[House Report 117-613]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                      {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                      {     117-613

======================================================================



 
   RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTING THE 
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND SECRETARY OF STATE TO TRANSMIT, RESPECTIVELY, 
     CERTAIN DOCUMENTS TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO 
   CONGRESSIONALLY APPROPRIATED FUNDS TO THE NATION OF UKRAINE FROM 
                 JANUARY 20, 2021 TO NOVEMBER 15, 2022

                                _______
                                

  December 8, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Meeks, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1482]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 1482) of inquiry requesting the President 
and directing the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State 
to transmit, respectively, certain documents to the House of 
Representatives relating to Congressionally appropriated funds 
to the nation of Ukraine from January 20, 2021 to November 15, 
2022, having considered the same, reports unfavorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the resolution not be 
agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Summary..........................................................     2
Background.......................................................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration and Vote.................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     4
New Budget Authority, Tax Expenditures, and Federal Mandates.....     4
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
Congressional Accountability Act.................................     4
New Advisory Committees..........................................     4
Earmark Identification...........................................     5
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     5
Dissenting Views.................................................     6
Dissenting Views.................................................     7

                                SUMMARY

    H. Res. 1482 requests the President and directs the 
Secretaries of Defense and State to transmit, respectively, to 
the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the 
date of the adoption of this resolution, copies of all 
documents, charts, or tables, including notes from meetings, 
audio recordings, records (including telephone and email 
records), correspondence, and other communications, and any 
financial statements detailing purchases, recipients, and 
government expenditures to the extent that any such one or more 
items are within the possession of the President or Secretaries 
aforementioned, respectively, and refer or relate to 
congressionally appropriated funds directed to the nation of 
Ukraine--whether in regard to military, civilian, or financial 
aid--between January 20, 2021 and November 15, 2022.

                               BACKGROUND

    The Committee has conducted thorough and consistent 
oversight on the Executive Branch's provision of 
congressionally appropriated political-military, humanitarian, 
and economic assistance to Ukraine for years, particularly in 
tandem with significant increases in volumes of assistance, 
including in 2014 and 2022, in the wake of Russia's dual 
invasions. Likewise, the Administration has consistently, 
voluntarily, and promptly provided thorough documentation, 
briefings, and justifications to the appropriate committees of 
jurisdiction--and to the broader Congress--to facilitate our 
legislative and oversight responsibilities. The Department of 
State, Department of Defense, and United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID) have provided advance 
notification and detailed breakdowns of how every dollar of 
American taxpayer funding would be spent ahead of every tranche 
of U.S. government provided assistance. Additionally, the 
Administration has developed and implemented a detailed 
interagency action plan led by a task force of inspectors 
general from the three leading agencies for monitoring, 
tracking, and accounting for the totality of assistance 
provided to Ukraine. This too has been briefed to Congress, 
including the Committee, by the Executive Branch on multiple 
occasions.
    Since Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the 
Department of State--often with participation from the 
Department of Defense--has provided Committee staff, on at 
least a biweekly basis, totaling over 20 separate engagements, 
updates on the status of the war as well as U.S. ally, and 
partner assistance efforts to Ukraine. Additionally, the 
Department of State and USAID have briefed Committee staff on 
no less than fifteen occasions on non-security assistance to 
Ukraine and the operating status of Embassy Kyiv. On a Member 
level, the Committee has held dozens of public briefings, 
hearings, and closed briefings on the war in Ukraine and 
related issues. Altogether, the Administration have engaged on 
more than 50 occasions with the Congress at the staff and 
Member level about the war in Ukraine, the assistance the 
United States is providing, assistance our allies and partners 
are providing, and related security issues. This includes 
several hearings and briefings at the Cabinet-level or Deputy-
level.
    The very sponsors of this resolution of inquiry and others 
launching attacks on the transparency of the Biden 
Administration's response to the war in Ukraine have failed to 
participate actively in many of the briefings and other 
opportunities available to them for consultation with 
administration officials to voice their concerns and learn 
about the U.S. strategy to support Ukraine defeat Russia. 
Rather than engaging in constructive oversight through the 
various mechanisms at Congress' disposal and through the 
legislative process, the sponsors of this resolution of inquiry 
are politicizing oversight, as evidenced by the cosponsors' 
decision to request documentation dating only back to the 
beginning of the Biden Administration, which fails to give full 
consideration to the significant U.S. assistance provided to 
Ukraine for almost a decade. Furthermore, the politicization of 
oversight only strengthens the hand of Vladimir Putin. While 
the Committee will remain engaged in rigorous oversight of U.S. 
funding to support Ukraine and our other allies and partners, 
H. Res. 1482 is a dangerous fishing expedition that chooses 
partisanship over responsible oversight and transatlantic 
unity.

