The Biden administration circulated graphics around Congress showing battleground states Pennsylvania and Arizona reaping millions as a consequence of U.S. military aid to Ukraine in an apparent bid to bolster Republican support for additional funding.
The graphics show for the first time how much money each state has made from Pentagon investments in their industrial base to supply Ukraine with arms and ammunition for $27 billion, according to Reuters, which first reported the documents. Several GOP members in the states that have allegedly benefited the most have voted against previous Ukraine aid packages and could oppose the $60 billion Ukraine package in the administration’s emergency supplemental funding request.
President Joe Biden’s latest strategy to mobilize Republicans in support of Ukraine has focused on its domestic ramifications as many Ukraine aid skeptics argue that U.S. resources are better spent to address issues at home, according to Politico. The administration argues that the Pentagon’s orders to U.S. companies — both to produce new equipment for Ukraine and backfill U.S. military stockpiles — creates jobs and boosts the economy. (RELATED: House Passes Two-Step Continuing Resolution To Avert Gov’t Shutdown)
“Let me be clear about something,” Biden said in an Oct. 19 Oval Office address. “We send Ukraine equipment sitting in our stockpiles. And when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores, our own stockpiles with new equipment.”
Three of eight Pennsylvania Republican congress members have voted against Ukraine aid, but the keystone state has the highest windfall of them all with $2.364 billion between 2022 and 2023, the documents show.
Arizona was the next highest at $2.196 billion, although half of its Republican representatives have voted against Ukraine aid, according to Reuters. Texas, where 18 of 25 Republican representatives have voted against Ukraine aid, has received $1.45 billion to produce weapons and ammunition.
Pennsylvania and Arizona are swing states that could be significant for Biden in the 2024 presidential election, Reuters reported.
Twelve states, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas, make artillery ammunition that has been in constant high demand since the start of the war, while Arizona hosts the RTX facility that manufactures Patriot missile systems, according to Reuters.
The documents highlight “munitions and tactical vehicle procurements.”
A separate document the Department of Defense also shared with Congress, which was obtained by the DCNF, illustrates the distribution of an additional $6.5 billion the agency estimates it will continue buying based on Ukraine’s expected requirements and existing backlog.
“Equipment that defends America and is made in America. Patriot missiles for air defense batteries, made in Arizona. Artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country, in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas. And so much more,” Biden said. “You know, just as in World War II, today patriotic American workers are building the arsenal of democracy and serving the cause of freedom.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to vote on the supplemental bill as soon as Dec. 4 while Congress works out a full-year 2024 budget, according to Politico.
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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