Although Jim Risch is one of those Congressional lifers who does not have a particularly distinguished record on domestic issues, he has exercised good sense on some national security issues. He has long seen the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) as an essential component of America’s national defense. For instance, in 2023 he called NATO “the most successful political and defensive organization that’s ever been on the face of the planet.” He elaborated: “NATO is important because the national security of the United States of America is the most important issue that the federal government exists for. And there is nothing that gives us better security than the NATO organization.”
Risch has correctly understood that the national security of the United States and other NATO nations would be seriously endangered if Russia were to win its genocidal war against Ukraine. In December of 2022, the Senator listed a long list of actions he had taken that year to “ensure Ukraine has the equipment and support it needs to win.” It included his Senate Resolution 713, condemning Putin’s genocidal war against the Ukrainians, including countless “heinous crimes against humanity.”
Risch has sounded the alarm that, “Putin is not going to stop with Ukraine” if he wins the war. If we end up in war with Russia, what we’re spending here is a drop in the bucket by comparison.” That is, a win by Russia in Ukraine would lead to a follow-on attack against some of our NATO partners, which would require the United States to enter the hostilities. It does not get more serious than that.
The US has stood strong with Ukraine because of the threat the war poses to US security. President Biden could have been more forceful in providing sophisticated weapons and few restrictions on their usage. Nevertheless, the Ukrainians were able to hold their own, largely because they were fighting for their very freedom and existence. The US was filling the support role that France had played during the dark days of America’s Revolutionary War, a role that was instrumental in the birth of our nation.
Tragically, that all changed on January 20, 2025, when Donald Trump assumed the presidency and began unraveling the NATO alliance, as well as our support for Ukraine. We have seen American support for Ukraine evaporating at an alarming rate. Trump consistently pushes the false claim that Ukraine started the war. His United Nations delegation even joined Russia, North Korea, Iran and 13 other cut-throat nations in voting against a resolution condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine. Trump has floated a so-called peace plan that will give Putin practically everything he wants, while seriously endangering the future existence of Ukraine as a sovereign and free nation. The peace deal would leave all of the NATO nations on the Russian border in imminent danger.
As this disastrous situation plays out at a rapid and frightening pace, we hear very few Republican voices in Congress speaking out and sounding the alarm. One who stands out is Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican and retired Air force Brigadier General, who implored Trump and Congress to continue our support of Ukraine and “advance America’s long-term national interests in the process.”
With his strong past support for NATO and Ukraine and a clear understanding of the approaching calamity, it is inexplicable that Senator Risch, the Chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would not be raising the roof and demanding a change of course. If we sell out Ukraine and allow it to fall to Putin’s atrocious war, it will be a disaster for that gallant nation and a contemptible stain on America’s honor.
If Putin’s war is genocidal, as both Risch and I believe, silence and non-action on the part of one who is in a position to speak out and avert it is cowardice of the first order. It amounts to complicity in the slaughter and enslavement of Ukrainians that will inevitably follow. What could possibly explain Risch’s failure to rally opposition to this travesty? Perhaps a change of heart on the critical importance of Ukraine and NATO? Or, maybe a pat on the head and a coveted endorsement from Trump for six more years in the prestigious US Senate?
