'Zelenksy Is A Dictator': Marjorie Taylor Greene Advocates For Funding To Be Cut Off From Ukraine

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In remarks on the House floor Thursday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) spoke about her amendment to prevent funding from going to Ukraine.

Transcript

00:00Pursuant to House Resolution 580, the gentleman from Georgia, Ms. Green, and a member opposed,

00:05each will control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.

00:10Mr. Speaker, as we're considering the Department of Defense appropriations of 2025 that is going

00:18to cost the American people $831 billion, my amendment would be that none of the funds

00:26made available in this act may be used for the assistance to the Ukraine war. This is a war

00:33that has nothing to do with America. Ukraine is not a NATO member nation and is not the American

00:40people's responsibility to pay for this war and it's not the American military's responsibility

00:48to fund it. My amendment would ensure that no further resources will be sent to Ukraine.

00:54To date, Congress has provided nearly $175 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including direct military

01:02aid, funding for their government, and other forms of economic assistance. For the past four years,

01:09we had a Democrat president that cared more about the borders of Ukraine than the country he swore to

01:14protect the United States of America. They allowed our own country to be invaded by murderers, rapists,

01:21and terrorists, all while sending nearly $175 billion to defend the borders of Ukraine and fund their

01:28entire economy. Our country funded their government at $1 billion a month and the American people were

01:36forced to pay for their businesses. At a time when our government shut down American-owned businesses,

01:44families could not afford groceries and our people were suffering. It was reported that nightlife in

01:50Ukraine was thriving and that there were more bars and restaurants open in the capital city, Kyiv,

01:56than before the start of the war. Yet the American people, they couldn't send their children to school,

02:03their businesses were shut down, and life here was closed. But the American people were paying for Ukraine.

02:10It was shameful that Americans were forced to foot the bill of the Ukrainian economy while ours suffered.

02:18Furthermore, Ukraine is one of the most corrupt governments in the world, and Zelensky is a dictator who,

02:25by the way, stopped elections in his country because of this war. He's jailed journalists, he's canceled his

02:33elections, controlled state media, and persecuted Christians. The American people should not be forced to

02:40continue to pay for another foreign war in a country that has no effect on our own, and we are not

02:46contractually bound to defend. Mr. Speaker, I reserve.

02:52The gentlewoman reserves her time. The gentlewoman from—for what purposes, the gentlewoman from Minnesota rise?

02:58Madam Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment.

03:01The gentlewoman is recognized.

03:03First, the majority has already eliminated funding for Ukraine's security assistance initiative in this

03:11bill. It's zero. I personally believe that to be a huge mistake, and that that only emboldens Putin.

03:19And President Trump seems to be agreeing now because just the other day he announced the decision to

03:24provide billions of dollars of equipment to Ukraine through our NATO partners. And I give the credit to the

03:30president for that decision. But now we have an amendment to further prohibit any support of

03:36Ukraine as they fight to defend their country from an illegal Russian invasion. Putin is attempting to

03:41rewrite the map of Europe through use of force. He's doing so in violation of international law. He's

03:47deliberately killing civilians, targeting hospital schools, destroying the economy and the livelihood of

03:54Ukraine in process. Putin has put his thugs, who are committing war crimes, on a mass scale. And the

04:02United States and the democratic nations of the world, well, they're putting us on notice. And that's why we

04:10must strongly oppose him. If we do not, then he or other authoritarian leaders will likely try something

04:17like this again, either in Ukraine or elsewhere in the world. America is not alone in our military

04:23support of Ukraine. Our NATO and European allies are continuing to provide billions of dollars of

04:28support themselves. And that's in line with the decision that President Trump announced the other

04:32day. So let's not abandon the EU or our NATO allies now. And let's not abandon Ukraine. The Ukrainian

04:39people did not ask for this war. They deserve our continued support. I urge my colleagues to oppose this

04:46amendment. And, Madam Chair, I'd like to yield 60 seconds to the gentleman from California.

04:52California is recognized for 60 seconds. I rise in opposition to the gentle ladies amendment.

04:58Sadly, we saw for years how the Biden administration failed to provide Ukraine the resources necessary to

05:03fight back in an effective way against Russian aggression. Just the other day, President Trump took

05:08decisive action to provide weapons to Ukraine to defend against these unprovoked attacks. The President is

05:15right to support efforts to ensure innocent lives are no longer lost. He is right to undertake efforts

05:20to stop the bloodshed. As he continues to work toward a peaceful solution, we should not now remove the

05:26ability to provide what he thinks will help the Ukrainian people to prevent further losses and use as leverage

05:31to negotiate a peace agreement, hopefully very soon. With that, I urge a no vote on the amendment and

05:36reserve the balance of my time.

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