White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is calling out Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) for voting against a bill that would have provided billions in aid to Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Cotton tweeted, “No more timidity and half measures. It’s time to send Ukraine the weapons needed to end this invasion.”
No more timidity and half measures.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) March 16, 2022
It's time to send Ukraine the weapons needed to end this invasion.
Two days later, Psaki shared Cotton’s tweet and wrote, “[Cotton] had a chance last week to back his words with actions by voting for the security assistance for Ukraine that the President announced yesterday. He and 30 of his fellow Senate Republicans voted against that money.”
She continued, “Those 31 Republican Senators voted against: -$13.6 billion for Ukraine -800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems -9000 anti-tank weapons -7000 small arms -20 million rounds of ammunition.”
“Our assistance is making a difference on the ground, and the President is delivering more,” Psaki added.
Those 31 Republican Senators voted against:
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) March 18, 2022
-$13.6 billion for Ukraine
-800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems
-9000 anti-tank weapons
-7000 small arms
-20 million rounds of ammunition
Our assistance is making a difference on the ground, and the President is delivering more
Last week, the Senate approved a $1.5 trillion appropriations package that would have sent Ukraine $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian aid.
While it passed the chamber with bipartisan support, 31 Republican senators voted against it as they raised concerns that the process was being rushed.
President Joe Biden announced earlier this week that the U.S. will send another $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine.
“This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine,” he said.
The New York Times reports the $800 million is part of the roughly $14 billion that was included in the appropriations package.
Cotton has previously accused Biden of “weakness” and claimed he has “allowed America’s response to be dictated from Moscow out of a fanciful fear of provocation,” as IJR reported.
“If we fail to support Ukraine, the stakes and the flames of war will rise,” Cotton wrote in an op-ed earlier this week.