                                HEARINGS

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs held no hearings on H. 
Res. 1482.

                        COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

    The Committee considered H. Res. 1482 on December 6, 2022 
and agreed to a motion to report the resolution adversely to 
the House of Representatives by a recorded vote (roll call 26Y-
22N).
    On the vote to report H. Res. 1482 to the House adversely:

Members voting AYE (26)

    Gregory W. Meeks, D-NY
    Brad Sherman, D-CA
    Gerald E. Connolly, D-VA
    Karen Bass, D-CA
    William R. Keating, D-MA
    David N. Cicilline, D-RI
    Ami Bera, D-CA
    Joaquin Castro, D-TX
    Dina Titus, D-NV
    Ted Lieu, D-CA
    Susan Wild, D-PA
    Dean Phillips, D-MN
    Ilhan Omar, D-MN
    Colin Allred, D-TX
    Andy Levin, D-MI
    Abigail Spanberger, D-VA
    Chrissy Houlahan, D-PA
    Tom Malinowski, D-NJ
    Andy Kim, D-NJ
    Sara Jacobs, D-CA
    Kathy Manning, D-NC
    Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-FL
    Jim Costa, D-CA
    Juan Vargas, D-CA
    Vicente Gonzalez, D-TX
    Brad Schneider, D-IL

Members voting NO (22)

    Michael T. McCaul, R-TX
    Chris Smith, R-NJ
    Steve Chabot, R-OH
    Joe Wilson, R-SC
    Scott Perry, R-PA
    Darrell Issa, R-CA
    Lee Zeldin, R-NY
    Ann Wagner, R-MO
    Brian Mast, R-FL
    Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA
    Ken Buck, R-CO
    Tim Burchett, R-TN
    Mark Green, R-FL
    Andy Barr, R-KY
    Dan Meuser, R-PA
    Claudia Tenney, R-NY
    August Pfluger, R-TX
    Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY
    Peter Meijer, R-MI
    Ronny Jackson, R-TX
    Young Kim, R-CA
    Maria Elvira Salazar, R-FL

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    In compliance with Clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under Clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive 
portions of this report, particularly in the ``Background'' 
section.

              NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, TAX EXPENDITURES, AND
                            FEDERAL MANDATES

    Clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and the Unfunded Mandates 
Reform Act (Public Law 104-4) are inapplicable because H. Res. 
1482 does not provide new budget authority or increased tax 
expenditures.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    The rule requiring a statement of performance goals and 
objectives is inapplicable to this resolution.

                    CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

    H. Res. 1482 does not apply to terms and conditions of 
employment or to access to public services or accommodations 
within the legislative branch.

