Rep.SaludCarbajal
Carbajal: “this supplemental won’t just save lives today by delivering aid and helping defend civilian lives. This package will save lives in the future…”
Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) is urging House Republican leadership to immediately bring the Senate-passed bipartisan national security supplemental aid bill to the floor for a vote, emphasizing its potential to meet the nation’s security challenges and help save lives in the short and long term.
Yesterday, Rep. Carbajal – a Marine veteran and senior member of the House Armed Services Committee – joined House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other House Democrats with military and national security backgrounds to push for debate and a vote on the bipartisan bill which passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote earlier this week.
“As Marine veteran and someone who has mobilized in the 90s, when we were confronting a different dictator invading his neighbor, let me be clear about what happens if the Speaker fails to bring this bill up for a vote: this supplemental won’t just save lives today by delivering aid and helping defend civilian lives. This package will save lives in the future,” said Rep. Carbajal. “The men and women of our armed forces who could be called upon to respond to a wider conflict and new wars. If Russia, in Donald Trump’s words, does whatever it wants to Ukraine, we know that it may not stop there. If we do not approve this bill today, we still have to approve it eventually. Only next time it might be to defend a NATO ally. And it would just not be American dollars. It could be the lives of American servicemembers and yes, civilians.”
Rep. Carbajal’s remarks can be viewed in full here.
“[Rep. Carbajal and these other members] understand through their own life experiences of service how urgent it is that the House pass forth with the bipartisan and comprehensive national security bill that has been advanced in the United States Senate. This is a matter of America’s urgent national security. It’s a matter of democracy. It’s a matter of freedom. It’s a matter of standing by our allies,” said Leader Jeffries. “And in the absence of doing so, particularly as it relates to the ongoing war of aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine, it’s a matter of American lives potentially being on the line if Ukraine and its brave war effort falters because of inaction here in the United States Congress by extreme MAGA Republicans.”
Rep. Carbajal also joined Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Pat Ryan (D-NY), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson urging him to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote.
“Our impact on the future of democracy has never been more clear. Ukraine now enters its third year of war with Russia with a depleted stockpile of weapons and necessary supplies, the threat of Hamas still looms large in Israel and Gaza, and China’s intentions within the Indo-Pacific region are of deep concern. The stakes of failing to enact this legislation now cannot be overstated. Therefore, we implore you to take up this legislation immediately,” the members wrote.
You can read their full letter here.
The national security supplemental package passed with 70 votes in the Senate earlier this week includes:
- $60.06 billion to support Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion and protect its people and sovereignty.
- $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel.
- $2.44 billion to support operations in the U.S. Central Command and address combat expenditures related to conflict in the Red Sea.
- $9.15 billion in humanitarian assistance to provide food, water, shelter, medical care, and other essential services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine, and other populations caught in conflict zones across the globe.
- $4.83 billion to support key regional partners in the Indo-Pacific and deter aggression by the Chinese government.
- $481 million to continue support for Ukrainians displaced by Putin’s war of aggression.
- The Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act.
As a Vice Chair of the New Democrat Coalition, Rep. Carbajal has been a leader in pushing for Congressional action on President Biden’s supplemental request for security and humanitarian aid in support of Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, as well as humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and funding to help address immigration backlogs and security challenges at the U.S. southern border.
“For Republicans to say that they will not consider this bill because it lacks the very actions on border security that they killed in the cradle just this past week is hypocrisy and an insult to the intelligence of the American people at a level I am shocked to see,” said Rep. Carbajal. “Our immigration system is broken, and the influx at our border is overwhelming that broken system. Democrats came to the table to find solutions, with an eye to this being the first step to finally addressing overdue fixes to a system that I myself used to come to the this country when I was a child. But Republicans said the quiet part out loud: that if it meant helping Joe Biden, they really had no interest in acting in a bipartisan way on immigration and the border.”
Rep. Carbajal has also been pushing the Biden Administration to help scale up efforts to deliver life-saving aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, seek the renewal of a humanitarian ceasefire, secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, and emphasize to Israel the need for a strategy that protects civilian life.
Rep. Carbajal recently voiced concerns to President Biden over Israel’s military operational strategies, and signed a resolution calling for a renewal of a humanitarian ceasefire that had previously helped facilitate safe delivery of humanitarian aid and the release of hostages being held by Hamas.
Rep. Salud Carbajal represents California’s 24th Congressional District, encompassing Santa Barbara County and portions of San Luis Obispo County and Ventura County. He is a member of the Agriculture and Armed Services Committees, as well as the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he serves as the top Democrat on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.
