WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) joined Fox News to discuss the latest developments in Ukraine and her efforts to expedite the transfer of weapon systems President Zelenskyy has requested on multiple occasions. Houlahan and a group of seven Democrats and 10 Republicans in the For Country Caucus urged the Biden Administration on Friday to finalize the transfer of S-300s, a surface-to-air missile system, among other priorities. Below are excerpts from her interview:

On Ukrainian Strikes on Russian Soil

Jacqui Heinrich: We appreciate you coming back [Congresswoman]. Ukraine has denied an attack on the Russian oil depot, but as Ukraine has started taking back some cities—and they are trying now to push Russia out—and they are having some success, it seems to open a new question: What is your view potentially of Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil; is that something that they should be pursuing? The White House refused to weigh in on that yesterday.

Houlahan: It’s a very interesting question, and I think that there’s a reason likely that the White House is refusing to weigh in on that. I think right now the Ukrainian people are in defense of their cities and their country. When you are bringing the war out of the country itself that it is a different situation. That being said, I think what we are seeing is a transition in this particular conflict that may be indicating that we are in this for a longer time than any of us anticipated. As this conflict started, many people anticipated that it would be very, very quick – a Blitzkrieg of sorts. What we see now in the 5th week of the conflict, as you mentioned, Ukraine is actually gaining ground for the first time in the war and that we may likely need to be settling in for a very different kind of war for a very different time span.

On Biden Administration Strategy to Help Ukraine, Sending Additional Weapons

Jacqui Heinrich: Do you think the Administration has shifted its strategy for helping Ukraine since they started to have some success there? The White House has been touting today more aid, but Ukrainians have said that they need as many as 500 Javelins and Stingers per day and we are not supplying anything near that amount.

Houlahan: In fact, these are some of the conversations that I and my colleagues are having in the Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee and with the Administration. It's been a really interesting period of time because bipartisanly we are having a very dynamic and interactive conversation with the Administration to push all of us to make sure that we are doing everything that we can for Ukraine and for the democracy that they represent and for the world order. And, certainly, they are, I think, depleting many of the things that we already provided in terms of Javelins and Stingers. We have asked as a Congress—and I have led that ask—to make sure we are thinking of all the things that they are asking for in terms of S-300s, which is a longer-range missile system that they have been asking for. Some of my colleagues, myself included, have even been asking the Administration to think longer term – to think about some of the weapon systems and aircraft that might be ours and not all formerly Russian, that we could possibly train up the Ukrainian Army in to make sure that if this does end up being an extended war that they are prepared to fight that extended war.

Watch the full interview here.

Houlahan is an Air Force veteran, an engineer, a serial entrepreneur, an educator and a nonprofit leader. She represents Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District, which encompasses Chester County and southern Berks County. She serves on the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Small Business Committee. She is the recipient of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Abraham Lincoln Leadership for America Award which “recognizes members who demonstrate the bipartisan leadership and constructive governing necessary to move our country forward.”

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