1st District Rep. Mace has ‘grave concerns’ about delays in US military aid to Ukraine
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace says she has “grave concerns” about Ukraine as it approaches the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion and wants the United States to speed up military supplies because it doesn’t have much time.
“My concern from a defense perspective is we’re not moving fast enough,” the 1st congressional district representative told media members after she visited the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Port Royal on Wednesday. “I’ve seen first-hand the State Department slow roll lethal aid overseas to Ukraine and that’s something that we cannot have happen.”
President Joe Biden delivered a speech Tuesday in Poland regarding Ukraine, in which he challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “end the war” against Ukraine, which began when Russia invaded the neighboring country on Feb. 24, 2022.
Republicans have been split over Ukraine. One wing with “Ukraine fatigue” is calling for an end to U.S. involvement, arguing more focus is needed on domestic issues. It also is raising issues of fraud and misspending.
Mace, R-Charleston, agrees with Republican leaders who are making a case for continued support for the war, although she called Biden’s speech “discombobulated.”
“I have grave concerns about Ukraine,” said Mace, noting Russia is mobilizing 300,000 troops. “They [the Ukrainians] don’t have a lot of time.”
While the United States has invested $113 billion to supply arms and lethal aid to Ukraine, it still is a tiny percentage compared to overall military spending, and European allies are contributing a larger percentage of their gross domestic product than the United States, Mace said.
But she’s most concerned about the pace of delivery of supplies from the U.S., she says.
As for fraud, Mace said, every piece of equipment that’s being sent is being closely tracked.
“I think that’s very important for folks to know,” Mace said.
Mace, a new member of the House Armed Services Committee, met Wednesday with Brigadier Gen. Walker Field, who took over Parris Island in June.
Afterward, besides Ukraine’s war with Russia, she discussed the future of Parris Island, the House Armed Services Committee, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s campaign for president, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s call for a “national divorce’ because of the country’s seemingly irreconcilable differences.
Most people may not know that half of the military installations in South Carolina are located in the Lowcountry, Mace said.
That’s why having representation on the Armed Services Committee “is enormously important.” The committee oversees funding requests from the Department of Defense and Pentagon, with authorizations funneled into the National Defense Authorization Act. The committee is working on that bill now, Mace said.
“There are a number of different issues and amendments that will be put on the NDAA to support our military,” Mace said.
Mace was first elected to represent the 1st Congressional District in 2020. She was reelected in November.
Bill would protect Parris Island
Her first bill, had it passed, would have prohibited any federal funding from being used to close Parris Island or even to study a closure.
The same bill, called the Parris Island Protection Act, was reintroduced by the entire South Carolina congressional delegation in January.
“It’s something we’ll work on as long as we need to so we continue to make Marines here,” Mace said.
The legislation is in response to reports in 2020 that the military was considering shutting down the base to meet gender integration requirements, which startled officials in Port Royal and Beaufort, where military bases are an economic powerhouse.
Rising sea levels also are a concern for a military base located on an island, although Marine Corps officials have said steps are being taken to adapt and address potential flooding.
In December, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation awarded nearly $1.2 million from its National Coastal Resilience Fund to Parris Island and partner organizations to construct more than 4,500 wire oyster reefs to cover nearly two acres along Beaufort County waterways, including near Parris Island. Another 1.3 acres will consist of loose and bagged oyster shells. It’s a natural, self-sustaining solution called living shorelines that will help mitigate flooding and erosion on the base, which trains nearly 20,000 recruits yearly.
“I talk to everybody who will listen about Parris Island,” Mace said. “Over the years we’ve heard people talk about climate or gender integration. And the resilience we see here — Parris island is one of the best examples of resilience we have in the nation. And to see that kind of technology utilized here for that is remarkable and is an example of how the federal government can work efficiently with tax dollars and be successful.”
Wants first female president to be a Republican
Earlier this month, Haley, the former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump Administration, announced she was running for president.
Mace said she is excited to see Lowcountry leaders running for president. U.S. Tim Scott, another South Carolina Republican, also is weighing a run. But Mace is not endorsing either at this time.
“I would love to see the first female president in the United States be a Republican,” Mace said. “But we’ve got a primary that will happen and I’ll weigh in at some point in the future.”
On Monday, Greene, R-Ga, called for a “national divorce,” arguing that Democrats and Republicans are so divided that Red and Blue states should split along political lines.
Greene’s suggestion is ironic considering Georgia has a Republican governor and two Democratic U.S. senators and “is not a red state,” Mace said.
“I don’t know where folks are going to move who want to secede from the United States,” she said.
Although she is a conservative, Mace said, she is willing to work with Democrats to pass legislation on issues that residents care about because “it’s important to deliver.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 5:48 PM with the headline "1st District Rep. Mace has ‘grave concerns’ about delays in US military aid to Ukraine."