Crazy loons parroting insane con social media garbage. Nothing new from these folks.
Another 60 Billion dollars of US taxpayer money going down a black hole. There needs to be negotiations for a peaceful settlement. The fact is Ukraine has NOT been able to get the Russians out of the 22% of the east they have taken, and they will not. The Russians are dug in. Ukraine is running out of soldiers. They are now drafting, by force, average aged men 43 yrs old. They are asking for Germany and Poland to extradite the people that fled Ukraine , for conscription. It is the US and EU that will not allow Zelenskey to negotiate as report by Reuters and AP. The west plan to destroy the Russian economy and drain their military has backfired badly. The gas contracts that were sanctioned , are now made up for with new contracts to China and India. If anything, the Russian military has grown larger.
The BS propaganda from Washington, that the Russians want to invade the western Europe is hogwash. Post Soviet Union, the Russians wanted to be included in the Western European frame work, but were rebuffed. NATO expanded eastward towards Russia 5 times. in 2014 the democratically elected President of Ukraine was taken out in a CIA coup , and a western friendly puppet put in his place. The Russian speaking eastern provinces protested this action and demanded autonomy. Kyiv shelled them to the tune of 14,000 killed. That is how the Russians got involved. In the meantime The US was trying to get Ukraine as a member of NATO.
Think about this. If Mexico decided to form an alliance with Moscow which would lead to Russian military bases and anti ballistic missile systems in Tijuana, what do you think the US would do? We would have 200,000 troops in Mexico tommorrow!
All this 60 billion dollars is going to do, is prolong the inevitable . That plus make the US Defense contractors richer and the Senators and congressmens investments in them bear more fruit. They are using the Ukrainians as cannon fodder. Kyiv needs to cut a deal now while they still have a economy and functioning Goverment, instead of allowing the US to use them in this horrendous mistake brought on by the US neolibs and neocons. Stop this NOW before it expands into something so terrible you cannot comprehend. Call your congessmen NOW , no matter your political leaning and demand they vote down this bill.
Exactly- This is the result of FAILED Foreign Policy- That the U.S. (Biden Administration) has DENIED ANY NEGOTIATIONS is not only disconcerning but frightening. With the ramifications being over $200 BILLION of our taxpayer funds going to Ukraine (NOT even a Democracy) without any accountability, and potential of a World War, it is unbelievable that negotiations have never been on the table.
Look at this 2000 Rand Corp report
https://www.rand.org/pubs/issue_papers/IP198.html
Plain as day. The whole Ukrainian debacle is about Oil and Gas. We started this . That is why they want Trump out. He was trying to get us off a war footing and do domestic energy exploration and developement, instead of continual war and destabalizing of other countries governments. He was messing with a lot of peoples gravy train. becoming energy self sufficient was the key to paying down our debt and US prosperity for all of us. This leadership in the US has been a nightmare since Bush SR.
Look at the lies coming from the State Dept. Yesterday, at a press conference. The director of the CIA said that Ukraine had taken back 50% of the area taken by Russia????NO THEY HAVE NOT!!! Then saying Putins interview with Carlson was ‘propaganda’? Is she kidding? Bidens failed foreign policy has the planet in the most dire situation since the Cuban missile crisis. His allowing Iran to get around the Trump Admins oil sanctions, has once again enriched Iran and enabled Iran to wreak havoc through their proxies. It led to the slaughter of Israelis on Oct 7 , which in turn, started this war on Gaza. Biden is a dangerous disaster. You have to be one partisan blind man not to see or admit to what right in front of your very eyes.
CHALF – Is Putin there with you, braiding your hair as you write this?
My God ….Please educate yourself. You can look up any of the aforementioned. . The USA is trying to get the Caspian Sea oil and it was to be shipped through Ukraine. OIL is the reason we are involved in Ukraine. Oil is the reason we supported Chechyan Islamic Terror separatist groups that murdered school children in Breslan and bombed Moscow. Exxon ansd Shell already had deals percolating in Ukraine. We are doing everything we can to make sure Moscow did not get at the Caspian sea oil reserves. We are starting WW3 and ignorance is NOT an option!!! Call your congressmen and demand no more money to be sent to this corrupt anti democratic Country. Without money and weapons from the US, Ukraine will have to negotiate. If this war continues, we WILL be drawn into it. WAKE UP!
Oil is the reason we do everything. Nothing new there. But to defend Russia in this invasion is disturbing, yet not surprising given your Islamophobic rants about the innocent people of Gaza.