The Hon Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515.
12th December 2023
Mr. Speaker,
I write to you today after learning with some dismay that despite external and internal pressure, you remain unwilling to allow a vote on aid for Ukraine.
The United States is currently the most powerful nation in the world, and the lynchpin of much of the rules based international order that trade and prosperity so depends on. This power has three main sources, your impressive military and economic might and your soft power, your reputation. Your reliability.
A reputation for reliability can take a lifetime to build but be destroyed in moments.
We all know that Russia is unreliable, in fact one of the first casualties in the current conflict was Russian credibility, and they have proven time and again that no agreement with them is worth the paper it is printed on. They are absolutely unapologetic about this, but the loss to their reputation has done significant damage to their global diplomatic and trade relations.
Under the terms of The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances 1994: Both Russia and the US pledged, in return for Ukrainian Nuclear disarmament, never to turn their weapons on Ukraine. The United States has also repeatedly stated that they will help ensure the survival of Ukraine as an independent state in the face of military aggression.
Blocking a vote on aid essentially makes the claims of the US to be willing to help a nation face its aggressor, untrue.
This action or lack thereof calls into question the dependability of the United States, and by extension, every other security guarantee your government has ever issued. For example, I wonder if Taiwan feels reassured by your current hesitancy?
The world is watching. Your allies are watching.
Please do not continue to give us cause for doubt.
Schedule. A. Vote.
Sincerely,
CC
