Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Ukraine Caucus, delivered remarks at a press conference calling on President Biden to expedite aid to Ukraine. Excerpts and the full video are below.
“[I want to] express my grief and my concern. One of the things that’s important in addition to strength is consistency coming from leadership. Leader McConnell said it very well right up front: at every step, our President has been a step behind. Now even when he’s done the right thing, he’s generally done it late.
“For crying out loud Germany shut down Nord Stream 2 before [Biden] sanctioned it. Justin Trudeau, for Pete’s sake, put a sanction on oil before the United States did.
“We’re bigger than that. We’re stronger than that. We should be more decisive and bold than that. Consistency of message matters, but there is a history of this. Going back to 2014 in the Obama-Biden Administration: non-lethal aid, blankets. [In] 2018 [under] Donald Trump: lethal aid. [In] 2021, the National Security Council said no lethal aid.
“It’s not much of a deterrent when the assistance you’re providing comes after the invasion. It is time to get out in front of it.
“Two weeks ago, I would have said Vladimir Putin is the single greatest uniter in the world. Today, I would say President Zelensky is the single greatest uniter in the world and we need to have his back.”