{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/tuberville-challenges-ukraine-narrative-blasts-biden-harris-administration-for-prolonging-the-war/", "Tuberville Challenges Ukraine Narrative, Blasts Biden-Harris Administration for Prolonging the War", "2024-09-25", "2024", "2024-09", "Republican", "Senate", "AL", "Tommy Tuberville", "T000278", "www.tuberville.senate.gov", "tuberville", "https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cThe Biden-Harris Administration needs to negotiate a peace agreement now . . . or there will be disastrous consequences coming in the very near future\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today,U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) delivered a floor speech criticizing the Biden-Harris administration for prolonging the unwinnable war in Ukraine at the expense of American taxpayers. Sen. Tuberville also discussed why the history of NATO is inconvenient for the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s narrative. In the speech, Sen. Tuberville highlighted that Ukraine is becoming desperate, which could have dire consequences.\n\nRead the speech below or watch it here.\n\n\u201cMr. President,\n\nI rise today to talk about the un-winnable war in Ukraine, which has already cost American taxpayers billions of dollars.\n\nNow, anyone who dares question the Uni-Party\u2019s narrative on the war in Ukraine is obviously going to get criticized. That\u2019s OK. The media has been complicit in pushing this narrative. Think about [it]: when was the last time you saw live footage on the ground in Ukraine? It\u2019s rare because Ukraine is losing and is losing badly.\n\nThis comes after we just gave Ukraine $60 billion dollars more of taxpayer money earlier this year to prolong this war.\n\nI see President Zelensky, a Uni-Party puppet, is here begging, begging for more money on [the] campaign trail with Kamala Harris. It feels like he\u2019s here every other month demanding more and more taxpayer money. That\u2019s because he knows that the money spigot will cut off if Kamala Harris doesn\u2019t win in November.\n\nLook, this subject is too important to go unaddressed. Over the last several months, I\u2019ve asked multiple high-ranking members of the Biden-Harris administration to articulate what it is trying to accomplish in Ukraine. Just tell us. Tell us what it will cost and how we plan to achieve these results. Basically, I\u2019m asking: what is our game plan? Not one official in this administration has answered my questions clearly. Not one.\n\nOne of the most interesting responses I received was from Secretary Austin himself, Secretary of Defense. He says, \u2018We want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign, independent and democratic state that has the ability to defend itself in its territory and deter aggression.\u2019 Ok. Secretary Austin continued, stating that it is the administration\u2019s goal to bring Ukraine into NATO while simultaneously blaming Russia for NATO\u2019s past expansion.\n\nNow, here\u2019s when the DC establishment really, really gets upset. I\u2019m going to review a few undeniable facts about NATO\u2019s history. Predictably, the Uni-Party will accuse me of spewing Russian propaganda. But these are the facts and that\u2019s what we have to go by. We can\u2019t shy away from them.\n\nNATO was formed 75 years ago in 1949 as a defensive alliance to counter the communist Soviet Union. It was wildly successful in that it maintained peace through deterrence throughout the cold war. NATO helped us win the Cold War and dissolve [the] communist Soviet Union. When the Cold War ended in 1991, Ukraine instantly became the world\u2019s third-largest nuclear power. Ukraine. Following a series of negotiations, Ukrainians agreed to give up their nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees from both Russia and NATO. Territorial integrity and political independence.\n\nThese efforts were successful because they included assurances by many, many heads of state, including our own, that would no up-eastward expansion of NATO towards Russia would ever happen. It was over. At that time, there were 16 NATO members. Today, 33 years later, after this agreement, there are 32 NATO members. Even though in 1991 we agreed to no more eastward expansion, we broke the agreement. We, NATO and the United States. NATO has expanded eastward seven times since that agreement in 1991. The largest expansion in 2004 included two countries that share a border with Russia: Estonia and Latvia. Today, NATO includes three countries that border Russia. Six NATO members are former Warsaw Pact members. The bulk of this expansion happened before Russia annexed Crimea and invaded part of Ukraine in 2014.\n\nAgain, these are all the facts. All play a part in the NATO story and Russia\u2019s response to it. Here\u2019s another fact: NATO\u2019s expansion was on NATO\u2019s terms, separate and apart from any Russian input or activity. Let me read that again. NATO expansion was on NATO\u2019s terms, separate and apart from any Russian input or activity\u2014contrary to Secretary Austin\u2019s claims. Ask yourself: How would the U.S. react if China or Russia entered a mutual defense organization with Mexico or Canada? How would we react? What if they started basing troops or participating in military exercises just miles from our homeland?\n\nHaving covered a brief history of NATO, let\u2019s ask logical follow-up questions that we should always ask before involving ourselves in any armed conflict. First, how far are we willing to take this proxy war with Russia? How far are we? Did we think about that before we got into this? Are we [as] committed to winning as Russia\u2019s President is? Vladimir Putin? Are we committed to winning? What happens if the momentum turns? What happens if it turns against Ukraine and Russia starts making real gains, as it appears is happening today. Will the U.S. send more taxpayer money? More weapons? Will NATO send troops? Will the United States send troops? What\u2019s the plan?\n\nWar is a serious business. We should understand that by now. You don\u2019t half-ass your way into one and certainly don\u2019t half-ass your way out of one. That doesn\u2019t seem to resonate around here.\n\nSince the Russian offensive began, we have sent more than one $174 billion taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Recently, the Biden-Harris administration announced their intent, their intent, to send an additional $700 million taxpayer dollars to Ukraine in cash. Are you kidding me? Why on earth would we give cash to the most corrupt country on the face of the planet?