Pass the Ukraine Democracy Lend-Lease Act

The danger of Great Britain being destroyed by a swift, overwhelming blow has for the time being greatly receded. In its place there is a long, gradually maturing danger, less sudden and less spectacular, but equally deadly. . . . Unless we can establish our ability to feed this island, to import the munitions of all kinds which we need . . . we may fall by the way, and the time needed by the United States to complete her defensive preparations may not be forthcoming.

— Winston Churchill to Franklin Roosevelt, December 8, 1940

I n late 1940, British resistance to Nazi Germany was hanging by a thread. The RAF had triumphed over the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, eliminating the imminent threat of a German cross-channel invasion. But facing off against a Third Reich with all the industrial capacity of continental Europe at its disposal, Britain’s long-term prospects were bleak. The United States was willing to supply arms to the U.K., but only on a “cash and carry” basis — and the Brits were running out of cash. To carry on the fight, the British government had already spent all of its dollar reserves and forced English investors to liquidate their U.S. holdings for dollars, which the government then took, compensating the investors with bonds denominated in pounds. As the year’s end approached, American ships set sail for South Africa to take possession of Britain’s gold reserves. Soon, there would be nothing left. In a famous letter written December 8, 1940, British prime minister Winston Churchill appealed to U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt for help.

Churchill’s letter reached Roosevelt while the latter was cruising the Caribbean on the warship Tuscaloosa. It took just a week for FDR to think it over. Then, on December 16, the day after his return to the U.S., the president held a press conference calling for a new policy.

“There is absolutely no doubt in the mind of the overwhelming number of Americans that the best immediate defense of the United States is the success of Great Britain defending itself,” Roosevelt said. “We should do everything possible to help the British Empire defend itself.” But this could not be done on a cash-and-carry basis. Instead we would “lend” unlimited amounts of war equipment to the British — with no requirement that any of it be returned in good condition or paid for if it were lost. “What I am trying to do is to eliminate the dollar sign,” FDR explained.

Thus was born the Lend-Lease bill, which was passed into law in March 1941. Under this bill, millions of British Empire (and later Soviet) soldiers, sailors, and airmen were provided the equipment they needed to fight the Nazis. It thus not only played a critical role in winning the war, but saved hundreds of thousands of American lives. The U.S. experienced by far the lowest per capita casualties of all major combatants in World War II. This was because we had the wisdom to make sure that millions of allied combatants were properly equipped to do most of the fighting for us.

Now, a bipartisan group of Senators has introduced a bill to help Ukraine battle for us in the same way. Authored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.) and John Cornyn (R., Texas) in January, the Ukraine Democracy Lend-Lease Act of 2022 (S. 3522) gained steam following Putin’s invasion and passed the Senate unanimously on April 7.

A companion House bill was introduced March 1 by Representatives Steve Cohen (D., Tenn), Joe Wilson (R., S.C.), Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.), Tom Malinowski (D., N.J.), Mike Waltz (R., Fla.), and Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.). Unfortunately, the House leadership has so far declined to take it up.

This needs to change. As Senator Cornyn said in a statement shortly following the bill’s Senate passage: “How we address a threat against one democracy’s sovereignty sends a message about how we’ll act on others, and adversaries like China are watching. If we believe America supports freedom and democracy, we must provide Ukraine with the weapons necessary to protect its citizens.”

By “eliminating the dollar sign” involved in transferring military equipment to Ukraine, S. 3522 could play a decisive role in defeating Putin’s invasion. For example, the U.S. Air Force currently has over 350 A-10 “Warthog” ground-attack aircraft that it doesn’t want anymore. Equipped with 30mm Gatling guns that can rip a column of tanks to pieces, these airplanes were designed for the express purpose of destroying Soviet armored forces in the event of a large-scale Warsaw Pact invasion of Europe. They are exactly what Ukraine needs to turn all those horrid Z-painted tanks currently infesting its landscape into useful scrap metal. Transferring 50 of them to Ukraine would have a decisive impact on the ground war. Passage of S. 3522 would give President Biden the legal authority to do exactly that.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has openly proclaimed his commitment to restoring the Russian and Soviet empires. That intent, and the manifest ruthlessness and brutality that stands behind it, makes Putin’s Russia an enemy of the United States and the NATO allies we are pledged to defend. In fighting Russia, Ukraine is fighting for us. Every Russian tank, warplane, or warship that the Ukrainians destroy is one less that we may have to deal with later. We should do everything we can to give them the tools to do the job.

Readers should write their congressmen and urge them to pass the Ukraine Democracy Lend-Lease Act of 2022 without further delay.