McCaul pushes for quick approval of additional Ukraine aid

The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Sunday that “time is of the essence” for Congress to approve additional aid for Ukraine.

Rep. Michael T. McCaul of Texas said the upcoming weeks will be “pivotal and very decisive” for the war in Ukraine.

“I don’t think we have a lot of time to waste in Congress,” Mr. McCaul told ABC’s “This Week.” “Every day we don’t send them more weapons is a day where more people will be killed and a day where they could lose this war. I think they can win it. But we have to give them the tools to do it.”

Last week, President Biden requested an additional $33.4 billion in Ukraine aid from Congress, including $20 billion in security assistance, $8.5 billion in economic assistance and $3 billion in humanitarian assistance.

Congress’ final approval for the aid could extend into mid-May, with the House on recess through next week and as lawmakers mull attaching the spending to Democratic priorities including additional aid for pandemic relief.

“If I were speaker for a day, I’d call Congress back into session, back into work as we’re not — we won’t be in session next week,” Mr. McCaul said.

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He also echoed remarks by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the goal of U.S. support for Ukraine should be to enable a decisive victory over Russia.

“I’ve been to the region twice, they can actually win this war,” Mr. McCaul said. “And I think that should be the goal.”

“I think a win would be to go on the offensive in Donbas with this artillery we’re giving them, the howitzers, and these lethal drones and push them out,” he added.

He said Ukrainians’ “fighting spirit” gives them a decisive edge against Russian forces.

In the coming weeks, Mr. McCaul said it will be pivotal in the upcoming weeks to halt Russia’s attempts to seal Ukraine off from the Black Sea by attacking key port cities along the coast.

“We have to stop that,” Mr. McCaul said. “The U.K.’s done a great job with anti-ship weapons in Odessa and they actually downed a Russian warship with their own Neptune, which is really phenomenal. And it’s been very inspirational.”