U.S. can't turn back on allies, Womack says on U.S. return

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark.
U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark.

WASHINGTON -- After a nine-day tour of several conflict-ridden countries including Ukraine, U.S. Rep. Steve Womack said Tuesday that the United States can't financially turn its back on its allies.

During last week's House recess, the Rogers Republican and seven other members of the House Appropriations Committee's Defense Subcommittee traveled to Egypt, Cyprus, London and Ukraine on a trip paid for by the Department of Defense, the committee and the congressmen.

"If the United States of America turns its back on these people, who then will they turn to and what then will be the situation that we will face?" Womack said during an interview. If the U.S. doesn't help, countries like Russia, China or Iran will step in, he said.

Members had lengthy conversations with leaders in each country, including Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko, Womack said. Both presidents asked for military equipment.

The Obama administration has been reluctant to arm either country. Egypt led airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya on Monday and has been fighting Islamic State allies in the Sinai Peninsula. A year ago Russia took control of the Crimea region of Ukraine, and pro-Russia separatists have clashed with Ukrainian forces repeatedly since.

The House members spent about two hours talking with Poroshenko, Womack said.

"They don't need us fighting their battles for them. They just need help with equipment and the lethal capability to wage their own battle with Russia," he said.

Sitting in his office Tuesday, Womack rummaged around on his desk for notes he took during the meeting with Poroshenko.

"He said, 'Not only are we fighting for independence, every single Ukrainian understands that we are fighting for our future, for democracy.' Aren't those the kind of people we want to help, those that are fighting for their freedom, for their democracy?" Womack said. "He referred to the U.S. as the leader of the whole world."

While in Kiev, the members visited a displaced person's camp for about 80,000 people who fled fighting in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

"It's a glorified Red Cross center where they try to help them with clothes and food," Womack said. "Oh, my goodness, what a heartbreaking scene that is. They just don't have the ... ability to deal with large numbers of people who have been internally displaced."

Womack said the trip broadened his perspective of the regions and what the United States can do to help.

"Until you can actually walk where I've walked and seen what I had seen and listened to the desperation of the leadership, it's hard to appreciate," Womack said. "Selfishly when I go to these places I think to myself, boy, how fortunate we are here in America and how much we take for granted. They are fighting, they are literally fighting, for the futures of their countries."

Foreign travel for members of the U.S. House and Senate is routine, though some members travel more frequently than others. Travel disclosures required by Congress show that so far in 2015 members have traveled to several countries including Germany, Guatemala, Panama, South Korea and Switzerland.

Womack's last trip was in 2014 when he traveled to Israel with American Israel Education Foundation, visiting Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Tiberias, a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, led a group of Senate freshmen on a one-day trip to the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In 2014, U.S. Sen. John Boozman traveled with the Senate Appropriations Committee to Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. He also took a trip with the Senate Veterans Committee to England, France and Italy.

Metro on 03/18/2015

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