WASHINGTON — Nearly two dozen congressional Democrats expressed frustration Friday with the Biden administration over its decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine in a U.S. military aid package.
The lawmakers echoed warnings from human rights groups that the surface-to-surface warheads, which disperse small munitions or bombs over wide areas, can explode after battle and sometimes injure or kill innocent people.
“Cluster munitions are illegal under international law,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said in a statement announcing that she plans to introduce an amendment that would ban the sale of cluster munitions to the annual defense policy bill with Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif.
“We can support the people of Ukraine in their freedom struggle, while also opposing violations of international law,” Omar said, noting that the munitions are banned in more than 100 countries.
Jacobs announced her opposition in a statement Thursday, saying she was “disappointed and alarmed” by the coming move.
Omar and Jacobs were among 19 House progressives who issued a statement Friday urging President Joe Biden not to transfer the cluster munitions.
“We can and will continue to support our Ukrainian allies’ defense against Russia’s aggression. However, that support does not require we undermine the United States’ leadership in advocating for human rights around the world,” the lawmakers said.
“The White House’s announcement runs counter to Congress’s restrictions on the transfer of these weapons and severely undermines our moral leadership.”
The Defense Department announced the planned transfer of the munitions, along with other weapons, on Friday afternoon.
Ukraine has been asking for the munitions since last year, when Russia invaded. The U.S. hopes the weapons will help Ukraine fill military stockpiles, especially the 155 mm artillery round, two U.S. officials said.
Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., who served in the Air Force, said in a statement Friday that while she has been a proponent of providing resources and weapon systems to Ukraine, victory in Ukraine “cannot come at the expense of our American values and thus democracy itself.”
“Cluster munitions are indiscriminate, and I strongly oppose providing these weapons to Ukraine,” she continued. “History remembers not only who wins a war but also how a war is won.”
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who’s been outspoken about U.S. military issues for years, said Thursday that she was “alarmed” by the administration’s decision.
“Cluster bombs work by scattering tiny ‘bomblets’ over a wide area. Many of these bomblets don’t explode—but remain a threat to civilians for decades,” she tweeted. “The Ukrainian people are engaged in a just struggle for their rights, freedom and humanity. The US and Ukraine don’t need to stoop to Putin’s level.”
In a statement Friday, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said Biden should “listen to our NATO allies,” noting that “the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain … oppose sending cluster munitions to Ukraine for the same reasons.”
Lee and McGovern signed on to the statement issued by House progressives.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Democratic criticism.
Biden signed a presidential waiver on the transfer of the weapons in recent days, two officials said. U.S. law requires the president to sign a waiver before the U.S. exports cluster munitions with a more than a 1% dud rate. Duds are the unexploded bomblets that can result from using the munitions.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said in a statement that the administration’s decision was an “unnecessary and a terrible mistake.”
“Congress has been clear in prohibiting the transfer of any cluster munition with a dud rate of greater than 1%,” she said. “Allowing legacy U.S. cluster munitions onto the battlefield in Ukraine undermines our moral authority and places the U.S. in a position that directly contradicts 23 of our NATO allies who have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”
Asked by a reporter Friday afternoon why he decided to send the cluster munitions now, Biden said, “They’re running out of ammunition.”
Many Republicans in Congress have applauded Biden’s move.
The top Republicans on the House and Senate committees overseeing foreign affairs said in a joint statement that the munitions will “help fill a key gap for Ukraine’s military” and allow Ukraine’s forces “to target and eliminate Russian forces more efficiently.”
Some Republican lawmakers, however, denounced Biden’s decision, but not for the same reasons as their Democratic colleagues.
“Instead of focusing on a peaceful solution, Biden is sending us into WWIII,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., tweeted.
Republicans, both on and off Capitol Hill, have largely been divided over U.S. involvement in Ukraine. Many conservatives have argued that the billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine would be better spent at home or that the focus should be on China instead of Russia, while others, like former Vice President Mike Pence, have supported countering Russian aggression in the region.
Several Democrats defended Biden’s move Friday.
Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a member of the Armed Services Committee who visited Ukraine and Poland on a congressional trip in April, suggested that the transfer would help bring an end to the war.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “made it clear that these munitions would play a significant role in bringing this conflict to an end, and based on what we saw firsthand, I believe that sufficient trust and expertise have been established with Ukrainian military forces to ensure these munitions are used as safely and efficiently as possible,” Manchin said in a statement Friday.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, a former combat veteran who joined Manchin on the April trip, also defended Biden’s decision.
In a statement, he contended that Ukrainians “have asked for these rounds to deploy in self-defense on their own soil because they see it as critical to their survival” and pledged his continued support to work “to provide Ukraine with the weapons and support they need to beat Putin and win this war.”
