Yesterday, President Biden’s comments in his State of the Union Address made one thing very clear: the world is not becoming a safer place. Between destabilizing conflict in Ukraine and Gaza, and continued uncertainty in global hot spots like the Taiwan Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Strait of Hormuz, there are more areas of concern than in recent memory.

ISOA member companies, and more importantly, their employees, are uniquely positioned to fully understand these challenges: they are stationed across the globe providing essential services in many of these conflict zones. These dedicated professionals are embedded in the most austere and conflict-ridden environments providing expertise, continuity, and stability of operations. This is the important work that ISOA members do.

From this perspective, it is clear to us that Congress must step up and continue to take the lead in ensuring long term stability in several areas.

During his remarks, President Biden highlighted the immense pressure facing the people of Ukraine. Despite pleas from the Ukrainian people and President Zelensky, Congress continues to sit idly by while Russia advances. The Senate has moved ahead with additional support by passing a $95 billion package including $60 billion in aid for Ukraine; however, the House has not yet acted on this package.

Few experts thought that Ukrainians would make it through this winter without additional aid from the United States, but as spring approaches, the heroes of Ukraine have fought through the most difficult of circumstances to emerge battered, but not out of the fight. They need our help to continue the fight and successfully hold on to their land and country.

It is past time that the House take action to continue to counter the destabilization of Europe. If the U.S. does not act, and Ukraine falls to Russia, they will not be the last to suffer the same fate. Moldova and other non-NATO countries watch with dismay as the US Congress, once seemingly united behind the Ukrainian cause and their democratic ideals, delays action and turns their back on the backers of freedom out of a misguided desire to remain neutral despite facing tyranny face to face.

Many ISOA member companies have worked with the people of Ukraine, and to many across the United States industrial base they are friends and colleagues. We continue to support the people of Ukraine, and others facing oppression, and continue to urge Congress to act with immediate effect, to help them in their fight against Russia, and their dictator, Vladimir Putin.

The Indo-Pacific Region also holds the potential for conflict, and we must start to prepare now to deal effectively with the unique challenges we and our allies and partners face there. Importantly, the U.S. must continue to lead against China’s continued saber-rattling with their threats to invade Taiwan and press their unfounded territorial claims elsewhere in the region. Bolstering our defenses and resources in the Indo-Pacific is essential to preventing conflict in that region. In our view, given “the tyranny of time and distance” in providing support to our bases and that of our allies, closing the logistics and sustainment gap is a critical aspect of deterrence. Congressional funding and support will be required to develop effective and innovative solutions to this challenging problem, and we look forward to playing a role to help create public/private partnerships to be successful in this mission.

We strongly encourage Congress to act swiftly on passing the funding to continue Ukraine’s fight against Russia and ask for their support in the long-term planning in the Indo-Pacific theater of operations.

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