                        NEW ADVISORY COMMITTEES

    H. Res. 1482 does not establish or authorize any new 
advisory committees.

                         EARMARK IDENTIFICATION

    H. Res. 1482 contains no congressional earmarks, limited 
tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as described in 
clauses 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of House rule XXI.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    This resolution, if adopted, would request the President 
and direct the Secretaries of Defense and State to transmit, 
respectively, to the House of Representatives, not later than 
14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, 
copies of all documents, charts, or tables, including notes 
from meetings, audio recordings, records (including telephone 
and email records), correspondence, and other communications, 
and any financial statements detailing purchases, recipients, 
and government expenditures to the extent that any such one or 
more items are within the possession of the President or 
Secretaries aforementioned, respectively, and refer or relate 
to congressionally appropriated funds directed to the nation of 
Ukraine--whether in regard to military, civilian, or financial 
aid--between January 20, 2021 and November 15, 2022.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    As the Ranking Member of this Committee, it is my solemn 
responsibility to pursue stringent oversight of the Department 
of State and United States Agency for International Development 
(USAID). Every dollar counts, and the Biden Administration 
should expect the Republican House majority in the next 
Congress to be vigilant in demanding transparency and 
accountability for U.S. assistance to Ukraine.
    This resolution of inquiry requests that the Administration 
transmit relevant documents related to congressionally 
appropriated funds for Ukraine. I support this resolution as a 
means of obtaining critical information from the executive 
branch to help Congress ensure that our support to Ukraine is 
being spent effectively and as intended.
    Importantly, this resolution requests information from the 
Administration starting on January 20, 2021--a full year before 
Russia's unprovoked war of aggression began. This is critical 
because Congress needs to closely examine the Biden 
Administration's failure of deterrence leading up to Russia's 
February 24, 2022 invasion, so that it is not repeated in the 
future.
    Within days of being sworn in, President Biden agreed to a 
clean, five-year extension of the New START Treaty, giving 
Putin exactly what he wanted.
    In May of 2021, President Biden waived congressionally-
mandated Nord Stream 2 sanctions--threatening the credibility 
of Western sanctions at a critical juncture.
    In August 2021, he ordered a disastrous, unconditional 
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, damaging U.S. 
credibility with partners and emboldening U.S. adversaries.
    In the months before Russia's full-scale invasion, 
President Biden failed to provide significant military support 
to Ukraine or impose any sanctions on the Putin regime, despite 
tens of thousands of Russian troops amassing on Ukraine's 
borders.
    World War II made clear that appeasement invites 
aggression. Despots like Putin only respond to strength.
    Sadly, in the months ahead of February 24th, the Biden 
Administration projected weakness again and again.
    This Administration has a lot to answer for--and the 
Republican-controlled House of Representatives will work 
diligently next Congress to get those answers.

                                                 Michael T. McCaul.

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    I voted in favor H. Res. 1482 directing the Secretary of 
Defense and Secretary of State to transmit, respectively, 
certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to 
Congressionally appropriated funds to the nation of Ukraine 
from January 20, 2021, to November 15, 2022.
    Americans have a right to know when, why and how much.
    Congress has a constitutionally-mandated duty to conduct 
vigorous oversight over the executive branch, particularly when 
tens of billions of taxpayer dollars are concerned. I support 
humanitarian assistance to the courageous people of Ukraine and 
military assistance to defeat Vladimir Putin. But, significant 
details--and accountability by the Administration--is seriously 
lacking.
    President Reagan said, ``trust but verify.'' He was right.
    We need to know exactly why the Biden Administration failed 
to deter Putin's aggression especially when a Russian invasion 
force was mustering on the Ukrainian border. And whether we 
responded adequately to Ukraine's dire requests for assistance 
in the lead up to Russia's unprovoked invasion.
    Accountability and transparency are extraordinarily 
important.
    Unfortunately, it seems that the Biden Administration 
continued with the same lack of responsiveness with regards to 
the present war that we saw with the Obama Administration in 
2014, which can be seen as step one in Putin's attempts to 
dismember Ukraine.
    We all remember in 2014 when President Petro Poroshenko 
asked the Obama-Biden Administration for military assistance 
and did not get it. In shocking candor, President Poroshenko 
said in his speech before the joint session of Congress: ``one 
cannot win the war with blankets.''
    Past is prologue. When Deputy Secretary of State Wendy 
Sherman testified before the committee in March of 2022, I 
asked her what aid had President Zelensky asked for before the 
invasion that he did not get, because there were credible 
reports that Zelensky had asked for a military aid package, 
including short-range air defense missiles systems, small arms, 
and anti-tank weapons and the assistance was denied--still 
waiting for an answer.
    Congress--and the American people--need to know what 
decisions the Administration made in the lead up to Putin's 
aggression that failed to deter, especially in the wake of the 
profound lack of transparency in the disastrous withdrawal from 
Afghanistan.
    H. Res. 1482, authored by Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor 
Greene, is designed to provide answers. The legislation should 
not have been blocked but instead should advance to the full 
House for consideration and a vote.

                                                       Chris Smith.

                                  [all]