Rand Paul and Mike Lee Take Biden to Task for Sidestepping Congress With Security Guarantees for Ukraine
U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rand Paul (R-KY) blasted the Biden administration on Thursday for the president's recent decision to sign security guarantees for Ukraine — without review or consent from Congress — with a resolution making their case about the problems and risks that follow Biden's unilateral action.
Expressing that the "United States should not enter into any bilateral or multilateral agreement to provide security guarantees or long-term security assistance to Ukraine," the resolution lists existing documented concerns about the Biden administration's policy and highlights the lack of congressional involvement that would allow the American people to have a voice through their elected representatives.
Among other issues, the senators' resolution notes that "Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization no party to a mutual defense treaty with the United States that has been ratified by the Senate" and highlights the fact that "the Biden administration has not provided Congress with a defined strategy or goals for United States engagement in Ukraine for more than 2 years."
Reminding that "the founders of the United States purposefully designed the power to make peace to be shared between the executive and legislative branches," the resolution emphasizes that the bilateral agreement signed by Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "expresses that any additional implementing agreements or arrangements will remain in effect even if the Bilateral Agreement is terminated" — thereby "bypassing Congress and tying the hands of future Presidential administrations."
For example, as the senators note in their resolution, the agreement Biden signed "commits the United States to Ukraine until 'its sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored'" and "asserts that Ukraine's future is in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization."
For these and other reasons enumerated in the resolution, it is Sens. Lee and Paul's view that Biden's agreement with Ukraine "will have no force of law until it is submitted to the Senate for ratification as a treaty consistent with the requirements of the Treaty Clause of section 2 article II of the Constitution of the United States, which requires the advice and consent of the Senate with two-thirds of Senators concurring." In addition, the resolution declares that the U.S.-Ukraine agreement should not be recognized as a bridge to Ukraine's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization."
In a statement accompanying the resolution, Sen. Paul emphasized that "President Biden's bilateral security agreement with Ukraine commits America to yet another endless war" with a deal that "risks entrapping future administrations to a prolonged military engagement without a clear exit strategy or sufficient burden-sharing from our European allies. We must prioritize American interests and avoid endless foreign entanglements," the Kentucky Republican warned.
"The Biden administration's decision to sidestep the Constitution and the Senate's role in treaty ratification is unacceptable," added Senator Lee in a statement. "This agreement not only circumvents the Constitution but also ties the hands of future administrations," he warned. "Such significant commitments must be subject to thorough scrutiny by the Senate."
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