From February 2022 to December 2023, Congress appropriated nearly three times the amount the federal government spends on Customs and Border Protection to respond to the Ukraine conflict.

During this period, Congress approved approximately $113.4 billion in spending related to the Ukraine conflict, but the government spent only $37.82 billion on customs and border security.

“The U.S. Congress has appropriated approximately $113.4 billion in additional funding for the U.S. response to a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine from February 2022 to December 2023, making the U.S. the single largest provider of aid for the Ukraine response. It became a country.” report It was announced on February 15 by the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, State Department, and U.S. Agency for International Development.

“This funding will support security assistance to NATO and other partner countries,” the report said. Support for increased U.S. military presence and operations in Europe. Replenishment of US military stockpiles was then transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF). (Related: Terrence P. Jeffrey: Why does the US import billions of dollars from genocidal communist regimes?)

“This funding will also support security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and other countries affected by the war,” the group said. Support the work of U.S. government agencies involved in the Ukraine response. ”

What impact did this huge US investment have on the course of the conflict?

“Although the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) managed to regain more than half of the territory occupied by Russian forces at the start of the conflict, the front lines of the Ukraine war have not moved significantly since their gains in the Ukraine war in the fall of 2022. ,” the IG report said.

“Between [last] quarter [of 2023], Russian forces continued to occupy Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and large parts of Crimea,” the report said. “The lack of significant progress on both sides confirms heavy fighting and high casualty rates in 2023.”

from February through September In 2022, the U.S. government spent $12.063 billion on Customs and Border Protection, according to the monthly financial report.The entirety of the previous fiscal year 2023 September, spent $20.032 billion.And from October Decemberspent $5.727 billion.

This means that from February 2022, when Russia launched an all-out war against Ukraine, to December 2023, the U.S. government spent a total of $37.822 billion on customs and border security. That's just 33.35% of the $113.4 billion Congress approved “in additional spending for the United States' response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine” during the same period, according to the inspector general.

So what happened at the US border during this period?

As previously noted in this column, the number of individuals on terrorist watch lists encountered by Border Patrol attempting to sneak across our nation's southern border has steadily increased in recent years, from 15 in 2021 to 2023. The number has increased to 169 people. There are 58 cases this year.

Which poses a greater security threat to Americans: terrorists coming across our southern border or a war between Russia and Ukraine?

When France declared war on Britain and the Netherlands in 1793, President George Washington saw no reason to involve the United States in the conflict. As previously noted in this column, he immediately issued a declaration of neutrality.

“[T]”The obligations and interests of the United States require that the United States adopt and pursue friendly and impartial conduct toward belligerent parties in good faith and integrity,” Washington declared.

He never backed down from this position.

As mentioned previously in this column, Washington reiterated the principles of the Declaration of Neutrality in his farewell speech.

“Excessive favoritism towards one foreign country and excessive hatred towards others serve to make those whom they influence perceive danger only on one side, to obscure or even to take a backseat to the art of influence on the other side. ,” Washington said. “Genuine patriots may resist the machinations of their favorites, but they tend to be aroused with suspicion and disgust, while their methods and duds steal public admiration and confidence and abandon their own interests. .”

“Europe has a set of major interests, and for us, those interests either don't exist or are very distantly related,” Washington said. “Therefore, she must be frequently embroiled in controversies, the causes of which are essentially irrelevant to our concerns. Therefore, for us, by artificial association, her political It must be unwise to involve oneself in the common fluctuations, in the common combinations and conflicts of her friendships and enmities.

“Our isolated and distant circumstances encourage and enable us to pursue a different path,” he said.

“Why ignore the benefits of such a unique situation?” he said. “Why abandon our own countries and stand on foreign soil? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of some part of Europe, subjecting our peace and prosperity to European ambitions, competition, Do we involve ourselves in the toils of interest, humor, or whim?”

What would Washington think of a Congress that invested more in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine than it did in securing its own borders?

Terrence P. Jeffrey is an investigative editor at the Daily Caller News Foundation. To learn more about Terrence P. Jeffrey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit his Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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