On Sunday, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly joined CBS’s Margaret Brennan on ‘Face the Nation’ to discuss his recent trip to Ukraine and the need for common-sense gun safety reform.
Last week, Kelly traveled to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, alongside Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Kelly, a Navy combat veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, met with Ukrainian leaders on topics including military readiness, energy security, accountability in the use of foreign assistance, and rebuilding Ukraine.
On ‘Face the Nation,’ Kelly characterized the bipartisan delegation’s visit as a powerful demonstration of the United States’ unwavering support for Ukraine and said there is more Congress must do to protect our schools and communities from gun violence.
Watch the full interview here. See key excerpts below:
On what he saw and discussed in Ukraine:
Well, Margaret, I spent 25 years in the United States Navy, I flew in combat. This is my first time I’ve actually, you know, went to a warzone, a country that’s been brutally attacked by- by Vladimir Putin. There’s war crimes committed every day. I mean, the situation is just heartbreaking. You know, one of the things we were looking at was, you know, their ammunition supply. I don’t want to comment specifically on the classified intelligence here, but we have to make sure that we continue to give them the weapons and the weapon systems that they need to be successful. We cannot allow Putin to win this thing. I mean, he, you know, he said, what his plan is. I mean, he wants to rebuild the Soviet Empire and if we don’t stop him in Ukraine, I mean, there is no telling where he will go next.
On his takeaways from Ukraine:
So, the purpose of this trip was to see what they need, see what we can supply. I’ll go back to DOD and to the administration and give them my assessment of what the situation in Ukraine is.
On the need for additional gun safety reform:
And it’s really heartbreaking to see moms across the country terrified about sending their kids to school. I mean, it’s not the country we should live in. I have a two-year-old granddaughter, and in her preschool, she has already gone through one lockdown. Now, she’s two, she doesn’t know what it was, but if we don’t make some serious change, this is going to be her experience growing up. We have some of the most permissive gun laws in the world and we have the some of the highest levels of gun violence. We passed this Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. It is a step in the right direction, but it’s only one step and there is more we can do.
Original source can be found here.
