[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 206 (Thursday, December 14, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H6966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CONGRESS' FAILURE TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR OUR ALLIES

  (Mr. AUCHINCLOSS asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. AUCHINCLOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to 
Congress' failure to show support for our allies abroad before leaving 
town for the holidays and ask that this body return to vote as soon as 
possible to secure the additional national security funding President 
Biden is requesting.
  This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a trip to the 
United States to lobby directly for the aid his nation needs as they 
continue to fight on the front lines of the free world.
  While addressing U.S. officers at the National Defense University, 
President Zelenskyy said: You can count on Ukraine, and we hope just as 
much to be able to count on you. Putin must lose.
  He is right. Putin must lose. The world is not only watching how we 
respond to Ukraine right now but whether or not we will stand with our 
ally Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East, and whether 
or not we are prepared to buttress Taiwan as they face increased 
hostility from the Chinese Communist Party.
  As our allies are looking to us for support, our adversaries are 
waiting with bated breath to see if we will fail to meet this moment in 
history. This week, the Speaker wasted the House's time on a baseless 
impeachment inquiry, but he still can't put a bill on the floor to fund 
our democratic allies.
  We cannot hand a Christmas present to Putin, Hamas, or Xi Jinping. We 
must press President Biden's request for supplemental foreign aid. If 
that means coming back from the holidays early to vote on it, so be it.

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