By John Friend
The House of Representatives voted nearly unanimously yesterday to approve House Resolution 956 – Supporting the people of Ukraine, a resolution introduced on March 1 by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY). Three Republican representatives – Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) – voted against the resolution, while a massive bi-partisan coalition of representatives voted in favor, leading to the resolution’s passage by a vote of 426-3.
The resolution “demands an immediate cease-fire and the full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory and expresses unequivocal support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” while also backing “the continued use of sanctions to fully isolate the Putin regime economically.” Additionally, it “urges the United States and its allies and partners to deliver additional and immediate defensive security assistance to Ukraine.”
In early February, prior to the initiation of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Rep. Rosendale introduced the Secure America’s Border First Act, which would block security and military aid to Ukraine until the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico was secured.
“I think it’s quite hypocritical if someone in the U.S. Congress is willing to expend funds to secure a border overseas thousands of miles away while they’re not willing to secure our own border,” Rep. Rosendale told Fox News at the time. “And we are witnessing not a threat, but we are witnessing an absolute invasion that is taking place right now.”
The crisis along the southern border has largely been downplayed and hidden by the mass media, particularly as tensions between Russia and Ukraine (and NATO) have escalated into an ongoing military conflict.
“We have war hawks on both sides of the aisle willing to go over there and spend American blood and treasure in Ukraine and what I’m saying is we’re not obligated and so at least the minimum we can do is secure our own border first if you are going to go over there and spend money,” Rep. Rosendale explained. “We witnessed an invasion over the last year of two million individuals trying to get into the country, we’re not even sure how many of them have been successful, so lets build the border wall system, let’s gain operational control of our southern border, and then we might be able to have a conversation about what we’re going to do overseas about securing someone else’s border.”
Rep. Gosar echoed many of Rep. Rosendale’s arguments for voting against the recent House resolution. In response to criticism from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a hysterical war hawk and anti-Russian fanatic, Rep. Gosar simply exposed the hypocrisy of U.S. politicians willing to spend billions of dollars securing the sovereignty of a foreign nation thousands of miles from the U.S. mainland, risking an escalation of a regional conflict spiraling out of control into a much larger war involving heavily armed superpowers.
Talk to me when our border is secure. https://t.co/0OXQ8wQVqo
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) March 2, 2022
Rep. Massie released a series of Tweets explaining why he voted against the resolution, noting that while he fully supports Ukraine’s right to self determination, there were many flaws in the resolution potentially opening up the U.S. to major liabilities.
“The resolution contains an open ended call for additional and immediate ‘defensive security assistance,’“ Rep. Massie noted. “This term is so broad that it could include American boots on the ground or, as some of my colleagues have already requested, U.S. enforcement of a no-fly zone.”
Rep. Massie was also skeptical of the sanctions being leveled against Russia, which will likely negatively impact innocent Russian citizens as well as “low-income U.S. citizens who are already reeling from inflation.”
The UN General Assembly also voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, while unsurprisingly failing to note or take into consideration the serious security concerns Russia had diplomatically attempted to resolve with Ukraine and NATO prior to the launching of the military operation. The only countries that supported Russia at the UN in voting against the resolution were Russian allies Belarus, North Korea, Syria, and Eritrea.
