[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 70 (Thursday, April 28, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H4594-H4601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UKRAINE DEMOCRACY DEFENSE LEND-LEASE ACT OF 2022
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1065, I call
up
[[Page H4595]]
the bill (S. 3522) to provide enhanced authority for the President to
enter into agreements with the Government of Ukraine to lend or lease
defense articles to that Government to protect civilian populations in
Ukraine from Russian military invasion, and for other purposes, and ask
for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1065, the bill
is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 3522
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Ukraine Democracy Defense
Lend-Lease Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. LOAN AND LEASE OF DEFENSE ARTICLES TO THE GOVERNMENTS
OF UKRAINE AND EASTERN FLANK COUNTRIES.
(a) Authority To Lend or Lease Defense Articles to Certain
Governments.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), for fiscal years
2022 and 2023, the President may authorize the United States
Government to lend or lease defense articles to the
Government of Ukraine or to governments of Eastern European
countries impacted by the Russian Federation's invasion of
Ukraine to help bolster those countries' defense capabilities
and protect their civilian populations from potential
invasion or ongoing aggression by the armed forces of the
Government of the Russian Federation.
(2) Exclusions.--For the purposes of the authority
described in paragraph (1) as that authority relates to
Ukraine, the following provisions of law shall not apply:
(A) Section 503(b)(3) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961
(22 U.S.C. 2311(b)(3)).
(B) Section 61 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C.
2796).
(3) Condition.--Any loan or lease of defense articles to
the Government of Ukraine under paragraph (1) shall be
subject to all applicable laws concerning the return of and
reimbursement and repayment for defense articles loan or
leased to foreign governments.
(4) Delegation of authority.--The President may delegate
the enhanced authority under this subsection only to an
official appointed by the President by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate.
(b) Procedures for Delivery of Defense Articles.--Not later
than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
President shall establish expedited procedures for the
delivery of any defense article loaned or leased to the
Government of Ukraine under an agreement entered into under
subsection (a) to ensure timely delivery of the article to
that Government.
(c) Definition of Defense Article.--In this Act, the term
``defense article'' has the meaning given that term in
section 47 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2794).
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) and the gentleman from South
Carolina (Mr. Wilson) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks).
{time} 1445
General Leave
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on S. 3522.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, today, I rise in support of S. 3522, the Ukraine
Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022.
When Russia launched its renewed war against Ukraine, it thought
Ukraine would fall in a matter of days. Putin and Russia thought the
West would be divided, unable to offer Ukraine the support that it
needed. They thought the world would believe their Russian lies. They
thought that we would never stay together.
Well, Madam Speaker, on all accounts, Putin has been proven wrong.
Two months ago, the people of Ukraine united in defense of their home.
I visited Ukraine at that time, before the invasion, and they said: We
will fight; we will defend our democracy and our country.
Then what happened? President Biden kept all 30 nations of NATO
together, joining with and bringing along other allies and other
democracies from around the world, all united like never before. We
have jointly imposed devastating sanctions on Russia and provided
Ukraine with billions of dollars of security, humanitarian, and
economic assistance. And we have demonstrated to Putin and to the
Russian Government that their actions have left them isolated.
At the time, our goal was clear: Help Ukraine do what we heard the
people ask us to do, defend themselves. But it is now abundantly clear
that we must adjust our assumptions and our strategies and that we must
help Ukraine, as Secretary Austin said, win.
I strongly support the efforts of the administration, in coordination
and in close cooperation with Congress, to provide as much assistance
as we can to help Ukraine protect itself. We must look forward to what
Ukraine needs to fend off the renewed Russian offensive in the east
and, ultimately, win this war, to retake territory, to liberate the
towns and cities from Russian occupation and ongoing Russian war
crimes, and to maintain and regain their sovereignty and territorial
integrity.
This bill is a further step in that direction of thinking toward the
long term. It can and must be part of a strategy to not only continue
providing Ukraine with the weapons systems its soldiers are well
trained to use, including Russian tanks and planes, the U.S.- and NATO-
origin antiair and antitank missile systems and drones, but also to
step up our training efforts. Through additional training, we will be
able to provide more and more advanced equipment.
The administration already has the authority to lend and lease
equipment to allies and partners to support the United States' national
security interests, and it has already been using all the funds that
Congress has given it previously. This bill will allow the
administration to cut through the red tape in existing lend-lease
authorities to facilitate another channel by which all this vital
support can be provided.
Specifically, this bill streamlines the processes to facilitate the
administration's provisioning of lent or leased defense articles to
Ukraine or Eastern European countries impacted by Russia's invasion for
fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2023. It does so by exempting the
administration from provisions of law that limit the duration of loaned
equipment to 5 years only, as well as exempting such loaned and leased
equipment from repayment of costs incurred by doing so.
In short, it does not create a new program, as lend-lease authority
is already enshrined in law, but it gives the administration added
flexibility in using an existing program to get vital support to
Ukraine.
I strongly support this bill, and I urge all of my colleagues to show
the same unity that our allies have shown as we fight off this vicious
invasion by Putin and Russia in Ukraine.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of S. 3522, the Ukraine Democracy
Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022.
Madam Speaker, it is absolutely amazing the unintended consequence of
Vladimir Putin, war criminal Putin, that he has brought Democrats and
Republicans together. He has united the people of the United States.
With the leadership of Chairman Greg Meeks and Ranking Member Mike
McCaul, Americans are united in their support of the people of Ukraine.
For 63 days, the courageous people of Ukraine have resisted full-
scale invasion by war criminal Putin with his murderous occupying
forces, in large part due to the courageous leadership of President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukrainians have witnessed their prosperous homeland being attacked
and the lives of their loved ones senselessly murdered. The world has
been a witness to the countless atrocities inflicted upon the Ukrainian
people, and we continue to see the depravity of the Putin forces in
real time, targeting civilians and humanitarian infrastructure with
mass murder, just as they conducted gruesomely in Aleppo, Syria.
