Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that increasing funding to Ukraine would receive “overwhelming support” in Congress. Stated.
A partial transcription follows:
Ed O’Keefe: Thank you for being with us. Next, I’d like to ask Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, to join us this morning from Dayton, Ohio. Good morning, Members and Speaker. Our understanding is that Speaker Johnson plans to vote on the Ukraine aid funding when Congress reconvenes a week from tomorrow. Are you still planning on doing that?
TURNER: Well, first of all, Happy Easter. This morning I was at Westminster Church in Dayton celebrating the Resurrection of Christ with Christians from all over the world. Thank you for having me. And you included the faith part in today’s report. When it comes to Ukraine, this is where I really think the world has seen this as a war of aggression by Russia and authoritarianism versus democracy. We have to address the atrocities that are happening, the murderous nature of what Russia is doing, and we have to continue to help. The chairman made it clear that he supports Ukraine both directly and against Zelensky. He has made these statements publicly and to the NATO Secretary General. The speaker made it very clear that when we come back, that’s the next big thing. We just passed a bill that funds everything for the federal government, so we believe this will have overwhelming support in Congress, and we intend to send the bill to the President’s desk.
O’KEEFE: Will you get overwhelming support from your fellow Republicans? What’s currently being written to potentially include a loan that Ukraine has to repay or something about border security to get it over the line? Do we need to make tweaks to existing legislation?
TURNER: Well, I think there’s already pretty, very strong support among Republicans and certainly among Americans across the country. Now, as this policy moves forward, there will certainly be debate in both the Senate and the House. We have also discussed borders themselves. And certainly there have been discussions about how non-military, humanitarian aid is structured. However, overall, I think that after negotiations with the Senate and the White House, we will be able to obtain a bill that the President can sign.
O’KEEFE: Will anything be passed before Congress goes into its next weeklong recess, which is scheduled to begin around April 22nd?
Turner: Well, that’s certainly my hope. And as President Zelensky made clear to Chairman Johnson, we are at a critical point. Both the CIA Director and the Secretary of Defense have made it clear that we are at a critical juncture on the ground that is beginning to affect not only the morale of fighting Ukrainians, but also their fighting ability. President Putin knows this. This is clearly an area in which Putin cannot be allowed to win. Our European allies say Putin’s goal is war with Europe beyond Ukraine. We need to stop him in Ukraine.
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