(Official Washington Examiner editorial, Feb. 15, 2024) The House should move with dispatch now that the Senate has passed a bill providing military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
Ukraine is particularly urgent, as it has the manpower and will to fight off a renewed Russian assault, but it lacks the weaponry, particularly the ammunition, to do so effectively. It is in the U.S. national interest for Ukraine to repel the imperial designs of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. His aggression cannot be allowed to succeed, a Western nation’s independence should be safeguarded, and the rest of the world must see that America and its Western allies have the will to confront expansionist tyrants.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) should keep his promises to support Ukraine along with the less controversial support for Israel and Taiwan. He should bring a bill quickly to the floor, allow an open amendment process, and work for final passage. If he doesn’t do so, the clear majority of House members who do support aid to the three U.S. allies should use a “discharge petition” to force the bill through.
Both parties have been playing political games over this assistance to allies for at least seven months. Most Republicans justifiably want money for real, honest border control, too, but in the end, that’s entirely different, divorced from the military concerns that the supplemental spending bill is supposed to address. There is no need to block one necessary matter that has majority support to demand movement on another matter on which there is no agreement….
Russia rapes, tortures, and kills civilians as it tries to trample the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Putin has made clear that his ambitions are not limited to Ukraine, and if he is not stopped there, he might attack a NATO nation. That, unlike Ukraine, would require the insertion of U.S. troops.
For reasons of realpolitik and morality, the United States should provide the Ukrainians the weapons they need to fight for themselves…. [The full editorial is here.]
