WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, along with U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement on the Biden Administration’s decision to send dual purpose improved conventional munitions (DPICMs), also known as cluster munitions, to Ukraine.
“While no weapons system is a proverbial golden bullet, DPICMs will help fill a key gap for Ukraine’s military and will allow the Ukrainian Armed Forces to target and eliminate Russian forces more efficiently, including in fortified positions on the battlefield. Providing DPICMs will also decrease the strain on America’s stockpile of unitary warheads. But the Biden Administration cannot stop here. It is critical they also send ATACMS, which have a similar range to the Storm Shadow cruise missile the United Kingdom has already sent, and they must expedite the delivery of F-16s. This administration’s misguided fear of escalation in providing critical weapon systems – from Stingers to HIMARS to Abrams tanks and now to DPICMs – has only served to prolong the war, embolden Vladimir Putin, cost Ukrainian lives, and, indeed, put the entire Ukrainian counteroffensive at risk of failure.”
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