Representative Mike Garcia (CA-27) released the following statement outlining conditional, common-sense requirements that must be met for his support of any more American tax dollars being sent to Ukraine. 

“The nation of Ukraine remains sovereign, and President Volodymyr Zelensky is alive and well, as a result of American taxpayer support over the last 20 months,” said Rep. Garcia. “The fighting spirit of Ukraine’s warfighters and their progress against Putin’s forces have been impressive, commendable, and inspiring. It is undeniably in the interest of the United States and our global allies that Russia is beaten back to its original lands east of the Ukraine-Russia border and held accountable for its aggression against a sovereign nation.

“In the wake of this fortunate progress on the warfront, we now find ourselves in a stalemate. President Biden and Secretary of Defense Austin have effectively become absentee stewards of the war, as both men fail to articulate our mission – or even an operational update on the war’s status – to the American public. The current lay of the land is uncertain; the status of our taxpayer-funded investments to date are not fully unaccounted for; and any exit strategy remains elusive.  

“Despite these realities, President Biden continues to demand that Congress support his blank-check policy toward Ukraine. According to our commander in chief, the level of investment needed to satisfy our strategic partnership with Ukraine is an additional $24 billion, which would only satisfy 2-3 months of operations.

“I supported the early tranche of investments – which generated significant national security and geopolitical returns, as mentioned above – but I cannot support sending another taxpayer dollar to Ukraine unless the following conditions are met:

• President Biden and Secretary Austin must clearly update the American public on the status of the war in Ukraine.
• President Biden and Secretary Austin must explain why future U.S. economic and military aid is necessary.
• President Biden and Secretary Austin must explain the consequences of ceasing American investments in Ukraine.
• The Departments of Treasury and Commerce must report to Congress on the enforcement and compliance of sanctions against Russia that have already been approved – Congress has yet to receive any status updates on these existing sanctions.
• All NATO members must adopt a full-sanction policy against Russia to include all oil, grain, and rare-earth minerals – these three critical exports are currently unimpacted by global sanctions, and they represent the bulk of export revenue to Russia.
• President Biden and President Zelensky must provide Congress with a coherent strategy for Ukraine to prevail – how does Ukraine prevail and what is the timeline?
• President Biden must submit to Congress the price tag associated with the full execution of Ukraine’s strategy for victory – selective disclosure and incremental requests that average $10 billion per month are unaffordable, unsustainable, and unacceptable.
• President Biden and Secretary Austin must provide a clear explanation of why the resources being requested for Ukraine are appropriate for their strategy.
• President Biden and President Zelensky must, to the extent possible, provide Congress with a full accounting of weapon systems to date that have been sent and/or used.
• President Biden and Secretary Austin must support the $800 million investment into our own U.S. junior enlisted pay raise as delineated in the House of Representatives FY24 NDAA and DoD Appropriations bill. We must take care of our own troops before we take care of another nation’s troops – President Biden is currently threatening to veto the House Defense Appropriations bill because of the enlisted pay raise. 
• President Biden and Secretary Austin must provide evidence that demonstrates that the DoD and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) are not jeopardizing the schedule and cost of critical domestic weapon programs or the commitments we’ve made to Taiwanese or Israeli FMF programs. We cannot cannibalize our capacity to support ourselves or other strategic partnerships to meet commitments to Ukraine.
• President Biden must sign H.R. 2, Secure the Border Act into law – we should not be fighting to secure another nation’s border with more fervor and resources than our own.

“I will wholeheartedly support more aid to Ukraine if these common-sense conditions are met. In the meantime, I expect other NATO members to enhance their support of Ukraine and I urge President Zelensky to find and execute a winning strategy in short order.”