[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H6867-H6868]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MOMENT OF CRISIS IN UKRAINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Costa) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, in a moment of crisis, the people of Ukraine 
and around the world are looking to the United States for support and 
leadership.
  After an 80-day hiatus, Russia launched a wave of cruise missile 
attacks on Ukraine on the Remembrance Day of the Holodomor, which is a 
reflection of when the Soviet Union imposed a famine and killed 
millions of Ukrainians in 1932 and 1933.
  These attacks come just days after the Senate Republicans blocked 
funding for Ukraine and Israel. Putin is watching. He is enjoying these 
political fights, which is only giving him an advantage, he believes. 
His propaganda machine is celebrating the legislative blockade that is 
occurring as the first step to withdrawing total support for Ukraine. 
Believe it.
  The United States must send a strong message to Putin that we stand 
strong and united with the people of Ukraine.
  I have met with brave Ukrainian soldiers and their families who 
shared that our support has given them hope that Ukraine will win this 
fight. They will. Those who say Ukraine is losing the war are wrong. 
Putin's goal to conquer Ukraine has failed. Ukraine has regained 50 
percent of the land Russia originally took and has reopened the Black 
Sea to allow them to export grain.
  Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has depleted the Russian army. From 
a total of over 480,000 soldiers, Russia has lost over 320,000 who have 
either been wounded or killed--think about that, over half their army--
forcing Putin to take coercive actions for new and inexperienced 
personnel, even people from prison, and has desperately turned to North 
Korea for supplies--all this at a cost for the United States of less 
than 1 percent of our GDP and all without U.S. troops on the ground. 
That is a very good deal.
  Less than 10 percent of our annual defense budget has gone to assist 
Ukraine's military, and it has destroyed almost 50 percent of Russia's 
army. Compared to our allies in Europe, we rank 20th in giving to 
Ukraine, when you factor in GDP. We need to pass a supplemental aid 
package to provide immediate assistance, and we need to do it in an 
overwhelming bipartisan way as we have before.
  We are living during a seminal moment in the history of America and 
the world we live in. Historians will look back years from now and 
determine whether or not we made more good decisions than poor 
decisions. This is an opportunity to make a good decision. We need to 
pass the supplemental package to provide immediate assistance that our 
ally Ukraine needs now.
  We must provide humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians that 
have been afflicted by the war and for Armenian refugees who have been 
removed from their historical home in Nagorno-Karabakh.
  We need to pass a package to let our European allies know that the 
United States is reliable and consistent in support of democracies 
around the world. The passage of this supplemental package also 
provides support for Taiwan and restores American military inventory 
that is so critical.
  There is nothing more that Putin wants than to see this Congress and 
our country divided. The Congress in November and December seemed to 
have time for baseless impeachment inquiries but not the time to do the 
most important things like provide funding for national defense, the 
Federal Aviation Administration, and, most importantly, resolving our 
differences and passing a budget.
  I ask my Republican colleagues: What have we done? What are we doing? 
When we gather around the holiday tables in the next 2 weeks and we ask 
for good tidings in the new year, as Members of Congress, I think we 
must ask ourselves: What have we done? What have we done to work 
together in a bipartisan fashion to pass these critical bills? The 
answer is nothing.
  We must do more important things to provide for the American people 
and the world that we live in. This is a seminal moment, as I said 
before, in world history, and the world is watching. We cannot lose 
sight of what is at stake. If we do not stop these threats against 
freedom and democracy, we will fail. This, make no mistake about it, is 
the test of our time.
  I also wish for one and for all a happy holiday season. May the new 
year bring us good tidings. Let us not forget about our 
responsibilities as the world's lone superpower. We have 
responsibilities. We are still, as President Reagan said, the beacon of 
light on that shining hill.

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