alliances. And if we turn our backs on our ally, we weaken ourselves.
“This week, the Senate passed a bill that will give Ukraine the supplies and ammunition it needs to win the war. And now the decision and the fate of millions rests with just one man. The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson.
“We know what will happen if Speaker Mike Johnson calls a vote on Ukraine funding. The bill will pass the House by an overwhelming margin. This is undisputed. It will pass the House
by an overwhelming margin. Then the president will sign it. And American factories and workers will produce the ammunition and supplies the Ukrainians desperately need.
“Once again, America’s industrial might will arm the cause of freedom as we have so many times before. And when the Ukrainians receive that ammunition and those supplies, they will continue to use them to great effect and fight bravely as they have for the last two years.
“We know all of this will happen if Speaker Johnson allows us to vote on the bill. And if we do not vote on the bill, if Ukraine falls and millions of people have their freedom violently ripped away from them; and the light of democracy in the world glows a little less bright; and Vladimir Putin turns his menacing gaze to the democracies of Europe; and dictators around the world rejoice that the United States has retreated from its position of global leadership.
“It will be because of one man, just one man. Speaker Mike Johnson had a power, the power to call a vote and didn’t.
“77 years ago, a young veteran named John F. Kennedy entered this chamber for the first time as a newly elected member of the House of Representatives. In his book Profiles in Courage, Kennedy predicted in the days ahead, only the very courageous will be able to take the hard and unpopular decisions necessary for our survival in the struggle with a powerful enemy.
“Now is the time for courage. History is watching. The cause of freedom and the hopes of millions are on the line. What will Mike Johnson do?
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