New Amendment Would Force Reps Who Support Ukraine Aid to Join Kiev’s Military

by | Apr 18, 2024

New Amendment Would Force Reps Who Support Ukraine Aid to Join Kiev’s Military

by | Apr 18, 2024

mtg first day

Rep Taylor Greene with her staff.

Republican Rep. Majorie Taylor-Greene has proposed an amendment requiring lawmakers who vote in favor of the $60 billion Ukrainian aid bill to join the country’s military. Taylor-Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) have pledged to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his post if he allows a floor vote on the aid package. 

In a social media post, Axios Capitol Hill reporter Juliegrace Brufke shared the text of the new amendment to the $61 billion Ukraine aid bill that has been stalled for months in Washington. The measure states, “Any Member of Congress who votes in favor of this Act shall be required to conscript in the Ukrainian military.” 

“If you want to fund the endless foreign wars, you should have to go fight them,” Taylor-Greene  posted on X. “That’s why I’m introducing an amendment that would require any Member of Congress who votes for the multibillion [dollar] Ukraine supplemental to enlist in Ukraine’s military.”

The Georgia Republican also introduced amendments that would direct funding from Ukraine to space lasers to defend the southwest border, or aid to Americans impacted by a major train derailment in Ohio and wildfires in Hawaii. 

Taylor-Greene introduced the amendments in retaliation after House Speaker Johnson broke an earlier pledge to block additional funding for the Ukraine proxy war unless Congress authorized significant funding for US immigration enforcement and various border reforms. 

Johnson plans to have the House vote on a series of four bills that will provide $61 billion to Ukraine, $26 billion to Israel, and $8 billion to Taiwan. The fourth bill is expected to be called a “national security” law that includes a TikTok ban and gives the president the power to sell off frozen Russian assets and transfer the money to Ukraine. 

In addition to the amendment, Taylor-Greene has called to oust Johnson from the speakership over his broken promise. The congresswoman has been joined by Massie, which means Johnson would not survive a removal vote without support from Democrats. 

Taylor-Greene’s effort to stymie the Ukraine aid package has drawn the ire of some of her colleagues. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) introduced two amendments smearing the lawmaker as an agent of Russia.

The amendment says Taylor-Greene has “repeatedly attempted to block aid to Ukraine, empowering Vladimir Putin’s unlawful violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The congresswoman has vocally embraced an ‘America First’ philosophy and has explained that continued funding for the war in Ukraine does nothing to benefit Americans. 

Taylor-Greene has also pointed to Kiev’s undemocratic policies and the sizable neo-Nazi presence within its military as other reasons for opposing the $61 billion aid bill. Moskowitz later attacked Taylor-Greene for highlighting the hardline elements in Ukraine’s armed forces. 

“Stop bringing up Nazis and Hitler. The only people who know about Nazis and Hitler are the 10 million people and their families who lost their loved ones – generations of people who were wiped out,” Moskowitz said. “It is enough of this disgusting behavior, using Nazis as propaganda … You want to talk about Nazis? Get yourself over to the Holocaust Museum. You go see what Nazis did.”

However, Moskowitz has repeatedly invoked the Nazi label to further his own political agenda, once declaring that X was “crawling with Nazi termites” and later claiming Hamas has similar goals to the Third Reich. 

Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone

Kyle Anzalone is news editor of the Libertarian Institute, opinion editor of Antiwar.com and co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Will Porter and Connor Freeman.

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