Marjorie Taylor Greene Amendments Aim to Cease Ukraine Assistance, Withdraw US From NATO

Georgia Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene filed six amendments aiming to end assistance to Ukraine and withdraw the United States from NATO during a House Rules Committee hearing on the National Defense Authorization Act on Tuesday, July 11.

The amendments target funding and the supply of arms and ammunition to Ukraine “until a diplomatic solution” to the war with Russia is reached.

As she announced the amendments, Taylor Green criticized NATO, saying the alliance is “not a reliable partner”.

The Republican said the US “has been financing and promising to defend Nato countries for decades and paying more than its fair share.”

“Western European countries could and should be stepping up their financial contributions to ensure the security of Nato. Instead, they are entirely beholden to Russia and US taxpayers expected to foot the bill,” she said.

The remarks came as US President Joe Biden is in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius for the NATO summit, where Ukraine has been a major point of discussion.

Biden is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday. Credit: House Rules Committee via Storyful

Video transcript

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: Thank you, Chairman Cole. I appreciate it. As the proud daughter of a former United States Navy man who served in the Vietnam War, I just want to say I really want to support the NDAA, but I have some amendments that I'd like to bring forward.

I filed six amendments, which I would ask the Rules Committee to consider. Amendment 103 prohibits Ukraine funding until a diplomatic solution to the war is reached. My amendment prohibits funds from being provided to Ukraine until the President certifies to Congress that a diplomatic solution has been achieved to the war. President Biden's decision to send billions' worth of weapons and aid to Ukraine has engaged the United States in a proxy war with Russia that we cannot afford and jeopardizes all peace efforts.

Instead of funding an endless war overseas, the United States should seek a peaceful end to the conflict, which will save lives. And I brought this as a printout. It's a copy from the Department of Defense on what our Department of Defense mission is.

It reads, "We are your defense. The Department of Defense is America's largest government agency with our military tracing its roots back to pre-Revolutionary times. The Department has grown and evolved with our nation. Our mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security."

Those are two things that is the mission for the Department of Defense-- deter war and ensure our nation's security. Funding a war in Ukraine does neither one of those. And this is why there should be no funding for a war in Ukraine that does not meet the mission of the Department of Defense.

The next amendment, Amendment 104, strikes the feasibility study on establishing a Center of Excellence in Ukraine. My amendment reorients our national defense policies and priorities towards America First. The US should not be collaborating with the government of Ukraine to establish any center in Ukraine, regardless of the purpose.

Although I sympathize greatly with those who have experienced traumatic brain injuries and amputations, we have American veterans who have experienced traumatic brain injuries as well as amputations. We should not be devoting time and resources and putting the people of Ukraine over American citizens and over American veterans. We should be only helping our American citizens first.

The next amendment I have is Amendment 105-- strikes 300 million of Ukraine funding. This bill includes $300 million in additional funding for Ukraine. My amendment would eliminate this provision.

According to the Congressional Research Service, in 2022, the United States provided a total of 113 billion in funding to Ukraine. The essentially open-ended support provided to Ukraine by Joe Biden is unsustainable, increases the risk of a direct conflict with a nuclear armed Russia, and distracts from more urgent national security priorities. Congress should not authorize another penny for Ukraine and push the Biden administration to pursue peace.

And again, I would like to remind everyone what the mission of the Department of Defense is. It states it on their website. And that is, "Our mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security." That's for America's national security, not Ukraine.

Ukraine is not the 51st state of the United States of America. Amendment number 6 directs the President to withdraw the US from NATO. My amendment would direct the President withdrawal from NATO. They are not a reliable partner whose defense spending should be paid for by American citizens.

For the better part of the last decade, Germany has contributed only around 1% of its GDP to finance NATO obligations, while the United States is paying around 4% of our GDP to defend NATO countries. The United States has been financing and promising to defend NATO countries for decades and paying more than its fair share. Western European countries could and should be stepping up their financial contributions to ensure the security of NATO. Instead, they are entirely beholden to Russia, and the US taxpayer is expected to foot the bill.

Amendment number 110 prohibits the provision of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. My amendment would prohibit the US from sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Providing F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine will not only deplete our own fighter fleet, but it will escalate the proxy war with Russia, which is a nuclear power, rather than implementing diplomatic solutions. Again, we should not be funding war. We should be pushing for peace.

Amendment number 113 prohibits the provision of long-range missiles to Ukraine. My amendment prohibits the US from sending long-range missiles to Ukraine. Providing long-range missiles to Ukraine will further implicate the US in a war with Russia.

US weapons being fired into Russian territory is an unprecedented disaster that will insert the United States into World War II and be catastrophic for our country. And we all need to remind ourselves that China now has a military base on Cuba, which is 90 miles from Florida. Do we want China to have long-range missiles-- long-range missiles on Cuba that they can fire into the United States? I know the American people do not want that.

I urge the committee to ask any questions that you have, but I also urge the committee to please pass my amendments. And I remind the committee that in our Congress-- if there needs to be a supplemental bill for support for Ukraine, I ask that funding for Ukraine funding, for weapons for Ukraine, be a separate bill, but not be shoved into the NDAA where it forces people like me to say, I'm sorry, I cannot vote for the NDAA, because it's supporting war in a foreign country, but not supporting the defense of our country.

I think we should all remind ourselves that with over 300 Americans dying every single day from fentanyl, the enemy we should be concerned about is not about the borders and the defense of Ukraine against Russian aggression. We should be more concerned about the Mexican cartels who are killing Americans every single day. Thank you very much. I yield back.