Bush Statement on Ukraine Supplemental Funding Vote
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) released the below statement following the House of Representatives vote on legislation Related to Supplemental Funding for Ukraine:
“This evening, I voted in support of the Ukraine supplemental aid package to provide assistance to Ukrainians who are resisting Russian aggression with a heroic amount of resolve and unrelenting resilience. As the murderous Putin regime desperately accelerates its brutality in Ukraine, my vote today was one to strengthen the Ukrainian people’s fight against oppression and tyranny. All people deserve their right to self-determination.
“As this conflict progresses, its ramifications will spread beyond Ukraine. Indeed, many other countries rely on Russia and Ukraine for a significant percentage of their wheat, fertilizer, and vegetable oil imports. This bill directly responds to this looming crisis by providing $4.35 billion to provide emergency food assistance to people around the world suffering from hunger as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. Similarly, the legislation provides critical funding for refugee resettlement and diplomatic support.
“Recently, I introduced the Energy Security and Independence Act to build renewable energy capacity using the Defense Production Act. I urge the Biden administration to utilize the authorized $600 million to invest in renewable energy and heat pumps to help lower utility prices for American families and create reliable energy sources.
“Additionally, at $40 billion, this is an extraordinary amount of military assistance, a large percentage of which will go directly to private defense contractors. In the last year alone, the United States will have provided Ukraine with more military aid than any country in the last two decades, and twice as much military assistance as the yearly cost of war in Afghanistan, even when American troops were on the ground. The sheer size of the package given an already inflated Pentagon budget should not go without critique. I remain concerned about the increased risks of direct war and the potential for direct military confrontation.
“This moment of crisis demands that we respond to the looming humanitarian and climate catastrophe with clear goals. The billions in funding for food security and humanitarian relief are important steps toward achieving that outcome, as are this bill’s substantive actions to directly aid the Ukrainian people in their fight against Putin’s authoritarianism.”
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Congresswoman Cori Bush sits on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, serves as the Progressive Caucus Deputy Whip, and proudly represents St. Louis as a politivist in the halls of the United States Congress.