(Headline USA) Former President George W. Bush dismissed criticism of the U.S.’s of Ukraine, claiming the government’s decision to send billions of dollars to the nation won’t have an affect on domestic policy.
“I think we’re a big enough nation to do more than one thing,” Bush said during an event at the George W. Bush Presidential Center last week. “And continuing to fight against AIDS on the continent of Africa and supporting the Ukrainian freedom fighters is not going to constrain our capacity to help our own citizens.”
The GOP has become increasingly divided over the issue of Ukraine funding, with many top Republicans demanding additional oversight over the bloated funding bills and how the money is spent once it reaches Ukraine.
“I went to Ukraine in a bipartisan group for the sole purposes of telling President Zelensky that he does have continued support and he will have bipartisan support,” Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said late last year.
“The issue, obviously, is this, we don’t need to pass $40 billion large Democrat bills that have been passed to send $8 billion to Ukraine,” Turner added. “What we’re going to do — and it’s been very frustrating, obviously, even to the Ukrainians where they hear these large numbers in the United States as a result of the, you know, burgeoned Democrat bills and the little amount of aid that they receive.”
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, agreed, arguing Congress shouldn’t be writing “blank checks” to Ukraine.
“You know, the last $40 billion package that passed, it was given to us the day of the vote. And members only had a matter of hours to go through all these pages of $40 billion supplemental,” he said. “These are American taxpayer dollars going in. Does that diminish our will to help the Ukraine people fight? No. But we’re going to do it in a responsible way.”
