As tensions rose and Russia began bombing Ukraine last week, U.S. officials had mixed feelings about whether the U.S. should intervene.
U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) gave her take on the situation when she spoke at the Feb. 23 Seward Rotary Club meeting.
Fischer serves on the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Senate. In her words, Russian President Vladimir Putin is enacting his “goal to re-form the Soviet Union” by invading Ukraine with Russian military.
“People want to know why we should be concerned,” Fischer said. “When you look at the threats we face, we now have peer threats with Russia and China.”
Those threats seek to “destabilize Europe,” Fischer said, which means big risks for the world economy and cybersecurity, as well as the endangerment of lives.
Though Fischer said the U.S. can’t just sit back and watch, she said she doesn’t believe U.S. military forces should be sent to intervene.
“I am not supportive of sending troops to Ukraine,” Fischer said. “They are not a member of NATO.”
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization comprises the U.S., Canada and 28 European nations whose militaries work together as allies.
“I believe the world is a safer place when the United States leads, but that doesn’t mean we have to go everywhere,” Fischer said.
President Joe Biden has imposed sanctions on Putin, Russian banks and Russian leaders and their families. A sanction limits an entity or individual’s ability to conduct financial business with other countries and aims to weaken that person or nation’s economic power as a punishment for wrongdoing.
Other reports show Germany has halted certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a natural gas line that would deliver resources from Russia to Germany worth up to $15 billion to the Russian state-owned company that controls the pipeline.
Other European countries have imposed their own sanctions on Russia.
Fischer spoke as 190,000 Russian troops were waiting on the Ukraine border. Though they have since invaded the country, and the Ukraine military is fighting back.
Fischer said she was dissatisfied with the U.S. administration’s lack of action to help de-escalate the situation before it went too far.
“What we need to be able to do is to recognize a real threat unfolding in real time,” she said. “We’ve known for weeks, if not months, that this was going to take place.”
Fischer said the Ukraine situation is a stressful one that puts the U.S. and world economies in an even more fragile state.
The current 7% inflation, Fischer said, is already a top concern for Nebraskans, though many business owners she has spoken with believe that number is closer to 11%. COVID-19, the job market and economic relief packages have contributed to the high inflation rates.
“I don’t see a quick recovery for our economy,” Fischer said.
She also touched on other notable events the U.S. Senate is dealing with at this time and took questions from the audience.
On the U.S. exit from Afghanistan – Fischer said she was “saddened and horrified” at how the U.S. military’s exit from Afghanistan took place in August. She called the Biden administration’s decision to pull troops from the country “misplanned incompetence,” adding that Nebraska lost one Marine from Omaha in the evacuation.
On federal relief funds – Fischer responded to a comment about the amount of red tape and reporting regulations that come along with the federal relief funds that have reached Nebraska – so much so that some communities are choosing not to accept their funds because of the amount of paperwork required.
“I try to cut red tape all the time,” she said.
Fischer attributed part of the inflation problem to these relief funds.
“I’m a fan of people getting to keep their money in the first place,” she said. “I’m not a fan of giving out money.”
She encouraged communities to make investments in roads, bridges, broadband and water infrastructure and to not use relief funds to begin programs they will have to continue to fund later.
On the U.S. southern border – “Every country should have a defined border, and that border should be respected,” Fischer said.
She said U.S. officials reported having made contact with at least two million people illegally crossing the U.S./Mexico border last year, adding that she thought that was a small percentage of the actual number.
The drug fentanyl is becoming a widespread problem as it enters the U.S. illegally. Fischer called this an issue of national security.
“We need to know who is coming into this country and what they are bringing with them,” she said. “We need to address legal immigration in this country. We want people who want to work to come to this country, whatever the type of work. There is dignity in all work. We need to figure out our legal immigraiton system.”
On the 2024 election – Fischer’s senate term will be up for election in 2024, and she intends to run again. Fischer was elected to the senate in 2012 and re-elected in 2018.
