Fitzpatrick says he supports Graham’s proposal for Ukraine and border financing

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) said Sunday he supported Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) proposal for a Ukraine and border funding bill, after the bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) approved on Saturday night did not include any of the measures. .

In a joint interview on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” Fitzpatrick and his Democratic co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), expressed optimism about the bill’s prospects for moving forward. House, suggesting there was bipartisan support for both issues.

“I would like to. I think we have a lot of challenges. I think we need to address them all,” Fitzpatrick said when asked if he would support Graham’s proposal.

He noted that the proposal was similar to the CR version of the Problem Solvers Caucus presented last week. While the CR approved Saturday did not include Ukraine or border financing, both Fitzpatrick and Gottheimer stressed that they need to be addressed.

Fitzpatrick specifically stressed the importance of financing Ukraine for almost a year, rather than for a shorter period at a time.

“I think Ukraine’s financing should be for a longer period. It should be for one year. Send the right message to Ukraine. Send the right message to Russia. And I think it’s perhaps the best solution within our chamber to do that,” Fitzpatrick said.

Gottheimer noted he was hopeful there would be enough bipartisan support and said he believes there is a significant portion of the House that supports border funding as well as Ukraine funding.

“I think it’s a false choice to say we’re going to do one or the other. But we clearly know that we can spend the next 45 days supporting Ukraine and making sure we stand up to Putin, China and Iran, which is critical to our national security and that of our allies. But we also need to make sure we address and address the challenges at the border and border security and live up to our values ​​there,” Gottheimer said.