Public Comment

Recently, there has been wavering among some regarding continued support for Ukraine, including a number of presidential wannabes: Donald Trump, Ronald DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, and of course John F. Kennedy, Jr.. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows that overall, 55% say the US Congress should not authorize additional funding to support Ukraine versus 45% who say Congress should authorize such funding. And 51% say that the US has already done enough to help Ukraine while 48% say it should do more. Republicans broadly say that Congress should not authorize new funding (71%) and that the US has done enough to assist Ukraine (59%). Among Democrats, most say the opposite, 62% favor additional funding and 61% say that the US should do more 

Despite intense Pentagon lobbying, it is notable that the House stripped all Ukraine aid from the 45-day stopgap spending bill. While there is bipartisan support for more Ukrainian aid, it was either the Senate go along with no aid or a government shutdown. Hopefully Congress can find a later path for Ukrainian funding. Needless to say, alarm bells went off in Ukraine and among our NATO allies 

I, however, fully support President Biden's response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine and its fight for survival.  

Why should Americans care about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as the war is so far away and is not a threat to our national security or to Western Europe? This view seems strange as the GOP is traditionally a hawkish foreign policy party. In fact, at the beginning of the invasion, a handful of Republicans criticized the Biden White House for not doing more to help Ukraine defend itself. 

True, the U.S. has a long history of meddling on the world stage, which Putin has used as cover for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was founded in the aftermath of the Second World War to secure peace in Europe, to promote cooperation among its members and to guard their freedom. While Ukraine is not a NATO member, it shares a border with Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, all NATO members. If Russia prevails in Ukraine, then it becomes a greater threat to these neighboring NATO countries. If all NATO countries do not continue their support then what’s the purpose of NATO in the first place? If Putin is allowed to invade a sovereign country in violation of international law and threatens its sovereignty, it would signal to others to do the same, which in turn, will affect us. 

The U.S. is part of a global world interdependent economically, socially, and politically. If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he won’t stop there. He didn’t stop after seizing Crimea in 2014. President Biden has made it clear that helping Ukraine will not include boots on the ground. The U.S., Canada, the EU, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, and the UK have already imposed severe sanctions against Russia and the U.S..has deployed or repositioned U.S.forces to Germany, Poland, Moldova and Romania near those countries’ with borders with Ukraine for defensive purposes only. President Joe Biden should be commended for rallying the NATO’s members in support of Ukraine in defense of democracy. 

Ukraine is fighting for its very survival and to leave them to inevitable defeat would be irresponsible?