Ukraine's request is simple: Provide the weapons needed to defend the
Ukrainian homeland and Ukrainian families. This bill does just that by
removing bureaucratic red tape to support a loan or lease of defense
articles to Ukraine immediately.
[[Page H4596]]
I am grateful to have introduced the House bipartisan version of the
Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 and to work with our
colleagues to bring this legislation to the floor today.
Time is of the essence. Every day that goes by means more innocent
lives lost. Congress has been united in its support of Ukraine, and we
have given the administration the capacity to use funds under
a Presidential Drawdown Authority specifically for Ukraine.
Today, with the passage of this bill, we remain unified in our
solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
There is a successful historical precedent for lend-lease. During
World War II, lend-lease was enacted to provide weapons to Great
Britain, the Soviet Union, and 28 other Allies to defeat Nazi Germany.
Lend-lease proved integral in the outcome of the siege of Leningrad.
On May 5, 2005, I led a codel to Saint Petersburg. We, sadly, were
there at the world's largest open cemetery to provide a wreath to
recognize the appreciation of the people of the United States to the
people of Russia. This is the final resting place of 420,000 civilians
and 50,000 soldiers who died when Hitler's murderous forces invaded.
America saved what is now Saint Petersburg, which is the birthplace
of Putin. It is ironic in history that America now is considering this
critical legislation to help Ukrainians avoid further loss of life at
the hands of Putin's murderous forces.
Ukraine's battle for its sovereignty is in the forefront of the fight
between autocracy, which is the rule of gun, versus democracy, which is
the rule of law. Their success is the success of democracy.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support passage of the bill,
and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader of this body.
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Meeks), the chairman of the committee, for yielding. I thank him for
his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor quickly and
effectively. I thank Mr. Wilson, who represents the minority, and also
Mr. McCaul, who is the ranking member of the committee, for bringing
this. I thank Mrs. Spartz for bringing this issue to the personal
attention of all of us, with her personal knowledge of Ukraine and her
love of her native country.
Madam Speaker, in 1940, after the Battle of France had ended and the
Battle of Britain was beginning, Winston Churchill stood before the
House of Commons and declared that the United Kingdom would fight on,
if necessary, for years; if necessary, alone.
Britain would fight by itself for some time, but it was not alone.
Even though America was not at war, we made a strategic and moral
determination that we must help Britain defend itself against fascism.
To do that, we set up the lend-lease program, which cut through red
tape and enabled critical American military aid to reach our Allies
quickly so they could win the Battle of Britain, hold back the forces
of fascism, and begin a counteroffensive in North Africa.
Lend-lease established America as what President Franklin Roosevelt
called the great arsenal of democracy.
Today, the battle for democracy is taking place in another European
nation, Ukraine. The Ukrainian people are the ones engaged in combat
directly. They are at the point of the spear. They are the ones
experiencing death and destruction and displacement. They are directly
in the line of the Russian troops to repel Vladimir Putin's criminal
and unprovoked invasion, an act that recalls the infamous attack on
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941: unprovoked, unjustified,
unacceptable.
But they are not alone in this fight. Already, the Biden-Harris
administration and our allies have sent billions of dollars' worth of
lethal military aid to help Ukraine defend itself against Putin's
unlawful and immoral aggression.
I heard the words of my friend from South Carolina that Putin has
brought us together, has unified us, unified us as a NATO alliance,
unified us as a European Union and the United States of America,
unified us as a Congress, that this shall not stand. Already, the
Biden-Harris administration and our allies have sent billions of
dollars' worth of lethal military aid to help Ukraine defend itself
against Putin's unlawful and immoral aggression.
Putin, of course, meant the battle for Kyiv to be short-lived, to
last days, and to see Ukraine's democratic government overthrown and a
quisling regime installed.
The battle of Kyiv, however, was won by the forces of freedom, thanks
to the extraordinary heroism and courage of Kyiv's defenders and the
antitank weapons and other equipment supplied by America and its NATO
allies. They are not alone.
Now, with war raging in Ukraine's east, we are rapidly sending
additional arms to the Ukrainians that will help them hold the line
against Russian forces and engage in the kind of counteroffensive that
will defeat Russia's invasion.
How extraordinarily ironic it is that Putin urges us not to escalate
the war as Putin escalates it hourly, unjustifiably, criminally,
despicably. Every negative adjective you can find applies to the
unwarranted, unprovoked, and unacceptable aggression Russia has made on
its neighbors.
{time} 1500
As I told The Danish Foreign Policy Society when I was visiting with
our allies earlier this month, the invasion of Ukraine must end in a
strategic defeat for Putin and global criminality. Anything less would
send a dangerous signal to other dictators around the world that wars
of aggression could yield net gains. That must not happen.
America and our allies must ensure that the only thing Putin gains
from the invasion of Ukraine is a hard lesson learned through bitter
defeat and loss. Let there be no mistake; that is the only outcome we
can accept.
The lend-lease bill we will pass today is a bipartisan expression of
the House's support for Ukraine and the continued provision of the
lethal arms it requires to defend its freedom, its sovereignty, and its
people.
I thank, as I said earlier, Chairman Gregory Meeks, Ranking Member
Michael McCaul, Representative Joe Wilson, and staff members of the
Foreign Affairs Committee for their work on this bill.
The Senate passed this legislation unanimously earlier this month. I
urge my colleagues: This is not a partisan issue. This is about
freedom. This is about democracy. This is about morality. This should
not be an issue that is at all dividing the 435 of us who have the
honor to serve in this body.
