Maine’s junior member of Congress, three-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, is pushing President Joe Biden to provide Ukraine with more advanced tanks, fighter jets, missiles and other advanced weaponry.
“We should give the Ukrainians the things they need to win this war,” Golden said in a press release issued by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
In recent days, Golden has signed a bipartisan letter to the president calling for the transfer of more weapons to Ukraine and endorsed a bipartisan resolution by six U.S. House members urging Biden to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles to help it push Russian invaders out of its territory. The 2nd District representative has been among the most devout backers of arming Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
The letter, signed by nine lawmakers, said there is “overwhelming bipartisan support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia” as it pressured the president to “to provide or accelerate the provision of new capabilities for the Ukrainian military.”
“With the war now entering its 16th month, we must show a united front across both Congress and the administration to ensure Ukraine has the tools to expel Russia from its sovereign territory in the coming counteroffensive,” said the June 8 letter.
“Helping Ukraine fight and win is a U.S. national security imperative and signals to the world that the U.S. will stand by our fellow democracies,” said the letter initiated by U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat who is co-chair of the For Country Caucus.
A longtime peace activist and independent U.S. Senate candidate in 2020, Lisa Savage of Solon, criticized Golden’s efforts.
“Continuing to pour weapons into Ukraine — especially weapons that can strike long range targets in Russia — is courting disaster,” Savage said Tuesday. “By constantly escalating, the Biden administration seems committed to a world war very likely to turn nuclear.”
“Who in Maine could possibly benefit from that? Golden can do better at looking out for his constituents than fanning the flames of World War 3,” Savage said.
Golden, though, has long said that helping Ukraine push out Russian invaders will do more to ensure long-term peace than failing to stand up for Ukraine.
The letter he co-signed with Crow says that “for Ukraine to fight and win on the ground, it must be able to contest the skies. To supplement Ukraine’s dwindling fleet of Soviet-era fighter jets, the U.S. must seek to further strengthen Ukrainian air power by rapidly transferring or facilitating the transfer of fourth-generation fighter aircraft.”
The letter also says Biden should send more modern tanks, more air defense systems, more ammunition and other weaponry.
The House resolution that Golden supports urges Biden “to immediately provide Army Tactical Missile Systems to Ukraine” so it can “strike key Russian logistics nodes, command and control posts, and other high-value military targets deeper into occupied territory that are currently out of reach.”
Biden has opposed the move to provide the rockets, which have a range of about 190 miles, to Ukraine. His national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, expressed public concern last year that doing so raised the risk of escalating the conflict into a world war.
But the president said a month ago he is open to the possibility of providing the missiles.
The United Kingdom opted this spring to provide Ukraine with Storm Shadow cruise missiles that can reach targets more than 150 miles away, about twice as far as the HIMARS missile system the U.S. has already sent to Ukraine. France is also doing so with an equivalent missile.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said in the panel’s press release that failing to give the longer-range U.S. missiles “is prolonging the conflict and costing countless Ukrainian lives.”
“The success of Ukraine’s counteroffensive is directly tied to the military assistance provided by the U.S. and our allies,” McCaul said. “As such, it is extremely disappointing the administration is sitting on billions in remaining military funding with which it could immediately transfer ATACMS to Ukraine and, in turn, help their Armed Forces make a major difference on the battlefield.”
In addition to McCaul and Golden, those supporting the resolution are House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Europe Chairman Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J.; Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia Chairman Joe Wilson, R-S.C.; Bill Keating, D-Mass., who is the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Europe; and Ted Lieu, D-Calif.
Keating said that “Ukraine is at a pivotal point in their fight against Russian aggression” and needs the help now.
He said the missiles “will allow Ukraine to strike high-value Russian military targets that are current inaccessible in Russian-occupied Ukraine.”
The resolution says that “expeditious provision of this critical weapon system will provide the Ukrainian military with a critical deep-strike capability they currently lack, disrupt Russia’s warfighting ability and could hasten Ukraine’s victory.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
