VoteVets on House Passage of Aid to Ukraine
STATEMENT OF MARY KASZYNSKI, Director of Government Relations, on the House passing bills to fund allies:
“Finally.
“It should have never taken this long. This should have passed months ago. The need and urgency has been clear for a long time. House Republicans blocking aid, on the orders of Donald Trump, underminded our allies and empowered American adversaries. Their actions are inexcusable.
“Ukraine has gone above and beyond to hold Putin back, and keep Europe and America from having to fight a wider war. They have been doing their job. We are pleased Speaker Johnson finally did his.
“We applaud Leader Jeffries and all Democrats for their unwavering commitment to American national security. And we thank those – on both sides of the aisle – who stood up and did the right thing and advanced this aid. It was very telling who put America first, and who puts Putin and Donald Trump before our nation and our allies.
“We urge swift passage in the Senate. Ukraine can not afford to wait any longer.”
Timeline of VoteVets actions in support of the Supplemental:
In total, VoteVets has spent nearly $800,000 on organizing, direct targeting and advertising pushing the House to pass the Senate bill.
Those activities and spending include:
March, 2024
VoteVets launched a $530,000 two-week television ad buy explicitly calling out seven Members of Congress for not supporting a vote on a bipartisan national security bill that fully funds Ukraine’s war effort versus Vladmir Putin. Those members were Jen Kiggans, Marc Molinaro, Brandon Williams, Juan Ciscomani, David Valadao, John Duarte, and Lori-Chavez DeRemer.
March, 2024
VoteVets released a moving 60-second ad, urging House Republican leadership to call a vote on the security aid package recently passed by the Senate. The ad featured the words of Ronald Reagan on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day juxtaposed over footage of the current war Vladimir Putin is waging in Ukraine.
The ad ran for one week on FOX News at a cost of $100,000. A video billboard of the ad also circled the Capitol building all day, as well.
VoteVets unveiled the ad and more at a Capitol Hill press conference with House and Senate Members
December, 2023
VoteVets launched a $100,000 national and DC cable buy with its ad, “Waiting,” which would later be used to target individual House members, as detailed above.
Oct, 2023
VoteVets, along with House and Senate members called for a a national security package to fund Ukraine to be passed, at a press conference on Capitol Hill that was widely covered. That package did pass, on a bipartisan basis, and was sent to the House, where Speaker Johnson has refused to vote on it.
SEE COVERAGE OF THAT PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
Sept, 2023
As the evidence of war crimes by Putin began to pile up, VoteVets released this powerful video laying out the stakes for Ukraine and America, and calling for continued funding for our National Security and Ukraine.
These are just some of the actions VoteVets has taken in support of the funding for Ukraine. The group has been extremely active on the matter since Putin invaded, even launching an emergency video, featuring LTC (Ret.) Alexander Vindman, as the invasion of Ukraine began.