Outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) compared Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress to when former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Winston Churchill’s 1941 address asked the United States to go to war with Europe.
Pelosi said in her letter to lawmakers that she has “great pride and solemnity” to welcome Zelensky on Wednesday to Congress, where he will address both chambers in a Joint Meeting of Congress.
The outgoing speaker, leaving a “personal note,” compared Zelensky’s congressional visit to Churchill’s historic wartime address in the Senate Chamber when he spoke before an informal meeting of Congress the day after Christmas in 1941:
I encourage you to read my letter of invitation to President Zelenskyy. As the fight for freedom in Ukraine wages on, we look forward to hearing his inspiring message of courage, unity and determination. [Emphasis added.]
…
On a personal note: this is a moment fraught with meaning for me. My father, Congressman Thomas D’Alesandro, Jr., was a Member of the House in 1941 when Winston Churchill came to the Congress on the day after Christmas to enlist our nation’s support in the fight against tyranny in Europe. Eighty-one years later this week, it is particularly poignant for me to be present when another heroic leader addresses the Congress in a time of war – and with Democracy itself on the line. [Emphasis added.]
I hope that you will be there to be a part of a very special evening, which will be etched into history as well as part of your legacy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) meets U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (L) in the capital Kyiv, Ukraine on May 1, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Zelensky’s sudden visit to Washington, DC, to visit with U.S. lawmakers, including President Joe Biden, comes as Congress is set to pass a massive 4,155-page $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that would fund the government through September 2023.
However, as Breitbart News’ Sean Moran wrote on Tuesday, the omnibus spending bill grants $45 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine after Congress had already appropriated $66 billion of American taxpayer dollars to aid the country in its ongoing conflict with Russia.
The massive spending bill also designates a part of the national capital as a Ukrainian Independence Park. The park would “include information on the importance of the independence, freedom, and sovereignty of Ukraine and the solidarity between the people of Ukraine and the United States.”
The Associated Press reported that Zelensky’s office released a recorded video that revealed he was going to ask for more support, even though the United States — as long as the spending bill passes — would be doling over a $100 million to his country.
“We are not in an easy situation. The enemy is increasing its army,” Zelensky said in the video. “We are grateful for [America’s] support, but it is not enough. It is a hint — it is not enough.”
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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