Veterans grassroots organization calls out Biden’s request as more of the same; prolonging a stalemate with no end goal
ARLINGTON, Va.—Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) on Friday responded to President Biden’s latest request for an additional $40 billion in supplemental spending, including $24 billion in Ukraine aid. CVA called out the billions already spent, the disconnect from American national security, and the host of provisions unrelated to Ukraine, encouraging Speaker McCarthy to honor his promise to oppose extra spending outside the debt limit agreement that is not offset.
CVA Executive Director, Russ Duerstine, had this to say about the request:
“Americans are rightfully tired of seeing their good tax dollars fly out the window after bad. There is no strategy or end goal in Ukraine, so sending more money and equipment only prolongs the stalemate and the death and destruction that goes with it, while further emptying shrinking U.S. stockpiles. To make matters worse, this bill is laden with spending items not related to Ukraine and continues the trend of insufficient oversight of where this aid is going and how it is being used.
With maturing challenges in China and elsewhere, we must rethink how we are positioning our country to be ready for what’s next so we can keep Americans safe and our country prepared. We implore citizens to tell their members of Congress what they think about this. And we ask that Congress listen and not rubber stamp this request when they return from recess.”
The president’s request, if passed, would bring total approved funding for Ukraine to roughly $137 billion, just shy of Ukraine’s entire GDP in 2022, while Russia recently pledged to double its defense spending for 2023 to only $100 billion.
Additionally, the bill contains $12 billion in domestic disaster relief spending. While natural disasters sometimes require additional resources to react to, not planning for offsets will only further exceed the spending caps agreed upon by Congress and worsen the threat our $32 trillion national debt poses to our security and prosperity. CVA calls on Speaker McCarthy and Congress to stand by their commitments to honor spending limits and reject additional spending that is not offset through tradeoffs elsewhere within 10 years.
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