Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn is co-sponsoring legislation that would redirect Russian assets that were seized when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“We have done this before,” Nunn says. “After 9/11…terrorist dollars that were in international funds, we seized those assets and we used them for everything from defense of the country to compensation of 9/11 victims. This would be of the same ilk.”
According to Nunn, nearly $300 billion worth of Russian money and assets are being held in banks in the U.S., Europe and Japan and he says it should be used to rebuild Ukraine. “Now let me be very specific — these are Russian oligarchs who benefitted from Russia invading Ukraine, having their dollars seized in an international account and given back to the Ukrainian people to rebuild their country,” Nunn says.
A United Nations report issued in June indicated at least $135 billion worth of damage had been done to buildings and infrastructure in Ukraine and more than 1.5 million homes have been destroyed during the war. Nunn says if there’s no plan to shift Russian assets to rebuilding Ukraine, that money will eventually return to Russia. “It will make an impoverished Russia, on the verge of defeat, re-energized by being able to bring international funds back into their central bank,” Nunn says.
Nunn, who served on three combat missions when he was in the U.S. Air Force, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine’s military, but he says there should be limits on the amount of U-S aid sent to Ukraine. “I think the argument that U.S. taxpayers’ dollars should not be an unending spigot towards Ukraine is real,” Nunn says.
President Biden has asked congress to approve $24 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, along with more money for federal disaster aid and border security. Nunn says those are key domestic issues that should not be tied to funding for Ukraine.
(By Mike Peterson, KMA, Shenandoah)