Congressman Barry Moore was one of ten cosponsors of a controversial Ukraine Fatigue resolution introduced by Congressman Matt Gaetz calling for an end to military and financial aid to Ukraine and calling for Ukraine and Russia to reach a peace deal ending the war.
“The only person earning an easier buck than Ukrainian war profiteers is Hunter Biden’s art dealer,” said Rep. Moore on Twitter. Congress should support @RepMattGaetz’s resolution and end taxpayer-funded blank checks to Ukraine.”
Moore was the only member of the Alabama delegation to join the resolution calling for an end to military aid for Ukraine – which is fighting off a massive invasion by Russia. The other nine cosponsors are Rep. Andy Biggs, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Paul Gosar, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Rep. Thomas Massie, Rep. Mary Miller, Rep. Ralph Norman, and Rep. Matt Rosendale.
“President Joe Biden must have forgotten his prediction from March 2022, suggesting that arming Ukraine with military equipment will escalate the conflict to ‘World War III,’” Rep. Gaetz said. “America is in a state of managed decline, and it will exacerbate if we continue to hemorrhage taxpayer dollars toward a foreign war. We must suspend all foreign aid for the War in Ukraine and demand that all combatants in this conflict reach a peace agreement immediately.”
Moore has had a history of being skeptical of military aid for Ukraine.
On January 20, Moore joined a letter led by Rep. Dan Bishop and Senator J.D. Vance to President Biden’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young demanding a “full crosscutting report” to Congress that includes “U.S. government-wide expenditures for Ukraine and ‘countries impacted by the situation in Ukraine’ since Feb. 24, 2022.”
“With an ever-growing federal budget and national debt, Alabamians deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent – or misspent – on a war between Ukraine and Russia,” said Moore. “I am proud to join Rep. Dan Bishop and Senator J.D. Vance to demand answers and transparency from the Biden administration on these huge outlays of American taxpayer dollars.”
In the 117th Congress, Moore signed a resolution led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green requesting an audit of all American taxpayer dollars sent to Ukraine.
“I was in Ukraine before Afghanistan fell, and at that point in time, the parliament was extremely concerned about [American] energy policy and how we were allowing Putin to basically move the [Nord Stream 2] Pipeline and start production,” Moore said in November. “Even then, parliament saw the issue, but when I got here and started talking to other members, the same group of people here gave Trump such a hard time about a few billion dollars at the U.S. southern border.”
“As fentanyl and drugs and illegals poured across our southern border, a few billion dollars, four billion, was just a little too much money,” Moore continued. “And now we are looking at $40 billion one week, $14 billion the next week with little to no oversight. Ukraine is a young democracy, and we are sending American taxpayer money over there with no oversight. It creates problems, it creates corruption, it’s not good for the American taxpayer or the American people.”
Gaetz and Moore’s position is not shared by even many Republicans.
Congressman Mike Rogers, who chairs the powerful House Armed Services Committee, has been a vocal proponent of military aid for Ukraine.
“Now is the time for the Biden and Scholz governments to follow the lead of our U.K. and Eastern European allies – Leopard 2 tanks, ATACMS, and other long-range precision munitions should be approved without delay,” Chairman Rogers said.
The United States is providing Ukraine with over $100 billion in aid – including M1 Abrams main battle tanks, Lancer anti-tank missiles, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Stryker combat vehicles, Stinger surface-to-air missiles, Patriot surface-to-air missile systems, multiple rocket launch systems (MRLS), 155 mm Paladin self-propelled artillery systems, and other weapons.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is now asking the United States and allies to provide Ukraine with modern jet fighters, including F16s. Zelensky has been meeting with European leaders this week and appears to be close to a deal with EU members on fighter jets.
There is wide speculation that in the coming weeks that Russia will launch a massive new offensive in the war.
Moore is in his second term representing Alabama’s Second Congressional District.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