Once this legislation is enacted, the Biden-Harris administration
will have another tool to ensure that military aid reaches Ukraine
quickly and efficiently so that it can be deployed to the front lines
and defend democracy. We owe freedom nothing less than that.
The White House has already requested additional funding for military
and humanitarian aid, and the House will stand ready to take action
once there is agreement on the path forward.
I tell Chairman Meeks of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I tell
Chairman Smith of the Armed Services Committee, as soon as that is
ready to move, I will move it as soon as it is possible.
The White House has urgently requested the resources that Ukraine
needs. Can we do any less than that? In the meantime, I urge all of my
colleagues to support this bill, as I said, unanimously. Let us show
Vladimir Putin, let us show the dictators and autocrats of the world,
let us show them what happens when democracy is attacked.
Hitler thought when he took Sudetenland and the free world did little
that he could then go to Poland, and he could go to Russia, and he
could go to Africa, and he could go to France, and he could go
someplace else.
The free world led by America must make it very clear that it will
not stand for this, that America will be part of an extraordinary
alliance of free nations, moral nations, who believe in law, not might
makes right.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to unanimously and decisively
approve this legislation.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentlewoman from Indiana (Mrs. Spartz).
[[Page H4597]]
Mrs. SPARTZ. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Ukraine
Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act.
Bureaucracy, as we all know, is an enemy in any crisis, so
streamlining processes and improving speed and agility are extremely
important.
I just recently went to Ukraine twice, and I want to share with you
the brutality of this war, the atrocities that happened to the civilian
population. It is very difficult to express in words. It is very
disturbing.
The strength and resiliency of the Ukraine people and their optimism
are very inspiring to me as an American and inspiring to a lot of
people around the world.
I talked to one of the American reporter journalists, and he said: I
have been reporting here for a while, and I can tell you, Ukrainians
don't even realize how much they are like Americans.
I talked to one Ukrainian servicemember, who actually grew up in the
Kharkiv area close to the Russian border, and he told me: You know
what? I always thought that we would become brothers and sisters, but
to tell you the truth, we are not brothers anymore. This is a different
people. I look at them, and we are West, and they are East. They are
barbaric and lost in the last century or before.
I think it is very important for us to make sure that we support the
Ukrainian people in this war and fight for freedom to bring stability
and international order back to try to defend this fight for freedom
and defend Europe and all of us from further escalation of this
conflict.
I think it is also important for us to add some oversight and make
sure that we do have military to share to make sure that these
processes do work. I truly believe this collaboration of our great
United States of America and our great American people with the
strength and resiliency of the Ukrainian people will bring victory and
peace back.
Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill, and
I thank the bipartisan collaboration on these issues and support of
this Congress and this body. It is very important for us to be strong
and stand together because this is a national security issue that we
need to have resolved. I truly believe our country, the greatest
country in the world, is an inspiration for a lot of people, and we are
going to defeat the enemies of freedom and democracy around the world.
Madam Speaker, I urge support of this bill.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, first, let me thank Representative Spartz.
She traveled with me when we visited Poland, and I know she was
recently over there. She has relatives, and I think we saw her with--I
think it was her grandparent, who is in her nineties, on Easter Sunday,
celebrating and standing with the Ukrainian people. I thank the
gentlewoman for her support even though she isn't a member of the
Foreign Affairs Committee, particularly for standing up for justice. I
thank her personally for that.
I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), my friend
and leader.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Madam Speaker, and still I rise. I thank Mr.
Meeks for what he has done to bring this legislation to fruition, as
well as Mr. Wilson.
I rise and I stand where I stand because we should all stand
together. I stand here because we are engaged in a war for the world,
and Ukraine is the front line of democracy in this war.
We cannot allow a ruthless, reckless, careless dictator to dictate
the terms of engagement. The terms of engagement for us will have to be
set by us.
Our President has said no boots on the ground. I agree, but that
doesn't mean that we can't have planes in the air that Ukrainians will
pilot. That doesn't mean that we can't have tanks on the ground with
the Ukrainians manning them. It doesn't mean that you can't have
torpedoes in the water that Ukrainians are going to fire. It simply
means this: We have no choice. If we allow this to happen, what happens
when some other dictator decides that he is going to threaten?
I believe that this legislation is a continuation of what President
Biden has said he would do. No boots on the ground. We provide the
armaments; they provide the army.
We are engaged in a war for the world. We must win. Ukraine must be
victorious in this battle.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).
Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. Wilson from South
Carolina, for his leadership on this effort. Of course, I have to thank
my good friend, our chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Greg
Meeks, for his immense work for many weeks on trying to get this done
and done in the right way.
I rise in support of the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act. We
have to thank two essential people for this concept. Winston Churchill
thought up the idea of lend-lease. He talked his essential partner in
the very special transatlantic relationship, FDR, Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, into this concept. Roosevelt sold it to the Congress, and it
is a real moment in history that we are back on this House floor
supporting lend-lease.
Congress came together to arm Britain in the face of the blitz by the
Nazis, but today, we find ourselves in a very similar situation with
Putin systematically bombing and shelling the peaceful villages and
cities of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people bravely defending their own
sovereign land in the face of evil.
When I was in Romania 2 weeks ago, the Prime Minister there described
their fighting spirit as: The Ukrainian people fight with lions'
hearts.
This bill will expedite the resources needed for Ukraine to defend
themselves against Russia's illegal, unwarranted, and brutal war in
Ukraine.
In every single meeting with our Ukrainian friends, parliamentarians,
ministers, citizens, and our own colleagues, the answer is: While they
appreciate the American response and the response of 30 other nations,
they need weapons, and they need them now.
In history, victory and defeat can come down to days and weeks, if
not hours. There have been too many delays already in getting Ukraine
the military equipment they need.
That is why I am pleased to see that we are enacting this
Churchillian idea, born in World War II, a strategy now that will set
the foundation for victory in this war and the President's authority to
get the weapons to the brave Ukrainians fighting for their own
independence and freedom.
