DEFENSE INNOVATION WITH UKRAINE

On 2026-06-30, Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH-9) delivered a floor speech titled "DEFENSE INNOVATION WITH UKRAINE" in the House.

DEFENSE INNOVATION WITH UKRAINE

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 109 (Tuesday, June 30, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 109 (Tuesday, June 30, 2026)] [House] [Pages H4357-H4358] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DEFENSE INNOVATION WITH UKRAINE (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Ms. Kaptur of Ohio was recognized for 30 minutes.) Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to spotlight the urgent need for deepened cooperation between the United States and Ukraine in defense innovation. This follows yesterday's important announcement of $18.4 million of investment through our Department of Defense in our Northwest Ohio region. After over 10 years of Russia's brutal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine has given the world a master class in the future of warfare. Ukraine has pioneered drone tactics and technology. It has developed cost-effective air defense systems, all under the most difficult of circumstances. Imagine Russia, a nation of 11 time zones. Ukraine has but one. Russia has 3.5 times as many people as Ukraine, but Ukraine fights on nobly. Ukraine's ecosystem of innovation is a model that the free world can't afford to ignore. No matter where I travel as a member of our Defense Subcommittee and meet with U.S. troops who are close or in theater, do you know what they say to me? Congresswoman, please help us advance drone technology. I have heard many things from troops, but that has been one of their most constant clarion calls to Members of Congress, and we intend to deliver to them. That is why today, I introduced the bipartisan Strategic Unmanned Systems Partnership Act--I underline bipartisan--along with Representatives Fitzpatrick, Quigley, McCaul, Costa, and Bacon. These are Members with experience, both military and civilian. This companion legislation to its Senate counterpart introduced by Senators Rosen and Rounds would establish a landmark strategic defense innovation working group with Ukraine and NATO. This working group would accelerate joint production of innovative systems to defend our nations at a time when liberty needs it most and it is being challenged in many, many ways globally. Remember, Iran just killed American troops with the same weapons it tested with Russia. Iran and Russia have a relationship, and then they used the technologies against Ukraine. But it was Ukraine that came to our defense with its innovation in the Middle East. It was Ukraine. That is the mark of a true ally and friend under very difficult circumstances. [[Page H4358]] UDD Announcement Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, when I visit U.S. troops defending liberty, I ask them: What else can we do? They say: Just get us better drones faster. Thus, today, I rise in celebration of the announcement of $18.4 million in F-Drone manufacturing to be anchored in Ohio; both Central Ohio, which has already received Anduril's investment, and now in Northwestern Ohio, $18.4 million to begin to manufacture F-Drones on our soil. An all-hands-on-deck local, State, and Federal approach won the day for Northwestern Ohio. Our sustained engagement now has attracted one of the leading manufacturers of unmanned systems: Ukrainian defense drones, the U.S. arm of Ukraine's F-Drones, to stand up assembly in Northwestern Ohio. It will complement an equally significant investment by Anduril in Central Ohio. Already, our State of Ohio is well recognized as the home of aviation, of space exploration, and defense industrial base manufacturing. We are the home of the best fighter wing in the United States of America, F-16s, and they are a guard unit. We are so proud of them. This UDD drone firm will operate on the cutting edge of drone technology and defense innovation. Its systems have been battle-tested on the frontlines of liberty, defending the free people of Ukraine from Dictator Vladimir Putin's merciless and unprovoked invasion. UDD is now one of the leaders in the Pentagon's Drone Dominance Program, ensuring that American troops can defend themselves with the best technology available. I have been honored to work with the innovative UDD team to spotlight the benefits of investing in Northwestern Ohio. Working closely alongside the Regional Growth Partnership and JobsOhio, and with Governor Mike DeWine, together we achieved a strategic partnership with the potential to grow into a substantial and sustained presence across our Great Lakes region. We have it all: land, air, sea. Our region has a talented workforce, proven manufacturing infrastructure, research and testing, phenomenal assets with our space agencies, as well as a community that honors and celebrates the shared benefits of working with our freedom-loving allies abroad. We are confident in our potential to be a global leader in U.S. drone manufacturing, and Northwestern Ohio's manufacturing genius has formed the backbone of the arsenal of democracy. We understand steel. We understand forging. We understand propulsion. We understand tooling. We make things. We form things. We helped defeat fascism in World War II, Soviet communism in the last century, and remain committed to liberty and to sustaining our NATO alliance against all enemies. Building our Nation's defense also builds our middle class, and we keep them free. Our region stands ready to stay vigilant at creating a future to ensure jobs and industry leadership for Northwest Ohio's manufacturing workforce and making sure that China and other countries like Iran do not have the most sophisticated technology that is known to the world. The urgent national security imperative of dominating the drone space and the economic benefits for our communities are why I am honored to lead on these issues here on Capitol Hill. These include introducing today, my bipartisan Strategic Unmanned Systems Partnership Act to ensure America continues working with our Ukrainian allies on these vital issues. Together, we will submit Northwestern Ohio as a critical drone manufacturing capital of America, and with Anduril's investment in Central Ohio, together we will meet our U.S. military's new needs at home and abroad. {time} 1950 Mr. Speaker, in helping to close today, as we return home for Fourth of July commemorations, I rise especially to commemorate and celebrate our Nation's 250th anniversary. We are still strong. We are still free. We have lots of work to do, but it was this week in 1776 that our Founders, our Framers, our forefathers and foremothers, in Philadelphia, came together to make the courageous declaration that we chose liberty over tyranny. How that must have felt at that time. A year before, Delegate Patrick Henry of Virginia, just a little south of where I am standing, proclaimed: ``Give me liberty or give me death.'' A year later, he became Virginia's popularly elected first Governor. Imagine the courage and the vision. Our Founders were farmers, printers, and merchants--hardworking, ordinary people who did the extraordinary and envisioned the extraordinary. They gave rise to the idea that freedom is a right, not a privilege granted by a king. For 250 years, that Declaration of Independence and choice of liberty has carried our Nation through wars and expansive economic recessions, through innovation and growth, and through division and unity. It was stronger than the weakest among us. It is important that we don't just look back with pride. We must look to the future with purpose to what the next 50 years, 100 years, and even 250 years of the American experiment might require of us. First of all, it should require duty--duty to country--duty to country before self, because liberty is not free. It requires citizens who rise to duty for our Republic. In this era, each citizen must make a vital decision to ensure our Nation and people can flourish not just today but for the decades to come. That requires some wisdom, and we could do a little better at that. Let Americans be proud of our progress when celebrating the next milestone anniversary. Mr. Speaker, may God bless America and give us all the courage to fight for a good and prosperous and free people, a productive future for all the generations of Americans to come, and gratitude, gratitude, gratitude for where this 250 years has moved America. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time. ____________________