Lawmakers are heading to Ukraine with or without White House’s approval
by Laura Kelly - 08/12/22 6:00 AM ETRep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa) didn’t give the Biden administration a chance to reject his request to travel to Ukraine when he visited Kyiv and Odesa in May.
The former FBI agent, who helped stand up Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau in 2015, traveled with Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), relying on a network of personal contacts and the Ukrainian government to ensure his safety.
“Me and Dan just decided to go, because we were told that [trips] were not being approved,” Fitzpatrick told The Hill in an interview in his office in late July. “So that’s why we chose that course. Dan’s a Navy SEAL, I’m an FBI agent, so we can handle ourselves.”
A member of the House committees on Intelligence and on Foreign Affairs, Fitzpatrick was intent on seeing for himself what impact U.S. assistance in the country was having following the passage of a $40 billion aid package earlier that month.
“A lot of people wanted, and still want to, go to Ukraine, a lot,” Fitzpatrick said.
Before he went, he said he’d already got the word his trip was unlikely to be approved for support from the Biden administration. But he wasn’t going to let that stop him.
At least one Democrat and six Republican lawmakers, including Fitzpatrick, have traveled to Ukraine independently between April and July.
The lawmakers have made the trips without bothering to get permission from the Biden administration, which has warned of security risks.
The administration began withholding approval over fears that security provided by the U.S. military risked a direct confrontation with Russia if American service members were wounded or killed.
Support for Ukraine remains strong among both parties in Congress, and many members want to visit the country.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who traveled independently to Kyiv in July, said approval for his trip was denied because the State Department didn’t feel that it had “the footprint on the ground to take care of us.”
“We went through a system that other senators had used, and I’m hoping the administration will start supporting these trips,” Graham told The Hill. “It was a great trip. We were well taken care of. I would encourage members to go, they have a very good, reliable system.”
Some trips have won approval.
The administration sanctioned a trip late last month for a bipartisan group of House Armed Services Committee members.
Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), who traveled on the trip, said the chairman of the committee, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash), “had to really jump through some hoops to get that approval.”
And it earlier shepherded senior congressional leaders — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — on visits to Kyiv.
Lawmakers who have made such trips have kept the details to themselves.
more
https://thehill.com/policy/international/3594498-lawmakers-are-heading-to-ukraine-with-or-without-white-houses-approval/
