WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator JD Vance (R-OH) has introduced the Ukraine Aid Transparency Act of 2024, which would modify reporting requirements in the FY2024 NDAA to ensure an accurate accounting of American and European aid to Ukraine. The current language could allow the administration to mask the true cost of the war in Ukraine.
“The American people deserve a full and honest accounting of the tax dollars we’ve sent to Ukraine,” said Senator Vance. “Biden administration officials have spent years trying to hide the ball on Ukraine spending. As a result, we still don’t know how much US aid to Ukraine will end up costing Americans, how much the Europeans have actually contributed, and more. This bill is an important step towards ensuring Americans receive the information that Joe Biden owes them.”
Senator Vance’s bill would stipulate that forthcoming Ukraine funding reports include figures on: total assistance provided to Ukraine, transfers and reprogramming of funds made to facilitate that assistance, weapons sent to Ukraine, costs associated with replacing weapons sent to Ukraine, total allied partners’ aid, and countries the Biden administration has determined are eligible for aid by way of being “impacted by the situation in Ukraine.”
Read the text of Senator Vance’s bill here. Read more from The American Conservative.
For Background:
- In January, Senator Vance provided a memo to his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate regarding a recent Department of Defense Inspector General report which found widespread failures in the oversight and tracking of American weapons sent to Ukraine.
- In a September letter to Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to President Biden, Senator Vance, along with Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL), requested clarification on major discrepancies between administration officials’ statements on U.S. funding provided to Ukraine.
- In July, Senator Vance and Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced legislation to require the Department of Defense to use accounting methods that capture the true cost of sending weapons from U.S. stockpiles abroad. This legislation will help prevent further accounting issues at the Department, such as its $6.2 billion “valuation error” of certain military equipment provided to Ukraine.
- In January of last year, Senator Vance and Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC) sent a bicameral letter to White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young requesting an expansion of the congressionally mandated crosscutting report on the amount of security assistance to Ukraine.
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