Three House GOP lawmakers voted against a resolution to back Ukraine amid Vladimir Putin’s invasion on Wednesday because they believe the United States southern border should be ‘secure’ first.
The bill, H.R. 956 or otherwise known as ‘Supporting the people of Ukraine,’ overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives on a 426 to 3 vote.
Only Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Paul Gosar of Arizona and Matt Rosendale of Montana voted against.
All three conservatives have been critical of American intervention abroad and are among the myriad of right-wing voices who have been demanding President Joe Biden do more to stop the record-breaking flow of migrants coming to the southwestern border.
Meanwhile, Russian forces have continued a steady campaign of shelling and airstrikes against Ukraine’s cities. At least 2,000 civilians have been reported dead from the conflict as accusations that Moscow is targeting civilians and using outlawed weapons mount.
Wednesday’s non-binding resolution to express solidarity with Ukraine ‘demands an immediate cease-fire and the full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory,’ including the contested regions of Crimea and Donbass, states support for continued sanctions against Moscow and highlights the needs for American energy independence.
General view of damages after the shelling of buildings in downtown Kharkiv, Ukraine, on March 3
A building is engulfed in flames after shelling in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, roughly a week after Vladimir Putin personally ordered his troops to invade
The House resolution reasserting US support for Ukraine overwhelmingly passed on a 426 to 3 vote on Wednesday
H.R. 956 also calls on the federal government to provide Ukraine with additional humanitarian aid, ‘immediate defensive security assistance,’ and commends European allies for the support they have provided so far.
GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who is retiring at the end of this year after working with Democrats to investigate Donald Trump and his Republican allies over last year’s Capitol riot, called out the three ‘nay’ votes by name and called their lack of support ‘unreal.’
Gosar replied on Twitter: ‘Talk to me when our border is secure.’
He later followed it up by calling on Congress to ‘prioritize’ the United States.
‘Congress takes an exclusive oath to defend the Constitution of the U.S., not Ukraine, NATO, globalist initiatives, or anything else AZ, USA is the frontline of democracy,’ the Arizona dentist-turned-lawmaker wrote on Twitter late Wednesday night.
‘Congress must prioritize the the strong national defense of our republic & exercise Constitutional restraint.’
Gosar was stripped of his committee assignments late last year after he posted a cartoon video clip that depicted himself slashing New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword and then attacking the president.
Gosar hit back at his fellow Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, when he called the trio out for voting against the Ukraine bill
He followed it up by claiming Congress’ duty is to protect the US and not Ukraine
Massie posted a lengthy Twitter thread on Wednesday to explain why he voted against the measure despite ‘fully supporting the right of the people of Ukraine to self-determination.’
‘The resolution contains an open ended call for additional and immediate “defensive security assistance.” This term is so broad that it could include American boots on the ground or, as some of my colleagues have already requested, US enforcement of a no-fly zone,’ Massie claimed.
Biden has ruled out having US troops in Ukraine to confront Russian invaders multiple times, most recently at Tuesday night’s State of the Union
Massie said the House bill expands the geographic scope of the US commitment to the conflict in Ukraine by condemning the country of Belarus’ and the US ‘should not be seeking to name new enemies or committing to overturning other governments.’
However it comes after the president already ordered a host of sanctions targeting Belarusian entities and individuals for strongman leader Alexander Lukashenko’s efforts to aid Putin.
He added that sanctions against Russia ‘would hurt low-income US citizens who are already reeling from inflation’ and ‘also drive Putin to become more desperate, inciting him to resort to drastic measures such as escalating the weapons employed or the people targeted.’
Massie posted a lengthy Twitter thread explaining that he voted against the bill over fears the US could get involved in a prolonged conflict with a fellow nuclear power, Russia
Massie said he voted down the resolution because it could mean the US will ‘forever be actively engaged in a conflict with another nuclear country.’
Earlier this week he and two other House Republicans also found themselves on the minority side of a vote when they stood against an anti-lynching bill named after Emmett Till.
Last month while Putin was amassing his troops at Ukraine’s borders, Montana Republican Rosendale introduced a bill called the ‘Secure America’s Borders First Act.’
It would ban any federal funding to Kyiv until the US border with Mexico was at ‘operational control’ level, including with Trump’s border wall fully built.
Earlier this week he touted the legislation on Twitter, writing: ‘The American people are sick and tired of career politicians consistently putting the interests of foreign nations above our own, we must put America first.’
After Putin gave his forces the order to attack Ukraine late last month, Rosendale released a statement claiming the US had no ‘legal or moral obligation to come to the aid of either side.’
Rosendale said earlier this month that the US should put American interests first even as bipartisan lawmakers were demanding Biden do more to aid Ukraine during Russia’s assault
Fire engines are pictured during the response effort to the shelling of Russian invaders outside the Kharkiv Regional State Administration building in Svobody (Freedom) Square on Tuesday, March 1, the same day Rosendale posted the above tweet
A five-storey hostel shows damage caused by the rocket fire launched by Russian invaders
‘In talking to folks across Montana, they are much more concerned with stopping the invasion taking place in our country by millions of illegal aliens than they are the invasion of an Eastern European country halfway across the world,’ he said in the February 24 statement.
Since Putin’s assault on a sovereign nation, the US and its Western allies have imposed a slew of sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s economy and military, as well as targeting Kremlin elites including the Russian president himself.
That’s in addition to billions of dollars in military and humanitarian aid, with more likely in the works as the US and Europe continue to coordinate with Ukraine’s democratically elected officials.
During his State of the Union speech, Biden announced he would join the European Union and Canada in closing airspace to Russian planes.
And on Wednesday, the international community took another step to condemn Putin when 141 United Nations member states voted in favor of a resolution demanding Putin immediately pull his troops out of Ukraine.
Just Russia, Syria, Belarus, Eritrea and North Korea voted against it.
