Sen. Cramer Statement on Ukrainian President Zelensky Address to Congress

Statement

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Ukraine Caucus, issued the following statement on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's address to Congress:

"President Zelensky's address to Congress today was really more than an address to Congress. It was an address to the American people."

"His message has not changed for the last couple of weeks. At the end of the day, his request is simple and consistent: help protect the skies over Ukraine. He has a clear understanding that we are not going to patrol or enforce a no-fly zone, but he also uses it as the starting point to get more sophisticated air defense systems and more aggressive and effective fighting aircraft."

"We must let the requests of President Zelensky be more important to us than the reactions of President Putin. We as a nation have for too long allowed the bully to dictate the terms of our engagement. That should not be the case. Our values, our level of freedom, and our respect for rule of law which President Zelensky referenced in his speech should motivate us."

"We've been involved in discussions and urging President Biden to do more than he's done. President Biden has as always been about a day late -- in some cases a week late -- in meeting the demands that are obvious to a lot of us."

"We are not, at this point, at all interested in engaging with personnel in this war, but we can do more to help our friend. We can do more to stop the spread of communism to the west. We can do a lot more to make sure not only Vladimir Putin, but other bullies watching this know there will be a price to pay for their evil and it will not be allowed to be unleashed onto the free world. This is where America's leadership is so critical."

"To my friends who choose more of a contrarian position, or in some cases, choose to ignore the whole issue altogether, just remember the price we have paid for being too late and not stepping up as the leaders of the free world."

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