With American interests threatened by two wars in Europe and the Middle East, competition in the Indo-Pacific, and historic levels of hunger and displaced people, members of the USGLC National Security Advisory Council of retired 3- and 4-star generals and admirals are calling on Congress to take swift action to approve a National Security Emergency Funding Package with no less than $35.5 billion in civilian economic, humanitarian, and security tools.
This national security emergency package will help America:
• Respond to growing authoritarian threats from China, Russia, Iran, and others
• Support Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s brutal war
• Meet the urgent security and humanitarian needs in the Middle East
• Bolster America’s global humanitarian and hungerresponse
• Counter China in the Indo-Pacific
• Address migration in the Western Hemisphere
Here’s what other Congressional leaders have to say:
Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY): “President Biden’s request for aid for our allies in Israel, aid for our friends in Ukraine, and humanitarian aid for civilians impacted by the wars including in Gaza, is a top Senate priority. It will make the world safer for America, for our allies, and for our democratic values.”
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “America is a global superpower, with global interests, and enemies of democracies around the world like nothing more than outlast our resolve to resist Russian aggression… This is the moment for swift and decisive action to prevent further loss of life, and to impose real consequences on the tyrants who have terrorized the people of Ukraine and Israel. Right now, the Senate has a chance to produce supplemental assistance to do exactly that.”
Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD): “This supplemental funding will strengthen governance anti-corruption systems; it will improve the resilience of our economies and our energy supply… By degrading Russia’s military capabilities, we are also degrading the capabilities of those who Russia works with, like Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah. We see these actors in concert not in isolation, which is why we need to consider the whole supplemental package.”
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME): “Some have argued for decoupling funding to address these threats and focusing only on the Iranian backed terrorists who massacred Israel on October 7. We must recognize that our national security interests are being aggressively challenged by all these authoritarian actors in an effort to dismantle the international order that we established following World War II.”
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC): “Pulling the plug on Ukraine means that Putin keeps going and we’ll wind up with a war between NATO and Russia if we don’t watch it. And China’s watching and they’ll take Taiwan so keep helping the Ukrainians… We need to find a solution to this problem that doesn’t make China more likely to invade Taiwan. We need to find a solution to this problem, so Russia won’t do it again five or six years from now. And that solution is to stick with Ukraine.”
Senator John Thune (R-SD): ““$38 billion out of the $61 billion that is going towards Ukraine is actually going into rebuilding our military. It’s creating jobs in this country. It’s funding defense contractors who are making the weapons systems that keep America safe and in a position that we can provide deterrence to a lot of bad behavior around the around the planet. So I just think people need to understand, when they hear it’s all money for Ukraine, this is a national security issue for the United States. And of that $61 billion, 38 billion is going into our national security.”
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT): “We are at a pivotal moment in history. We will be judged on how the United States responds to ongoing crises, whether we honor our commitments to our allies abroad, and how we care for innocent people around the world caught in the wake of devastation…I am intent on ensuring we do everything feasible to provide the assistance Israel needs… Additionally, we must continue to stand against Putin’s attack on Ukrainian sovereignty and global democracy… We will pay a much higher price if we do not stand up now.”
Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX): “These are dangerous times… Between the Hamas-Israel war, the growing threat of the CCP around the world, particularly the Pacific and the South China Sea, we can’t lose our focus on Ukraine, the largest invasion in Europe since World War II… this is going to be one of the first items on the agenda in our national security interest: to defend Israel, to defend Ukraine from aggression, to defend our borders, and to defend Taiwan.”
Rep. John Curtis (R-UT): “There are many Utahns and Americans who are so troubled by what is happening to the Ukrainian people, and the suffering that’s happening there… For roughly 3 to 3.5% of our military budget… we have decimated the second largest army in the world, and not lost a single American life doing it. That’s a bargain.”
Rep. Rich McCormack (R-GA): “Russia is making Iran and China stronger every day they move forward with their invasion into Ukraine. Isolationism will never deter our enemies abroad. We need to protect America’s interests by supporting our allies around the globe.”