Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, my amendment would say that none of the funds available in the NDAA may be used for assistance to Ukraine.

I think this is an important amendment because I strongly support the NDAA. This is a great military funding bill that has many things involved in it that our military needs. It even contains a much-needed pay raise for our troops, and that is something I greatly believe in right now while many of our military members are suffering under this inflation caused by the Biden administration.

I think it is extremely important for Members of Congress to be able to vote separately for funding of foreign wars, and I do not believe that funding for Ukraine should be a part of the NDAA.

The mission statement on the Department of Defense's website says that its purpose and mission are to deter war and to ensure our Nation's security.

Funding a war in Ukraine does not deter war. It funds it. Funding a war in Ukraine does not ensure our Nation's security, it actually puts us at risk for possible further military engagement with another nuclear-armed nation, and that is Russia.

Americans do not support this and neither does the majority of the majority here in Congress, which has voted against funding the war in Ukraine.

To date, Congress has appropriated $174.2 billion in emergency supplemental funding. That is a lot of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars going to support security for another country's border while our border is being invaded every single day.

Not only is our border being invaded every single day by millions and millions of people from over 160 countries, there is also a war declared on our own country with human trafficking and drugs that are killing Americans every day. On average, there are 300 Americans dying from fentanyl overdoses every day. I believe that should be our focus in the United States Congress.

It is also a war in Ukraine that is not defending democracy. Zelenskyy has canceled elections. He is now a dictator. Zelenskyy canceled free speech. Zelenskyy canceled freedom of religion, and Zelenskyy canceled free press. That is not defending democracy. That is actually attacking democracy.

Americans do not support sending their hard-earned tax dollars to Ukraine. They support paying our military and funding our military, but not funding a war in a foreign country.

Over half of Americans think the United States has already spent too much money in Ukraine, and over 60 percent of Republicans do not support sending additional money to Ukraine. Even one in four Democrats don't support it anymore, according to recent polling.

However, most importantly, the corruption in Ukraine is something that cannot be ignored. There has been report after report after report of money missing. The Pentagon cannot track over $1 billion, and there have been reports of much corruption. That involves our hard-earned tax dollars.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Chair, according to the bill text in the NDAA, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the DSCA, is the account of the NDAA that funds Ukraine. The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, USAI, which annually appropriates $300 million in Ukraine, would receive the standard $300 million authorization again this year, so the funding is in there. That USAI funding is part of the DSCA line item. DSCA is receiving $2.389 billion in this NDAA, of which the $300 million for Ukraine is a part, so the money is definitely in there. It has not been taken out.

I will also inform Congress and the American people that a Ukrainian group called Texty recently published a list of Ukrainian enemies that includes almost 400 Americans, including Republican lawmakers. I am on that list, as are Conservative influencers, media groups, and antiwar activists.

The group receives money from the U.S. State Department through a program called TechCamp. While that is not part of the NDAA, our money is going to fund NGOs in Ukraine that have declared U.S. lawmakers and Americans enemies. That is extremely dangerous. None of our hard-earned tax dollars should be funding any sort of group that thinks that we are the enemies while we are funding them.

We also have no idea how many Ukrainians have been killed in this war. We asked for that number and have not heard. I urge Congress to pass my amendment.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source