Ted Cruz: Ukraine Aid Is In America’s Best Interests

Last week, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) gave a speech in favor of a bill sending another $40 billion in aid to Ukraine to help the country defend itself against the Russian invasion, arguing that the bill was in the United States’ best interests.

“I emphatically agree that President Biden and congressional Democrats have failed on the issues here at home that Texans and Americans rightly care about and we should fix,” Cruz began. “Right now we have a raging border crisis that President Biden won’t do a thing about, with skyrocketing inflation, with gas prices at record highs. We have a baby formula shortage that has left parents all over the country scrambling to try to feed their babies.”

“These are real problems that the Democrats caused and now refuse to even try to fix, and in multiple instances such as gas prices, these are problems that Democrats have deliberately made worse, inflicting pain on millions of Americans,” Cruz continued. “All of that can be true at home, and it doesn’t mean the world has suddenly become safe and that our enemies do not mean us harm.”

“At the same time we need to secure our border and address the domestic crises, we also need to confront the very real threat posed by Russia and by China,” he added. “We can’t let the fact that Biden and the Democrats have created massive domestic and economic failures cause us to ignore threats to U.S. national security posed directly by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Cruz concluded by saying the “reason we should support our Ukrainian allies is because it protects American national security, it keeps America safer, and it prevents our enemies from getting stronger, from threatening the safety and security of Americans, and from driving up the cost, the economic damage, to Americans.”

A press release from Cruz’s office summarized his argument, saying, “The bill includes almost $9 billion to replenish U.S. stockpiles, which have become dangerously depleted, directly endangering the national security of the United States and our allies.”

“Putin is trying to seize control of energy. If he’s successful, it will be felt by Americans filling up their cars with gas or trying to heat their homes in the winter,” the press release adds. “If Putin wins in Ukraine, it will confirm for Xi that he can confidently invade Taiwan, seizing control of the global supply of semiconductors. The results would be catastrophic for U.S. supply chains and the price of each and every product Americans purchase.”

The press release additionally notes that if “China were to conquer Taiwan, it would give the Chinese Communist Party a stranglehold on the global supply of semiconductors. It is simply impossible to overstate the utter catastrophe that would impose on Americans. Overnight, it would be impossible to acquire or repair everything we rely on in modern life.”