Madam Speaker, I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill.
I thank the Members who worked on it so diligently.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New
Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, to Mr. Meeks and Mr. Wilson: Thank you
for your hard work on this legislation.
Now, the Lord works in strange ways. As you get older, you can list
the ways. The country is closer together in a most weird way for a
common objective. We speak of unity more now than we spoke of division
8 months ago.
Russia is bombing hospitals--war crimes. Russian soldiers are
violating women and murdering children. Russia is seeking the total
destruction of Ukraine.
Against all odds, Ukraine and the Ukrainian people have pushed Russia
back. Russia and Putin are losing.
This war will not end soon. Putin is deranged and humiliated. The
violence will only intensify. It is the responsibility of our
government and every single American to support the Ukrainian people.
Before Pearl Harbor, America enacted the Lend-Lease Act to keep
democracy alive. Our legislation channels the same spirit and the same
purpose. In 1940, FDR awakened America's arsenal of democracy. With it,
we preserved freedom.
With our action today, we reawaken that arsenal of democracy once
more. We again are witnessing a conflict of civilization versus
darkness, freedom versus tyranny.
New Jersey's Ninth District has one of the largest Ukrainian-American
populations in America. They cry out for help. We cry with them. The
brave Ukrainian people have undaunted courage. They must know America
stands with them no matter what.
God bless Ukraine, and God bless the United States of America. The
Lord does work in strange ways.
[[Page H4598]]
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve
the balance of my time.
{time} 1515
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from
the great State of Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), a dynamic Member of
Congress.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Committee
on Foreign Affairs and the manager, Mr. Wilson, who I have traveled
with as well, and I know his heart.
Madam Speaker, I rise and support the legislation, S. 3522, that will
provide the President with the authority to lend and lease defense
articles to be able to help in the fight.
Madam Speaker, but as I do that, realizing what we are standing for,
I raise my button that says, ``We Stand With Ukraine,'' the very nation
that is standing in the gap and fighting for the preservation of
democracy around the world against the tyranny of autocracy and a one-
man band and a one-man war.
We have all heard of the atrocities that this violent dictator has
chosen to wage against the innocent people of Ukraine, a country that
wants nothing more than to love, to live, and to live under a
democratic regime. But let me tell you the story of what they face
every day.
Mariupol, the people who are there under siege do not know whether or
not the soldiers, the injured soldiers, civilians, and children will
ever come out alive. Or the mother who held her 3-month-old baby with
her family members in her own apartment, seeking refuge and bombed by
the Russians.
Or the little girl, 16 years old, who was told to take off her
clothes to be raped by a Russian soldier, and to be raped again and
again.
For the children who sat amongst the bodies of their parents, for the
children who themselves were killed in Mariupol and around the nation,
for those who lost loved ones who are fleeing through universal
humanitarian routes that are known in every war.
I recall, as a Member of the United States Congress, going to the
Bosnian War, Albanian Civil War, Iraq, Afghanistan. I don't think I
have ever seen a direct and deliberate attack on civilians as Vladimir
Putin's war has done.
So this is a crucial moment in our history. We have our
responsibilities to America. We have the responsibilities of securing
the southern border. I just spent hours in the Committee on the
Judiciary where my friends on the other side of the aisle decided to
take up one issue, the attack about title 42.
On this floor, just a few hours ago, there was a constant rampant
voice of title 42 regarding the southern border when we were discussing
this bill under the rule.
I want the American people to know that talk is cheap, and what we
should be doing now is realizing that this is serious business. We must
pass this legislation.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the
gentlewoman.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, the gentleman is extremely kind for
the passion that I have.
Madam Speaker, we must pass this legislation to deal with not only
the lend-lease on defense articles, but to be able to provide the
necessary humanitarian relief as well.
Madam Speaker, I conclude my remarks by saying that the children have
to be prioritized. When I was in Ukraine on the border and visiting a
reception center, I saw the faces of the children. Unaccompanied
children should be registered. Children with parents should be
registered. We should be focused, as UNICEF says, to eliminate the
nightmare that the children are facing, the death that they face, the
injury that they face, and to prioritize it and to make sure that
children can face the trauma that this war is.
As we do that, let us continue to bolster up the American people's
support and let us address their needs, because they have needs, but
let us make sure that the victory is ours.
Finally, I am grateful for one of our hostages coming home; he lives
in Texas. There are two more that we know that are well-known, and we
must bring home both of them, including the Olympian that plays in
Russia and who is a WNBA star. We must bring them home.
Madam Speaker, I support this legislation and ask all my colleagues
to support this important legislation.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the
great State of Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise to support this important legislation that
Congressman Wilson and I have cosponsored. We have had bipartisan
support on this legislation as well.
It is important that we support Ukraine in every way possible.
America does not have to give up its blood from our soldiers in this
war, we only have to give our treasure. What a bargain that is for
America. We supply and help Ukrainians fight the Russians. Putin sees
this as a war against America and the West. We are fortunate.
Eventually, it would come to NATO lands, and it will be our blood, not
just our treasure that we would have to give.
The Ukrainians are doing a great job, but they need our help and
support. I hope they get airplanes, too. Every bomb that falls on the
people in the hospitals and kills innocent lives could be prevented,
and we should try to do all we can to prevent it.
Madam Speaker, I met today with the President of Georgia. I met with
the President of Kosovo. They both are concerned that Putin's got his
eyes on their countries as well. And he does. He is looking at the
Balkans. He is looking at the Baltic, where I visited Lithuania. I have
been to Estonia and Latvia; he desires those countries, too. He wants
to put together a repeat of what they had as the great Russian empire.
