It's "unfortunate" that President Joe Biden has ruled out sending F-16s to Ukraine at this time, and with enough pressure from Congress from both sides of the aisle, "can get into Ukraine what they really need to win this fight," Rep. Michael McCaul said Sunday.
"I was at the Munich Security Conference along with the high-ranking military officials including our supreme allied commander [and] they're all in favor of us putting not only F-16s in, but longer range artillery to take out the Iranian drones in Crimea," McCaul told ABC News' "This Week" anchor Martha Raddatz.
"What I kept hearing was, we need to put everything we have into there. I know the administration says as long as it takes. I think with the right weapons, it shouldn't take so long, and quite frankly, Martha, this whole thing is taking too long, and it really didn't have to happen this way," he added.
Friday, Biden told ABC News that he's "ruling it out for now" with the fighter jets because they are not the weapons Ukraine needs now, but McCaul and several other GOP lawmakers disagreed in interviews Sunday.
Ukraine must get everything it can now to win, not later, said McCaul.
"When we give them what they ask for, they win," he said. "When they slow walk and slow pace this thing, it drags it out and that's precisely what [Vladimir] Putin wants."
Legislatively, McCaul said House members can write appropriations bills that include prioritizing weapons systems, and they intend to do that.
"This was a bipartisan delegation to Munich," McCaul said, adding that his delegation that went to Ukraine all agreed with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the attacks and the F-16s were appropriate.
Another issue is that it will take 3-6 months to train Ukraine's military to fly the F-16, said McCaul.
"You heard with the budget, you heard with the Abrams tanks, they won't go in for another year. The Leopard tanks will go in two weeks, as this offensive takes place. That's going to be a bit of a game changer as well, and I hope we can change the direction and course that the administration has with respect to the military strategy."
McCaul also addressed reports about China is considering providing lethal weaponry to Russia, and said that there is intelligence showing China is contemplating sending 100 drones into Russia.
"They're also buying all their energy from them," he said while refusing to specify what other kind of lethal weaponry may be considered.
"The fact is they're going to meet next week, Chairman Xi and Putin, to discuss this unholy alliance they have to put weapons into Ukraine, and that's very disturbing because while maybe Ukraine today, it's going to be Taiwan tomorrow. That's why this is so important," said McCaul.
Meanwhile, the lawmaker called the debate over whether Biden should have traveled to East Palestine, Ohio, the site of the train derailment that spilled toxic chemicals, or to Ukraine created a "false choice."
"I think the president should've gone to East Palestine where we have this major chemical spill, but it doesn't mean we disregard what's happening in this struggle for the global balance of power that we're facing right now," McCaul said. "We can't put our heads in the sand and ignore this. Otherwise, the Russians will be on the Polish border and Chairman Xi [Jinping] will invade Taiwan. I think we can do both. We're a great nation."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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