\n\nSo, after all that, after the last two and a half years of funding billions of taxpayer dollars, getting hundreds of thousands of people killed, what do we have to show for it? The war has only gotten worse. Hundreds of thousands are dead. Ukraine is becoming more desperate, as its forces are [experiencing] widespread insubordination and even mass desertion. We don\u2019t hear that on TV. We don\u2019t hear that in this propaganda media. Over six million Ukrainians have fled the country, have run, have left their country.\n\nUkraine is playing with fire, now seeking to conduct offensive operations deep inside Russia. Why? You can\u2019t win. Most recently, Ukraine launched a drone attack that struck in Moscow. What are we trying to do\u2014 start World War III? Most recently, Ukraine launched a drone attack that struck several other office buildings in Moscow. Adding to the uncertainty of this situation, this administration\u2019s current policy towards Ukraine has all the hallmarks of every Biden-Harris foreign policy decision that has preceded it: weak planning, disastrous results, zero leadership. This administration never considered the consequences of Ukraine losing. How can that ever happen?\n\nThis is really sad. It\u2019s sad for the United States of America. It\u2019s sad for the taxpayers. It\u2019s sad for our military. It\u2019s sad for our allies and it\u2019s sad for NATO. Some of [his] Democratic colleagues have said, \u2018Joe Biden never made a correct decision in foreign policy in forty years.\u2019 Well, he hadn\u2019t broke that.\n\nBiden-Harris administration has dumped billions of dollars also into the lap of Iran. Removed the terrorist designation from the Houthis, who by the way, we\u2019re fighting against right now, but they\u2019re \u2018not terrorists.\u2019 Alienated one of our most important friends, Saudi Arabia. And they\u2019ve executed the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal that unnecessarily cost the lives of Americans. All this weakness was a direct signal to our adversaries: \u2018Now is the time to make your move.\u2019 And that\u2019s exactly what our adversaries China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea are doing.\n\nChina today tested another ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean. They\u2019re preparing. Russia now has pounced on Ukraine. Whatever you hear in the media, it\u2019s not true. It is a slaughter. Iran has released its proxies and terrorized the Middle East. Our ally Israel is fighting for its life against Hamas following the gruesome October 7th attack almost a year ago. The Houthis, the Houthis, are a bunch of people that live in the mountains, have been emboldened to attack ships, which has negatively impacted global trade. We can\u2019t even beat the Houthis and we\u2019re trying to create more wars. China has stepped up its aggression in the China Sea. We\u2019re losing influence across the globe, especially in South America and Africa where the Chinese and the Russians are taking over. We\u2019re leaving leaps and bounds.\n\nSo, let\u2019s be very clear. Despite the administration\u2019s incompetence, I still believe Putin was wrong to invade Ukraine. I think we all do. He should have withdrawn his forces immediately after it started. Putin is responsible for his actions, and he has made no secret of the fact that he sees Ukraine as historically a part of Russia.\n\nAt the same time, I do not think that Ukraine\u2019s border is more important than ours\u2014not even close\u2014which we have been completely [\u2026] neglecting the last three and a half years.\n\nWe have been overrun, [at the] southern border, northern border, and from airplanes all over the world flying into our cities. It\u2019s an embarrassment.\n\nWe do not need the administration to enable Ukraine to use offensive weapons and strike deep into Russia. That cannot happen. We are on the cusp of a nuclear war. Nobody seems concerned: \u2018It won\u2019t happen.\u2019 Yes, it will happen. Putin has told us it will happen if you continue this. This would only escalate this conflict to an entirely new level that none of us can ever imagine. Do you think this offensive would convince Putin to come to the table and negotiate a peace agreement? Well, I would hope we would go, but we do not seem to want to make a peace agreement. We had better and we\u2019d better do it in the very near future. This will provoke him to [use] even more deadly weapons if we continue to attack within their borders, costing more and more lives. NATO and the U.S. would be forced to respond as a result. We\u2019re trying to create a war.\n\nWe must consider these questions thoroughly before we involve ourselves in another one of these crazy conflicts that should never happen. Improvising won\u2019t cut it. Now is the time for the U.S. to lead and negotiate a peace to the end of this bloody war. I keep hearing people say, \u2018well, we\u2019re building equipment for our military.\u2019 Yeah, right. Or our men and women are not losing their lives. We\u2019re getting close to it. We\u2019re getting very close.\n\nNow look, I come from a military state in the state of Alabama. We build everything. We have thousands of troops. I want it to be well-funded and well-equipped if we ever have to fight a war. We need a lethal killing machine to deter other aggression. That\u2019s what a military is about. This is not about defunding our military. I want our military laser-focused on protecting Americans and not woke DEI initiatives. And it\u2019s not about abandoning our allies either. We need to support our allies.\n\nIt\u2019s about this administration funding a proxy war with no plan, zero, no plan on how to stop it, or how to win it. The Biden-Harris administration needs to negotiate a peace agreement now. Immediately, or there will be huge, disastrous consequences coming in the very near future.\n\nMr. President, I yield floor.\u201d\n\nSenator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans\u2019 Affairs, and HELP Committees.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:46:43Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/tuberville-challenges-ukraine-narrative-blasts-biden-harris-administration-for-prolonging-the-war/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7684561423957348, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}