And he won't be stopped unless we do it. If we can do it with Ukrainian
men and women fighting, we are lucky and we are fortunate, and we
should do all we can to help them.
Putin is a bully, and you don't stop a bully with kindness and
negotiations. You have to stand up to that person. Stand up to the
bully. That is the only thing they understand and respect.
We need to continue our sanctions and sanction him into oblivion. We
need to support Ukraine or else this war will go on and America will be
at risk of being personally involved. Ukraine is the battleground now.
America will be next through NATO and other efforts of Putin.
Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the United States of America.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the very distinguished
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan).
Mr. RYAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished chair.
We shall pay any price, we shall bear any burden, we shall
support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival
and the success of liberty.
President Kennedy's inaugural address.
And here we stand in the most powerful country, in the most powerful
legislative body, voting on an issue of freedom, of liberty, the basic
foundation of this country. I am proud that this is a bipartisan effort
to support the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian leadership because
they have paid the ultimate sacrifice. They are bearing the ultimate
burden.
So it is appropriate for us, as this monster, Vladimir Putin, invades
a free country, blackmails the neighbors around energy issues, scares
all of Eastern Europe and all of Europe, in conjunction with the
support of China who looked the other way and said, Well, just wait
until after the Olympics. There is a lot at stake here.
This is about much more than just Ukraine. This is about freedom
around the world.
I agree with what the chairman and so many other speakers said. We
cannot let Vladimir Putin gain one inch of soil in Ukraine. Not one
inch. You can't reward bad behavior. You can't reward violence. And
that is what we will be doing.
So I rise in support of this bill. I support the $33 billion that the
President has proposed this morning.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield the gentleman an additional 1
minute.
[[Page H4599]]
Mr. RYAN. Madam Speaker, we need to continue this process; not one
inch of soil.
Like Mr. Pascrell said, there are States like New Jersey or Ohio,
where we have people from Ukraine and from Poland and from Lithuania,
and those ties run deep. Their family members, friends that they have
lost, that have gotten killed, slaughtered by a monster.
So we need to keep going.
Planes: The $33 billion that the President wants, this process
expedites all that.
We should look at what we need to do to China if they continue to
support Russia in this effort.
I think, in a bipartisan way, we need to come together around a
whole-of-government approach.
We need to get natural gas from eastern Ohio to Eastern Europe, from
western Pennsylvania to Eastern Europe, from West Virginia and New York
to Eastern Europe, and knock the legs out from under Vladimir Putin.
Whole-of-government approach. Be aggressive. Not one inch of
territory. And make sure we ensure the survival and the success of
liberty.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.
Madam Speaker, I think it is important to note that S. 3522 is a
smart and critical step to give another piece of artillery to the
administration so that it has flexibility as it needs to provide
Ukraine the support that it needs so that it has the ability to win.
It is also important to show, and that is why it is important for us
to be on the floor today, as Mr. Wilson has indicated, the unity that
we have here in the United States House of Representatives.
Madam Speaker, I will tell you that working with Mr. McCaul and Mr.
Wilson and Mrs. Spartz on the other side of the aisle, as well as with
all of my colleagues on the committee on the Democratic side of the
aisle, and working with the Speaker and the majority leader, it is that
unity that is going to win this war.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I continue to reserve
the balance of my time, and I am very grateful that next we will have
the Speaker of the House.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Pelosi), the great Speaker of the United States House
of Representatives.
Ms. PELOSI. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I
thank the distinguished Mr. Wilson for yielding as well.
Madam Speaker, I am so pleased that this legislation has such strong
bipartisan support on the floor of the House. It removes all doubt in
anyone's mind that we are all committed as a Nation, as a Congress--
House and Senate--in terms of this legislation. I thank both gentlemen
for their leadership.
Madam Speaker, I appreciate that the gentleman is working with the
ranking member, Mr. McCaul, on this important issue as well, and I
thank him for affording me this opportunity today.
Madam Speaker, 81 years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt came
here to the Congress of the United States, to the House of
Representatives, where I am proud to say my father, Thomas D'Alesandro,
served as a Member of Congress. And President Franklin Roosevelt
delivered a bold and historic request.
In his 1941 State of the Union Address, President Roosevelt explained
that democracy itself was under dire threat not only in Europe, but
around the world. And he called on Congress to lend a hand to our
Allies overseas, bolstering their defenses so they could defeat the
evils of fascism.
{time} 1530
It was this initiative that would be enacted just two months later
that undeniably turned the tide of the Second World War. And the Lend-
Lease program would help propel the allies to a victory that preserved
the promise of democracy for generations to come.
Today, we see an echo of that chapter in history as a murderous
tyrant seeks to conquer its neighbor and dismantle its democracy. And
this moment demands we summon a commitment to respond.
The Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 revives this
pivotal program, waiving time-consuming requirements and the President
authority to send critical defensive resources to Ukraine.
It is important to note that it is about time. Time is very important
when lives are at stake.
In doing so, we enable the administration to move faster to bolster
Ukraine's security forces, empowering them to repel the Russian
invaders; protect innocent civilians; and preserve their cherished
democracy.
As war rages on Ukraine, every minute matters. It is about time. This
strong action could mean the difference between lives saved and lives
lost. In any given battle, it could mean the margin between victory and
defeat.
It is with astonishing unity that the Senate sent us this important
legislation after passing it with a unanimous vote.
And as we hope to secure a strong bipartisan vote here in the House,
let us salute the leaders of this legislation, Chairman Gregory
Meeks, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He acknowledged
his ranking member, Mr. McCaul from Texas; Congressman Joe Wilson of
South Carolina, who is managing the bill on the Republican side today;
and Congressman Steve Cohen, who helms the Helsinki Commission and
played a role in this legislation.
