Matt Gaetz: “Indeed, this is a respectful policy dispute that we have over this matter, and I am grateful that we are taking up the…”

“Indeed, this is a respectful policy dispute that we have over this matter, and I am grateful that we are taking up the Defense appropriations bill as a single subject bill to work through these things, and let the votes fall where they may, but it seems the full sum of the argument against my amendment is: Putin bad, which I concede. As a matter of fact, Vladimir Putin has sanctioned me personally, so I don't have to be sold on that argument. He is a bad guy. The question is whether after $115 billion, it is the $300 million in this bill that is going to really kick the door in. There has been no argument that that is the case, because of course that would not comport with logic and reason. When my colleagues say we cannot abandon the EU, that is like fingernails on a chalkboard to my fellow Americans who often feel like they are the ones who have been abandoned as we send $115 billion to Ukraine and ignore what is going on on our own border. Madam Chair, we also ignore what is going on with a lot of our first responders. In our country, there are police and firemen who do not know if their pension fund will be strong enough to support their benefits throughout their life. We do very little on that front, but we have underwritten the full pension of every civil servant and government employee in Ukraine. Abandon them? I just don't think we should bankroll them, and that is why I would encourage the adoption of my amendment.…”