WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees, yesterday joined The Ingraham Angle on Fox News to discuss the need to address the issues facing America before those of other nations and why he plans to vote against the Ukraine aid bill in the Senate.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on Congress prioritizing other countries’ needs over our own: “I can’t tell you why, Laura, because we have pressing problems right here at home that we’re not addressing. You’ve talked about it earlier in this segment. You’ve got people in Memphis that can’t find formula for their children, people in Knoxville that can’t gas their tank up because it’s too expensive in my home state of Tennessee. I’m from a flyover state, as they call it here in Washington. We have real problems here, and it precipitates from the Biden Administration, the policies they’ve taken, basically war on America—collapsing our southern border, standing by as China wages war on our youth, killing more people with fentanyl than any other thing. From the ages of 18 to 45 in America, that’s the number one killer. China’s fingerprint is on this, and we’re standing by and letting it happen. Yet, we’re rushing to take care of problems overseas.”
Hagerty on the Biden Administration ignoring America’s urgent needs for political gain: “I think it just reflects the total out-of-touch nature of this entire Biden Administration. As you say, they’d rather wage war on Americans, criticize Americans, and ignore our plight here in America, yet rush to a cause that perhaps Joe Biden gets better rating points on, I’m not certain. But it certainly isn’t as pressing as what’s happening right here in America today.”
Hagerty on the need to use funds to address America’s issues first: “Well, that money certainly has a place—a better place—and a higher use in my view to be dealt with issues right here at home. Again, borrowing money that we don’t have to spending it on areas of the world where there may be a crisis. I don’t think America has anything against Ukraine. We don’t want to see them fail, but we have problems right here at home that we need to be paying attention to.”
Hagerty on Finland and Sweden joining NATO: “That’s going to be an interesting question that comes up soon. But the difference with Finland and Sweden is that… they’re not members of NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization]. But if they join, they might actually add to the capacity of NATO. What NATO has done in the past is bring people on that are just liabilities for us. So, there’s a possibility there.”
Hagerty on Washington undervaluing the threat of Communist China: “It seems like an invasion from China at every point, Laura. And Washington is willing to look the other way every time when it comes to China. Yet, we’re ready to jump on board with other problems… The biggest problem we’ve got right now is China.”
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