Senator Hagerty says that the “Biden administration finds itself on both sides” of the Ukraine issue.
At a Tennessee welcome-home ceremony Monday for Greg Kelly, a Tennessean who has been held in the Japanese judicial system for several years, The Tennessee Star asked Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) why he didn’t sign a letter signed by 42 of his Republican U.S. Senate colleagues and demanding action in support of the Ukraine. The letter, co-drafted by Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT), urged the Biden administration to give the Ukraine tools like fighter jets and other support capabilities from the United States, NATO allies, and other European partners in order to enable them to set up their own No-Fly-Zone.
Hagerty discussed his reservations about the Biden administration’s handling of the process. “Because I continue to have reservations about this administration’s ability to execute. When this was first brought up, you had Secretary of State Blinken give the green light to do it and then a day later the Department of Defense came and blocked it.” he said. “I’ve asked for a secure briefing, a classified briefing, to understand what was the rationale for that and I intend to get that this week, but I didn’t have the information I needed to sign off.”
The Star also asked Hagerty what his confidence level is in regards to the Biden administration’s handling of the crisis in Ukraine. Hagerty replied, “The crisis has been greatly exacerbated by a set of policies that began back at the very beginning of the Biden administration. This goes back to killing the Keystone XL pipeline, about killing drilling on federal lands, shutting off ANWR – about taking us from a position where the United States was energy independent,” he said. “We were actually in a position to export energy to our allies. Putting us in a position of dependence, handing Vladimir Putin a massive windfall – was the immediate result of what the Biden administration did with their war on oil and gas here in America. Its raised prices for us not only here in America but raised prices all over the globe.”
Hagerty continued, explaining how the Biden administration has placed itself on both sides of the Ukraine issue by handing Putin an energy boon with its policies. “Russia, a top producer of energy, has a massive windfall as a result of it. That windfall is essentially funding this war machine that Putin is deploying in Ukraine right now. So the Biden administration finds itself on both sides of this, both funding Russia and the war machine they’ve created and trying to help Ukraine as well.” said the senator. “It’s a very awkward situation they’ve placed themselves in. I want America to succeed at all costs but I want to make certain that everything that I press for and push for is based on well understood, well substantiated evidence, and that’s what I’m working toward right now.”
Kelly had received a verdict in Japan permitting him to leave. Following Kelly’s arrival at the Nashville International Airport, Hagerty greeted Kelly at the airport. Senator Hagerty had been working hard to get Kelly home. After greeting each other at the airport, Hagerty and Kelly delivered remarks and held a press conference.
Kelly was grateful to be home and thanked Hagerty for his support. “My wife, Dee, and I greatly appreciate the steadfast and strong support we received from Senator Hagerty throughout this whole ordeal, from Ambassador, to candidate for Senate, to Senator. I mean, words can’t really adequately describe how grateful we are for everything he has done for us in terms of the efforts to try to get us back home.”
Kelly concluded his initial remarks, saying “Senator, I mean, you just don’t know how grateful Dee and I are. There’s no place like home.”
Kelly’s family and friends also greeted him at the airport. They appeared to be overjoyed and grateful to have him home in Tennessee.
Watch the exchange here:
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]. Follow Aaron on GETTR.
Photo “Bill Hagerty” by Bill Hagerty.