Madam Speaker, restoring the Lend-Lease authority is just the latest
action proudly taken by this Congress to strengthen Ukraine and to
decimate Russia. We have delivered billions in humanitarian security
and economic assistance for Ukraine, including the $13.6 billion in the
latest supplemental, and more to come, as our President has put forth a
request earlier today that we will turn into legislation, turn into
support democracy in Ukraine and, therefore, democracy in the world. I
salute the President for his leadership.
These resources are already--of the $13.6 billion, are already
reaching communities on the ground and helping Ukraine repel Russian
forces. But we need to do more.
As we prepare to take up the President's new supplemental request, we
are moving in lockstep with the administration and our allies to
isolate Russia and devastate its economy.
From severing normal trade relations to banning the import of Russian
energy, our strong actions in the House and in the Senate have made
Russia weaker in every way. And the House took its first steps to
prosecute Russian war crimes so the perpetrators can be held
accountable for the unthinkable, grotesque, diabolical atrocities.
Later today, with the blessing of the Embassy of Ukraine, we will
unveil in the Speaker's Dining Room--and we invite our Members to come
and their guests--a photo exhibit that captures many of these
atrocities.
These haunting photographs show the horror and heartbreak of Russia's
callous aggression of Ukraine, and serve as an important reminder of
our moral duty to continue to take swift, decisive action to help.
Going back to Lend-Lease, upon the enactment of the historic Lend-
Lease law in March of 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt called upon the
conscience of our country when he declared: ``The light of democracy
must be kept burning. It is not enough for us merely to trim the wick
or polish the glass. The time has come when we must provide the fuel in
an ever-increasing amount to keep the flame alive.''
Madam Speaker, our task today remains the same.
I do want to acknowledge also another item, and I thank Mr. Chairman
and others for their support of this. We are doing Lend-Lease today. We
talked about what we did in the omnibus bill, the supplemental, $13.6
billion.
We talked about severing our purchase of oil. We have talked about
severing our normal trade relations. But we also did something
yesterday when we did what I call ``seize and freeze.'' Seize the
assets of the oligarchs and the Russians, that money, and freeze it.
And when it thaws, to use that money to help rebuild Ukraine after the
victory over the Russians.
So, again, we are thinking of what we need to do in humanitarian
assistance;
[[Page H4600]]
what we need to do in economic assistance; what we must do in security
assistance, weapons, et cetera. But we have to do some other aspects as
well.
Our task today, again, remains the same as it did with the original
Lend-Lease. Make no mistake. Russia invaded with the stated goal of
ending liberty and self-governance in Ukraine. Yet, with unimaginable
courage and determination, the Ukrainian people are putting their lives
on the line for democracy; not only for their own nation, but for
democracy writ large for the world.
It is about freedom versus dictatorship; autocracy versus democracy.
The Ukrainian people are making the fight for all of us. We must help
them.
So, it is our duty to honor their heroism at the front lines of the
battle for freedom by helping to fuel this righteous fight.
It is with endless admiration for the Ukrainian people and their
leadership, President--just everybody. I won't start naming names. All
of them. We have had visits from so many of them--and their unyielding
commitment to keeping alight democracy's precious flame that I urge a
strong, bipartisan ``aye'' vote for this vital legislation.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).
Mr. WALBERG. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague. And
thank you, Madam Speaker, for your statements. I agree wholeheartedly
with you.
America is having a fight undertaken for us by the Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine is fighting for liberty around the world. It is fighting for
freedom-loving countries that want to push back against aggression from
any nation, whether it be Russia or China or any other that would
attempt to take away liberties from free citizens.
I just returned from Ukraine Tuesday night. I spent the Easter
weekend in Ukraine. I had the unbelievable privilege of speaking in two
churches. Irpin, where the city had been impacted by missiles and
bombs, homes blown up, lives taken; and a church that had not met since
the beginning of war met on Easter, Resurrection Sunday.
And I looked at the faces of the people thinking, How do I speak to
them? An American Member of Congress, who lives freely, without nations
trying to take our freedom away. And I could only respond to them from
the one who gave freedom, His words, Jesus himself.
And I looked at the faces of the people, and there was resolve there,
and there was a joy that they were doing what was necessary to promote
freedom for their land.
I spoke in another church in Kyiv that afternoon. The same viewpoint
on the faces of those citizens. And yet, a great appreciation for
America, for their Western allies, for what we have done, thus far, to
stand with them. They are fighting for us as well as for themselves.
Later that afternoon, I went out to the Bucha region, and I saw the
site of a massive undertaking by Russia to cross the river to bring
their tanks in to take over Kyiv. And the amazing forces of the
citizens themselves fought back. One hundred Ukrainian lives were lost;
500 Russian lives.
I saw a boot laying there of a Russian soldier with the foot still in
it. And I came to understand that Ukrainians aren't killing Russians,
Putin is.
America needs to stand. I was in Odesa, and I saw the missile strike
on an apartment that took the lives of a grandmother, her daughter, and
a little baby, the 3-month-old daughter of that young lady.
I talked to the mayor of Odesa. They are standing firm. The blockade
that is on there must be taken away so they can feed the world.
In my pocket I carry an emblem, military emblem that was given to me
at Hostomel airfield that the brave forces took on Russia, trying to
take that airfield to become a hopping off point for all of their
action. They held back Russia's troops; their elite troops; their elite
marines.
The Russian troops took out the largest aircraft in the world that
was only used for humanitarian reasons.
This bill is necessary. I express appreciation to my colleagues for
moving it forward. I express appreciation to our Speaker for moving it
forward. It needs to be done.
Stand with Ukraine. They have stood with us.
God bless Ukraine. God bless America.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time at this
time, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, in closing, this bill calls on the administration to
supply the defense articles needed to defeat war criminal Putin's
forces, and for the land of Ukraine to be returned to its rightful and
lawful inhabitants, the courageous people of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian fight is a fight of freedom-loving people around the
world. This is part of authoritarianism, which is rule of gun opposing
democracy, rule of law.
