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The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday against an amendment to stop the United States from sending cluster munitions to Ukrainian forces.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who has opposed other measures of U.S. aid going to Ukraine, introduced an amendment to a House Defense Appropriations Bill on Wednesday night, seeking to end the flow of cluster munitions to Ukraine in future aid packages. The amendment failed by a vote of 160–269.
Eighty-five House Republicans and 75 House Democrats supported the effort to block cluster bombs for Ukraine, while 132 Republicans and 137 Democrats opposed it.
Cluster munitions are bombs and artillery shells that are designed to break apart in mid-air when launched, releasing a cluster of smaller submunitions over a wider area. The weapons are controversial because not all of these submunitions explode when they are initially launched, and can potentially linger for years after a war only to detonate when encountered by innocent bystanders years later.
Further defending the cluster munitions transfers, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Russian forces have already been using cluster munitions in Ukraine. Mr. Sullivan also said the types of cluster munitions Russian forces use contain submunitions that fail to explode when intended between 30 and 40 percent of the time. By comparison, Mr. Sullivan said the DPICMs that the United States would send to Ukraine have a “dud rate” of about 2.5 percent.
2nd Attempt to Stop Cluster Bomb Transfers Fails
Mr. Gaetz’s Wednesday amendment to the House Defense Appropriations Bill marks the second time he has tried and failed to stop the flow of U.S. cluster munitions abroad.
Wednesday’s House proceedings on the Defense Appropriations Bill presented a second opportunity for Mr. Gaetz to add the cluster munitions debate to the broader government spending debate.
“These cluster bombs are indiscriminate, they’ve killed tens of thousands of people, and … when this is all done, we’ll be right back here on the floor, appropriating money to de-mine the cluster munitions that we’re now sending, which seems ludicrous to me,” Mr. Gaetz said.
“There’s no amount of guardrails or promised precautions for cluster munitions that are enough. These weapons are unpredictable and the human cost is far too high to justify,” Ms. Jacobs said.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), who also supported the amendment to stop cluster munitions transfers, argued that sending such weapons undermines the United States’ moral authority to work on Ukraine’s behalf.
“The legacy of cluster bombs is misery, death, and expensive cleanup after generations of use,” Ms. McCollum said. “And I’ve been in Laos and worked with other countries to clean up this legacy.”
Speaking in opposition to Mr. Gaetz’s amendment, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) argued that artillery weapons have been crucial for the Ukrainian military since the Russian invasion began last year. He said it remains necessary to send cluster artillery shells to Ukrainian forces to keep them supplied while the United States ramps up its production of other types of artillery shells for Ukraine.
“Cluster munitions fill a needed gap right now until U.S. production and inventory of 155 munition ammunition can catch up,” Mr. Calvert said. “The Russians have been using cluster munitions for a year and a half from day one. We should not limit the Ukraine’s ability to fight the Russians.”
Mr. Calvert also argued that the amendment blocking transfers of U.S. cluster munitions could bar the United States from supplying those weapons to other allies and partners, such as in the event that conflict breaks out on the Korean Peninsula or over Taiwan. He said the amendment may even prevent U.S. forces stationed abroad from being supplied with such cluster munitions.
