Rep. Victoria Spartz, the only Ukraine-born U.S. lawmaker, will not vote for the proposed $60 billion aid package to fuel Kiev’s war with Russia.
Spartz has expressed her desire for the Biden regime to offer a clearer strategy for its continued involvement in the war. She also wants the government to pay closer attention to how Ukraine will spend any aid it receives — and believes any aid that is sent should be in the form of a loan.
“I understand the importance of this battle and the implications if Russia is going to prevail, but I’m also not very naive. If we don’t have proper oversight, we are not going to achieve our goals,” Spartz said. “We cannot have these never-ending wars.”
A former advocate for aid to her homeland, Spartz pushed to ban oil and gas imports from Russia and supported a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine in 2022. However, her support for blindly funding Ukraine‘s war with Russia waned as the conflict progressed.
Her reformed view on the matter has disappointed Democratic hawks who hoped to use her as a poster child for continuing U.S. involvement in the war. “There was a sense that she would be one of the Republicans really willing to go out on a limb to help Ukraine,” said Rep. Sara Jacobs (D, Calif.). “Unfortunately, we haven’t seen her harness her personal knowledge of the country and its politics to effectively rally Republicans.”
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