America stands with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, with
President Salome Zourabichvili of the Republic of Georgia, President
Maia Sandu of Moldova, and with the rightful President, Sviatlana
Tsikhanouskaya, of Belarus.
Additionally, as we are discussing Lend-Lease, I had the
extraordinary opportunity with Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo in
2005, to visit, sadly, the world's largest open cemetery in Saint
Petersburg, the victims, half a million people of the siege of
Leningrad. And we were there to show the love and affection of the
United States to the people of Russia.
We were there to also find out that it was American Lend-Lease
equipment that provided for the defeat of Hitler and for the saving,
actually, of the Putin family. And so, Lend-Lease has a long proud
history of providing for freedom successfully.
In December, I visited the courageous Ukrainian patriots in Kyiv. I
am confident Ukraine will win for freedom and independence. We are all
inspired by the Ukrainian-American Congresswoman Victoria Spartz of
Indiana, and over a million dynamic Ukrainian Americans who are
successful across America.
I urge all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the
balance of my time.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume
for the purpose of closing.
Madam Speaker, as we stand here right now, in the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, Secretary Antony Blinken is testifying and talking
about his recent visit to Kyiv, asking--well, replying to questions
that Members on both sides are asking.
And the sense of unity that has been talked about here today, about
us being united against Putin's aggression, about us standing together
and trying to make sure that we do all that we can to help the
Ukrainian people, and that unity, that unity, is what is going to make
sure that we preserve democracies around the world.
{time} 1545
It is the unity that we have seen with the United States in the lead,
keeping 30 NATO countries together, which no one thought would happen
before this incursion.
It is the unity of bringing our Asian allies together. It is the
unity bringing our Western Hemisphere allies together. It is the unity
bringing our African allies together.
It is that unity right here in the United States Congress. Working
together is what is going to prevail.
There was a question asked before I left the hearing. One Member said
he was at a townhall meeting, and someone asked the question: Well,
what does this mean to me? That was the question.
Secretary Blinken said, with which I agree: What does it mean? Well,
when you look at what is at stake, number one, the world is asking:
What happens? Are there any consequences for a country that decides
just to go invade someone else's sovereign property? If we allow that
to happen, if it could happen there, it could happen anywhere.
The questions of what we do, what we stand for, who we are, and what
our values are, are on the line right now, not only in Ukraine but for
all of us who believe in democracy.
When you look at the consequences and the lack of care of the rest of
the world by this invasion by Mr. Putin--we are going to have to do
hearings
[[Page H4601]]
now to talk about starvation. People around the world will starve
because of the lack of wheat.
We are looking at what he tried to utilize with reference to energy
resources. It has a reverberation back here in the United States as we
are looking at what is taking place with rising oil costs, with rising
food costs.
This is about us around the world, some, yes, making sacrifices so
that we can show the world that unity. And together, we will prevent
evil from occurring.
We have seen it once in the 1940s. I never thought I would have to
see and fight it again in 2022. This is a trying time for the camera of
history, which is rolling.
I, again, thank Mr. McCaul because I have been working very closely
with my ranking member to make sure that we have one voice on this. We
have talked often and made sure that we are working in a bipartisan
manner. I thank Mr. Wilson for managing this bill on the floor and
working collectively together in that regard. I thank the leadership on
both sides of the aisle because with that, Ukraine will win.
When Ukraine wins, the American people win; the world wins; democracy
wins.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Beatty). All time for debate has
expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1065, the previous question is ordered
on the bill.
The question is on the third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be read a third time, and was read the third
time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. MEEKS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to section 3(s) of House Resolution
8, the yeas and nays are ordered.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 417,
nays 10, not voting 3, as follows:
[Roll No. 141]
YEAS--417
Adams
Aderholt
Aguilar
Allred
Amodei
Armstrong
Arrington
Auchincloss
Axne
Babin
Bacon
Baird
Balderson
Banks
Barr
Barragan
Bass
Beatty
Bentz
Bera
Bergman
Beyer
Bice (OK)
Bilirakis
Bishop (GA)
Blumenauer
Blunt Rochester
Boebert
Bonamici
Bost
Bourdeaux
Bowman
Boyle, Brendan F.
Brady
Brooks
Brown (MD)
Brown (OH)
Brownley
Buchanan
Buck
Bucshon
Budd
Burchett
Burgess
Bush
Bustos
Butterfield
Calvert
Cammack
Carbajal
Cardenas
Carey
Carl
Carson
Carter (GA)
Carter (LA)
Carter (TX)
Cartwright
Case
Casten
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Cawthorn
Chabot
Cheney
Cherfilus-McCormick
Chu
Cicilline
Clark (MA)
Clarke (NY)
Cleaver
Cline
Cloud
Clyburn
Clyde
Cohen
Cole
Comer
Connolly
Cooper
Correa
Costa
Courtney
Craig
Crawford
Crenshaw
Crist
Crow
Cuellar
Curtis
Davids (KS)
Davis, Danny K.
Davis, Rodney
Dean
DeFazio
DeGette
DeLauro
DelBene
Delgado
Demings
DeSaulnier
DesJarlais
Deutch
Diaz-Balart
Dingell
Doggett
Donalds
Doyle, Michael F.
