21st Century Peace Through Strength Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Chair, this is indeed a historic moment. Sometimes when we are living history, as we are today, we don't understand the significance of the actions, of the votes that we make on this House floor, and of the effect that it will have down the road for children yet unborn. This is a historic moment.

Yesterday, one of the rarest things that has ever happened on this floor took place. Generally, in this body, it takes the majority party to pass its rule, and the minority party never votes for it. However, this moment is so big that House Democrats said: We are not playing politics with this. This is too important for our Nation's security. This is too important for our allies' security. This is too important for the free world's security.

Therefore, we did something that we have never done before. We voted in a bipartisan way to pass the rule to get these bills on the floor. Quite frankly, I would have loved to have done this 2, 3, 4 months ago. However, this is a historic moment. Ukraine is now on the brink. The humanitarian catastrophes in Gaza and Sudan and Haiti and elsewhere require immediate aid.

Israel faced an unprecedented, direct attack from Iran less than 1 week ago, and we need to rebuild our industrial base and support a free and open Indo-Pacific.

We stand here today, finally, doing the people's work; doing, as I said just a few minutes ago, what we should have done months ago-- supporting our friends, supporting our allies around the world, and quieting the doubts about whether America is a reliable partner or not; whether the United States will continue leading on the world stage or not. I am so proud of President Biden because he has displayed that leadership time and time again.

Now, today, we have a number of bills that we need to pass for our national security. On REPO, pertaining to the seizure of Russian sovereign assets, there is no doubt that Russia should pay for its crimes against humanity in Ukraine, as Vice President Harris has termed it. This bill, importantly, irons out legal questions that make sure that the United States does not act alone, but rather in coordination with our G7 and other partners, and we have seen President Biden pull them together immediately. Coordinating with our allies on this issue is important, not just for our standing as a paragon of the rule of law, but for our long-term economic interests.

There is an array of Middle East sanction bills included in this package, including several we voted on this week.

Importantly, the majority agreed to add a humanitarian exception in three of those bills. I had been requesting that for a while. Fortunately and thankfully, we got it in now.

I hope that, going forward, including these exceptions is a matter of course rather than something added via last-second negotiation, but I thank my friend, Chairman McCaul, for the good-faith negotiations on the Middle East section of this legislation.

The Foreign Affairs Committee sanctions section is not perfect, but it does provide important humanitarian exceptions and waivers throughout the bill. Given the focus on the REPO bill the last few days, I will highlight that a key authority in the bill is permissive.

I do not think that a sanction should be the opening salvo of diplomacy. Many may have heard me talking about how I believe in diplomacy so strongly, but sanctions are an important instrument of economic statecraft that can, on occasion, deter bad actors, curb human rights abuses, and promote diplomatic outcomes. I believe we lose our moral credibility if American sanctions are seen as causing indiscriminate deprivation, and we lose our policy flexibility if we tie the executive branch's hands instead of giving it useful tools.

Yet, it is important that would-be invaders and dictators around the world see they will face real consequences if they undermine the international order.

This legislation also contains several bills in the Financial Services and Energy and Commerce lanes. Important changes were made to these bills.

I had voted against H.R. 7521 on the floor out of concern that it would be a broad authorization that could be misused far beyond what we in Washington are currently debating, beyond just TikTok. However, I think the bill took a step in the right direction with a more realistic timeframe for a complex divestiture process.

Let me say for the record that I believe this bill is about one company and that additional authorities provided to the executive branch are to be interpreted narrowly.

Let me also take a moment to speak to those who oppose this legislation and say we can't support Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion because, to use their words, we are facing an invasion here at home. That is an absurd comparison.

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine because he wanted to topple the democratically elected Government of Ukraine and reconstitute the Soviet Union. He launched his unprovoked war of aggression with a willingness to kill millions of Ukrainians, not to mention his own forces.

By contrast, people come to our border because of the tumult in their home countries or in search of a better life for themselves and their children. They do so because this is the greatest Nation, the greatest country, in the history of this planet.

With all of our ills, with all of our faults, with all that we need to do, we come together. There is no question that the example that we show, by the people and the citizens of this great country, it is the greatest Nation on this planet.

Today, once again, on this House floor, where we are right now, we are proving that fact by overcoming, by proving that this is the greatest country in the world, and by proving that we are the leaders of the free world. We are doing this by overcoming our partisan divides, by showing that we will work together and stand together, Democrats and Republicans, for the right thing and for our country.

We are passing a historic bill, a bill that our children and grandchildren will be reading and looking at in the years to come. It promotes not just U.S. national security but the security of democracy over authoritarianism, law over lawlessness, and prosperity over chaos or famine.

Madam Chair, the camera of history is rolling, and when they play it back, they will see we stood together. When they play it back, they will see that we stood for freedom, justice, and equality.

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Castro), the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere.

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, may I inquire how much time I have remaining.

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone).

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Krishnamoorthi), the ranking member on the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.

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

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, I claim the time in opposition to this amendment.

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, the Treasury opposes this amendment because they believe the reporting time is so short, and the requirements are so onerous. They believe it is so onerous that they will have to pull people away from doing the important work on finding illicit actors that should be sanctioned and make them work on this report.

There are also concerns about business confidentiality here. I am guessing, if there were more time, we could make changes in this bill. We could work together to make it more workable and strike a deal here. But given that this is an up-or-down vote on the floor for an amendment now, I must oppose.

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

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Mr. MEEKS. Madam Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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