Kamlager-Dove Discusses Urgent Need for Ukraine Aid on MSNBC’s ‘American Voices with Alicia Menendez’

WASHINGTON, DC – Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37) joined Alicia Menendez on ‘American Voices with Alicia Menendez’ yesterday to discuss the urgent need for Congress to pass critical funding for Ukraine. Below are excerpts from her interview and a link to the video.

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To watch her full interview, click here.

ON THE NEED FOR AID FOR UKRAINE

“I’m very interested in what the Senate is able to accomplish next week. [Secretary of State Antony] Blinken briefed Congress last week, and the situation is dire in the Ukraine. Let's not forget that Russia attacked a sovereign country. Russia is killing innocent women and children in Ukraine, creating an incredible humanitarian crisis, and our national security is also dependent upon our ability and willingness to continue to support our allies. And this Republican Congress is saying to our allies overseas: the United States does not care about them and that it does not care about democracy. I think we have an obligation to push the supplemental packages through, to at least continue the conversation, and to remind the American people that, unfortunately, Republicans have other interests other than our national security that they are prioritizing.” 

“… These Republicans, including this accidental Speaker, have been petting Trump’s rooster for far too long, and that is putting all of us at risk. You know, we have stepped in to support the Ukraine because we know democracy is fragile, and it needs to be protected all over the world. Putin has already said he is going to go after the Balkans and our NATO allies if he is successful in the Ukraine. I have always maintained that there is some sort of strange relationship between Putin and Trump, and we cannot allow that to build any kind of fruition as we move into 2024.”

ON GOP BORDER SECURITY PUSH

“… Trump is an isolationist, and he is only interested in himself. And he has somehow fooled this Republican party and some of the American people into believing that. You know, but if you're looking at what is happening in Israel, if you’re looking at what's happening across the continent of Africa, if you’re looking at what’s happening in Taiwan and Ukraine and places in South America, you will see that our security is dependent upon what else is happening in many of these hotspots around the globe. It is important to say: we have not been shouldering the burden of supporting Ukraine on our own. Our European allies have doubled down ever since Putin invaded Ukraine. Absolutely, the border issue is important, but we should not conflate our own domestic policy around border security with national and foreign policy as it relates to supporting and protecting democracies around the world. But of course, Trump doesn't care about that because he's interested in becoming a dictator if he were to win reelection.”

ON DONALD TRUMP

“Well, Trump defeated the Republican Party far before he actually won the election in 2016, and he is really hell-bent on continuing to dehumanize huge swaths of the American country and communities in Districts across this country. And so, we have to stand firm and continue to talk about the importance of protecting democracy, protecting our freedoms, but also supporting the allies that we have been in partnership [with] for decades…”
 

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