Duncan
Dunn
Ellzey
Emmer
Escobar
Eshoo
Espaillat
Estes
Evans
Fallon
Feenstra
Ferguson
Fischbach
Fitzgerald
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fletcher
Foster
Foxx
Frankel, Lois
Franklin, C. Scott
Fulcher
Gallagher
Gallego
Garamendi
Garbarino
Garcia (CA)
Garcia (IL)
Garcia (TX)
Gibbs
Gimenez
Gohmert
Golden
Gomez
Gonzales, Tony
Gonzalez (OH)
Gonzalez, Vicente
Good (VA)
Gooden (TX)
Gottheimer
Granger
Graves (LA)
Graves (MO)
Green (TN)
Green, Al (TX)
Griffith
Grijalva
Grothman
Guest
Guthrie
Harder (CA)
Harris
Harshbarger
Hartzler
Hayes
Hern
Herrell
Herrera Beutler
Hice (GA)
Higgins (LA)
Higgins (NY)
Hill
Himes
Hinson
Hollingsworth
Horsford
Houlahan
Hoyer
Hudson
Huffman
Huizenga
Issa
Jackson
Jackson Lee
Jacobs (CA)
Jacobs (NY)
Jayapal
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson (LA)
Johnson (OH)
Johnson (SD)
Johnson (TX)
Jones
Jordan
Joyce (OH)
Joyce (PA)
Kahele
Kaptur
Katko
Keating
Keller
Kelly (IL)
Kelly (MS)
Kelly (PA)
Khanna
Kildee
Kilmer
Kim (CA)
Kim (NJ)
Kind
Kinzinger
Kirkpatrick
Krishnamoorthi
Kuster
Kustoff
LaHood
LaMalfa
Lamb
Lamborn
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Latta
LaTurner
Lawrence
Lawson (FL)
Lee (CA)
Lee (NV)
Leger Fernandez
Lesko
Letlow
Levin (CA)
Levin (MI)
Lieu
Lofgren
Long
Loudermilk
Lowenthal
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Luria
Lynch
Mace
Malinowski
Malliotakis
Maloney, Carolyn B.
Maloney, Sean
Mann
Manning
Mast
Matsui
McBath
McCarthy
McCaul
McClain
McClintock
McCollum
McEachin
McGovern
McHenry
McKinley
McNerney
Meeks
Meijer
Meng
Meuser
Mfume
Miller (IL)
Miller (WV)
Miller-Meeks
Moolenaar
Mooney
Moore (AL)
Moore (UT)
Moore (WI)
Morelle
Moulton
Mrvan
Mullin
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (NC)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Neguse
Newhouse
Newman
Norcross
O'Halleran
Obernolte
Ocasio-Cortez
Omar
Owens
Palazzo
Pallone
Palmer
Panetta
Pappas
Pascrell
Payne
Pelosi
Pence
Perlmutter
Peters
Pfluger
Phillips
Pingree
Pocan
Porter
Posey
Pressley
Price (NC)
Quigley
Raskin
Reed
Reschenthaler
Rice (NY)
Rice (SC)
Rodgers (WA)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rose
Rosendale
Ross
Rouzer
Roy
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Rutherford
Ryan
Salazar
Sanchez
Sarbanes
Scalise
Scanlon
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schrier
Schweikert
Scott (VA)
Scott, Austin
Scott, David
Sessions
Sewell
Sherman
Sherrill
Simpson
Sires
Slotkin
Smith (MO)
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (WA)
Smucker
Soto
Spanberger
Spartz
Speier
Stansbury
Stanton
Stauber
Steel
Stefanik
Steil
Steube
Stevens
Strickland
Suozzi
Swalwell
Takano
Taylor
Tenney
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Thompson (PA)
Timmons
Titus
Tlaib
Tonko
Torres (CA)
Torres (NY)
Trahan
Trone
Turner
Underwood
Upton
Valadao
Van Drew
Van Duyne
Vargas
Veasey
Velazquez
Wagner
Walberg
Walorski
Waltz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watson Coleman
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Welch
Wenstrup
Westerman
Wexton
Wild
Williams (GA)
Williams (TX)
Wilson (FL)
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Womack
Yarmuth
Zeldin
NAYS--10
Biggs
Bishop (NC)
Davidson
Gaetz
Gosar
Greene (GA)
Massie
Norman
Perry
Tiffany
NOT VOTING--3
Allen
Nehls
Stewart
{time} 1620
Mr. DAVIDSON changed his vote from ``yea'' to ``nay.''
Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Ms. SALAZAR, and Mr. SCHWEIKERT changed their vote
from ``nay'' to ``yea.''
So the bill was passed.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
personal explanation
Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been
present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 139, ``nay'' on
rollcall No. 140, and ``yea'' on rollcall No. 141.
Members Recorded Pursuant to House Resolution 8, 117th Congress
Adams (Manning)
Bass (Beyer)
Brooks (Moore (AL))
Brown (MD) (Evans)
Brown (OH) (Jeffries)
Brownley (Correa)
Carey (Balderson)
Casten (Foster)
Castro (TX) (Correa)
Cawthorn (Gaetz)
Craig (Pallone)
Crist (Wasserman Schultz)
Cuellar (Correa)
DeSaulnier (Beyer)
Frankel, Lois (Wasserman Schultz)
Garcia (TX) (Correa)
Gomez (Correa)
Grijalva (Stanton)
Hartzler (Lamborn)
Higgins (NY) (Pallone)
Johnson (TX) (Jeffries)
Lamb (Pallone)
Lawson (FL) (Wasserman Schultz)
Levin (MI) (Beyer)
Lowenthal (Beyer)
Meijer (Katko)
Morelle (Jeffries)
OHalleran (Stanton)
Ocasio-Cortez (Escobar)
Perlmutter (Neguse)
Pfluger (Mann)
Price (NC) (Butterfield)
Rodgers (WA) (Joyce (PA))
Ross (Beyer)
Scott, David (Jeffries)
Sires (Pallone)
Strickland (Jeffries)
Suozzi (Beyer)
Taylor (Van Duyne)
Tlaib (Takano)
Trahan (Beyer)
Veasey (Escobar)
Wagner (McHenry)
Waters (Takano)
____________________