Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) reported that Senate leaders from both parties are in agreement that the United States should provide additional military and financial help for Ukraine.
The Senate majority leader made his comments on Sept. 7 following a closed-door briefing on the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Our aid is making a difference, but we’re at an inflection point, and turning back now would have very disastrous consequences for Ukraine and, in general, for our foreign policy.”
The spokesperson said in an emailed statement sent to The Epoch Times, “Lives are at stake across a wide range of urgent, bipartisan priorities for the American people that are addressed in President Biden’s supplemental funding request.”
“Like Senate Republicans, Speaker McCarthy should keep his word about government funding. And he should do so in a way that acts on these pressing issues—including fentanyl, national security, and disaster response—rather than break his promise and cave to the most extreme members of his conference agitating for a baseless impeachment stunt and shutdown.”
The Epoch Times’s sister media NTD spoke to several senators about their opinion on the aid, including Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), asking if she was “comfortable with the appropriations bills” they would be voting on in coming days, and the accompanying “level of Ukraine aid that Senator McConnell is supportive of.”
Ms. Lummis said she feels “differently than some” on the issue of aid to Eastern Europe: "I want to prioritize disaster aid to areas in the United States where our residents have suffered mightily ... that really is my priority.
“I am of the opinion that while we should be willing to play a role in helping Europe deal with the totally illegal advance of Russia into Ukraine, it needs to be primarily driven on the continent of Europe.”
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) reiterated his stance to NTD, saying that “until we secure our own borders, I would not vote for any more funding for Ukraine.”
The lawmaker went on to say he has reason to believe that Ukraine is “corrupt,” due in part to a recent trip he took to the region. He went on to assert that “European countries aren’t doing what we asked them to do either. None of them are even close to the amount of money that they promised [to Ukraine] ... So I’m very frustrated. I think that we have so many problems here at home.
“Again, we’re spending $700 billion on interest. There’s no money left to send to Ukraine. When will we start taking care of America first? When I go back home, folks are just very, very concerned about inflation, about interest rates, about their own safety and security. I think we’ve got to take care of our homeland here first, and then we can help out more across the Atlantic Ocean.”
