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New Haven U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, issued a pitch to un-stall renewed U.S. military aid to Ukraine after participating in a Capitol Hill meeting Tuesday with visiting Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy. She released the following statement:
I thank President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for making this trip to the United States to meet with us. Because of Vladimir Putin’s pointless and bloody war, Ukrainian children have been stolen from their families; homes, schools, and hospitals have been leveled; and thousands of innocent people have been slaughtered. Ukraine’s unwavering strength, resilience, and determination to defend its nation in the face of Russian aggression and oppression is inspiring.
It is past time for Congress to stop assuaging the extreme Republicans who favor strongmen and autocrats and reaffirm our support for our allies and for the survival of global democracy. You do not have to look very far back to see that if Putin is given an inch, he will take a mile. Putin’s war crimes and unyielding pursuit of geopolitical dominance will not stop in Ukraine. Failure to support Ukraine as they stand up against him now threatens our own national security and the peace and prosperity of democracies around the globe.
Russian state media is already praising Republicans for holding up this critical support. Each day that we allow extreme Republicans to hold up aid to Ukraine is a victory for Putin.
We must join together — and rise to meet this challenge — as we have done in the past. Failure to quickly pass aid for Ukraine weakens our position as a global leader and reaffirms Putin’s goal of crushing democracy. Democracy must prevail.