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April 29, 2024 Editor, The News-Gazette: In his latest e-update, Ben Cline defended his vote against Ukrainian aid blaming President Biden’s lack of accountability for money already extended to stop Russian aggression.
Weirdly, Congress — a body to which Cline reportedly belongs — last year appropriated a total of $42 million to support oversight of U.S. assistance to Ukraine for the Government Accountability Office, and the Offices of the Inspectors General for the Departments of State, Defense and USAID. The three offices issued a Joint Strategic Oversight Plan for FY 2023 that outlined their workstreams for last year. Perhaps Cline should digest that report before forwarding his false and fuzzy claims about the Biden administration.
Instead of critical timely Ukrainian support, Cline boasts voting for a June 2023 bill allowing the U.S. to seize already frozen Russian financial assets (H.R.4175). The essence of that bill was incorporated into the Ukrainian aid against which Cline voted.
Unfortunately, the relevant portion of that law has a 300-day timetable before the president can “seize, confiscate, transfer, or vest” Russian state sovereign assets within U.S. jurisdictions. Were Cline’s the sole extent of further U.S. support, it would not matter since, by then, Ukraine would be a part of Putin’s imperial expansion program.
And that, of course, is exactly what Donald Trump wants. In February, Trump said he would encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” if it attacked a NATO country that didn’t pay enough for defense. Inside sources report that his “peace plan” for Ukraine would be to let Russia keep the land acquired by lawless, violent aggression.
As antithetical as appeasement is to the well-being of Europe and the U.S., if Trump wants it, Cline is all for it.
Virginia’s 6th District deserves better than this Trump toady. And Americans deserve better than a criminal wannabe dictator POTUS. WALTER BOUZARD Rockbridge County
