Rep. Delgado Statement on Vote to Suspend Trade Relations with Russia

Statement

Today, U.S. Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) released the following statement after voting for the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act.

"President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's address to Congress underscored the need for strong American leadership in the face of Russia's brazen and illegal invasion of Ukraine. We must redouble our nation's efforts to ensure that Ukraine has every resource necessary to defend itself from Russian aggression, care for its displaced citizens, and evacuate those who are in harm's way.

I was proud to vote for $13.6 billion in humanitarian aid and security assistance for Ukraine. Yesterday, President Biden announced that $800 million in support will be delivered to Ukraine in the form of 9,000 anti-aircraft and anti-armor weapons, 20 million rounds of ammunition, and 25,000 sets of helmets and body armor, among other items. In the last five days alone, the White House has doubled the total amount of U.S. security assistance pledged to Ukraine since the beginning of 2021.

Today, I also voted for a bill to withdraw the normal trade relations status from both Russia and Belarus and allow the President to further increase tariffs on products from both countries. This measure will complement last week's bill to ban the import of Russian oil and energy products, further isolating Russia on the world stage. These bipartisan votes send a strong and unified message that the U.S. will not stand for Putin's criminal actions and inhumane war."

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