WASHINGTON — On the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sen. Chris Murphy is calling on House Republicans to “stop playing games” and vote on the $95 billion national security package that includes aid for the country as it battles the invasion.
Murphy, who recently returned from a trip to the Munich Security Conference, said House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans need to “wake up to the dire situation” in Ukraine amid Vladimir Putin’s “illegal invasion.”
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“I just spent five days talking to world leaders and allies in the region who repeatedly warned that Putin will likely not stop at Ukraine,” the Connecticut Democrat said in a statement Saturday. “If we allow Putin to succeed in making Kyiv a Russian city, a NATO country could be next, and it won’t be just thousands of Ukrainian lives at risk – it will be millions of Americans.”
Murphy said the U.S. Senate has done its job by passing the national security package earlier this month.
The Senate passage of the aid package, with $60 billion for Ukraine, came last week after the collapse of a broader framework that would have combined the aid with changes to American border policies. The Senate quickly moved ahead with just the foreign aid portion, passing it on a 70-29 vote, with 22 Republicans in support.
But the path ahead in the House is far from certain. Some House Republicans have threatened to try to remove Johnson from his job if he puts the aid package up for a vote.
A delegation of American senators – including Connecticut’s Sen. Richard Blumenthal – traveled to Ukraine on Friday, where they met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island were in attendance.
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During a press conference in Lviv, Schumer also challenged Johnson to “rise to the occasion” and take up the package.
“Speaker Johnson, history is looking down upon you, looking over your shoulder,” he said.
Ukrainian officials have told the delegation that they will lose the war without additional U.S. aid, Schumer said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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