Source: United States Senator for Ohio Rob Portman
August 24, 2022 | Press Releases
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) issued the following statement after President Biden announced the largest security package to Ukraine to date, valued at $3 billion. As Co-Chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus and member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Portman has long been a staunch defender of Ukraine and has spoken consistently on the Senate floor since the Russian invasion began. The funding for the announced assistance package comes from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program which Portman wrote into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act.
“As we pause with our ally Ukraine in order to commemorate the 31st anniversary of its independence, we also must mark the six-month anniversary of Russia’s brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine. Unfortunately, Ukraine is no stranger to Russian aggression, dating all the way back to repeated oppression from Russian czars, the Bolsheviks and Stalin’s Holodomor atrocity.
“However, from generation to generation the Ukrainian people have always exhibited courage, bravery and undying hope as they fight for their freedom. These are the traits they exhibit today as they fight against the odds to be free from Russian aggression and it is the reason Russia has not been able to conquer their country.
“This war is not just a fight for Ukraine but for the future of freedom in eastern Europe. For this reason, I am pleased to see the administration commit to a $3 billion military aid package to this effort today. This is being carried out through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which I created and wrote into law at the outset of Russia’s military aggression seven years ago.
“This tranche of military assistance – the largest that the U.S. has ever provided to Ukraine – will send an important message to Russia and the world that the United States is committed in the long-term to the cause of a free and independent Ukraine.”
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