Ernst: American Leadership is Back

WASHINGTON – Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) reaffirmed that President Trump is showing the world that American leadership is back and echoed his strong message for Vladimir Putin to end Russia’s bloody war.

“Russia’s aggression has already cost too many innocent lives, about 5,000 lives every single week. Too many innocent lives, folks, which is why I support President Trump’s efforts to get a peace deal done now,” said Ernst.

Watch Ernst’s full remarks here.

Ernst’s full remarks:

“Last week, President Trump showed the world that American leadership is back.

“He brought home the last living American hostage – delivering Edan Alexander from Iran-backed Hamas and reuniting him with his family after nearly 600 days.

“He stood with our partners in the Middle East to strengthen the historic Abraham Accords.

“And he delivered a strong message to Vladimir Putin: End the war.

“Today, I stand in support of a sovereign Ukraine and echo the President’s call to Putin to stop this bloodbath that never should have happened.

“This is an issue that not only affects a close partner under siege, but also the strength of the United States of America and the security of the free world.

“Let’s be clear here folks — China is watching. So is Iran and North Korea. And of course, Vladimir Putin is watching, too.

“They call it the ‘new axis of evil’ for a reason.

“Mr. President, I personally witnessed and experienced the growth of the U.S.-Ukrainian relationship when I visited Ukraine in its waning days of Soviet control as part of an agricultural student exchange program.

“This was in 1989, and I had the privilege of living with a Ukrainian family on a very small collective farm.

“Now, as we got together, there were a number of us Iowa students on that exchange, and again, it was an agricultural exchange.

“We came together, each of us with our families, in a group setting, one of the very first nights that we were on that collective.

“And again, with the premise of an agricultural exchange, we were farming tomatoes, working with the cattle and the hogs.

“Very small, small collective.

“We came together, and the Ukrainians wanted to ask us questions.

“So all of us American students, all of us from Iowa, we sat down with our Ukrainian families, and we expected to talk about agriculture.

“Iowa agriculture versus Ukrainian agriculture.

“And much to my surprise, the first question that came from our Ukrainian counterparts, was not about how we raise corn or soybeans in Iowa, it was not about the types of machinery that we used on our farm.

“But the first question the Ukrainians asked us was: What is it like to be free? What is it like to be an American?

“Because in 1989, those Ukrainians were living under Soviet socialist rule.

“They could not travel without having the permission of their government.

“My family did not have a telephone and if they wanted to use the collective manager's telephone, they would have somebody listening in on the conversation.

“They would have to know the purpose of the telephone call, who they were calling, why they needed to make a telephone call.

“This was 1989, and I learned a lot from that exchange.

“I saw Ukrainian people desperate to break free of socialist economic structures and authoritarian restrictions on freedom of movement, the ability to have your own employment, and on freedom of speech.

“Two years later, Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union and broke free.

“Later, many years later, 2003, the United States was involved in the war in Iraq.

“I was a soldier in 2003, during Iraqi Freedom.

“So I was a transportation company commander permanently stationed in Kuwait.

“My transporters ran convoys from the ports in Kuwait up to Iraq, delivering goods for our war fighters.

“So I was on a little subcamp in Kuwait outside of Camp Arifjan. My soldiers and I lived on that subcamp. The other half of the camp was occupied by other forces.

“Those other forces were Ukrainian soldiers. Ukraine is not part of NATO. They were not required to support the United States of America in Iraq, but Ukraine, of its own volition, sent their soldiers and not just as support elements, they were there as combat forces.

“So again, I was a transporter. We ran convoys in Iraq.

“The other half of that camp that I lived on, they were Ukrainian engineer forces. They did road clearing.

“And I think back, how many American lives did those engineers save from their road clearing efforts, clearing bombs so they wouldn't be detonated by my drivers?

“Today, Ukraine is fighting its own war.

“And I will remind everyone, the United States does not have forces involved in the Russia-Ukraine war. None. Zero. None.

“Today, Ukraine fights not only for its own survival, but for the very principles the United States was founded on.

“When America leads, the world is safer. When we disengage and when we retreat – like we saw for the last four years under the Biden administration – chaos fills the void.

“Russia’s aggression has already cost too many innocent lives, about 5,000 lives every single week. Too many innocent lives, folks, which is why I support President Trump’s efforts to get a peace deal done now.

“Vladimir Putin cannot keep tapping the United States of America along.

“I vow to keep working with my colleagues to equip the president with all tools necessary to hold Russia accountable – including sanctioning Russia and its supporters – if they continue to drag out peace talks and carry on with the needless bloodshed, so this war that never should have started can come to an end.”

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