DV Journal

Noting the Biden Justice Department had taken “unprecedented action” in its raid on Mar-a-Lago, former FBI agent and current Bucks County Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick urged citizens and his congressional colleagues to “weigh the weight of their words.”

In an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, Fitzpatrick said he has been contacted by the FBI and warned that “my life has been put in danger recently” in the backlash to the DOJ’s seizure of documents from the home of former President Donald Trump.

“It was an unprecedented action which needs to be supported by unprecedented justification…this has never happened before in our county’s history,” said Fitzpatrick. “Was there unprecedented justification? That remains an open question, and we know exactly where to look and that was the affidavit of probable cause and that document remains under seal.

“Because we don’t have that information I encourage all my colleagues on the left and the right to reserve judgment and not get ahead of themselves because we do not know what that document may contain. It’s going to answer a lot of questions,” he said.

The Bucks County Republican urged calm, telling host Margaret Brennan he is concerned about threats of violence to his former colleagues after the names of the FBI agents who searched former Trump’s Florida home were revealed.

“Everybody needs to call for calm across the board. And everybody needs to respect our law enforcement whether it be local, state or federal,” said Fitzpatrick. “I’m very concerned for the safety of our law enforcement officers.”

“I myself have been notified by the bureau that my life was put in danger recently by some of these same people, and violence is never the answer to anything,” he said.

Asked about the rhetoric of some Republicans in the wake of the DOJ’s actions, Fitzpatrick said the problem is bipartisan.

“It’s all my colleagues, and we’ve seen disrespect across the political spectrum, which I’ve mentioned with local law enforcement, the Supreme Court, and federal law enforcement. None of it is okay. None of it,” he said.

Fitzpatrick mentioned the 2017 attack on the Republican Congress members at a baseball practice by a Bernie Sanders supporter, the recent threats to U.S. Supreme Court members after Roe v. Wade was overturned, as well as threats to law enforcement during the riots of 2020.

Fitzpatrick has been offering measured responses to the Mar-a-Lago raid since the news first broke. “As the only FBI agent in Congress, I’ve been getting many inquiries regarding tonight’s reported enforcement action at Mar-a-Lago,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement last Monday. “I will get to the bottom of this, will follow the facts wherever they lead and will report with unimpeachable integrity. I will get to the truth.”

His Democratic opponent, government and public service sector consultant Ashley Ehasz, says that is not enough.

“So now, all of a sudden, he wants to ‘get to the truth,’ after he voted against the Jan. 6th Committee and voted against impeaching Trump twice? As a combat veteran, I was deeply disturbed by Trump’s narrative that the election was ‘stolen,’ but this former FBI agent helped cast doubt on the election results by sending a letter to the Governor alleging election fraud when it was clear the results were sound,” Ehasz said.

Asked by CBS’s Brennan about the receipt showing Trump had classified and top secret and above in boxes in his home, Fitzpatrick said, “Nobody is claiming, certainly I’m not, that it’s okay to have classified information outside of a SCIF (Secure Compartmented Information Facility). I know that better than anybody, given my former profession and current committee assignment.

“But the problem is the administration is disputing a lot of what’s being publicly reported, so the affidavit will answer that question. It will be able to tell us who is providing this information. Is it the prior administration or the current administration? We need to get that clarified.”

Brennan asked whether it would be appropriate to release it now, during an active investigation.

“I would say at the very least, Margaret, for the public consumption, they can certainly bring it into the SCIF to bring it to our house intelligence committee members,” he said. “We, after all, do have oversight over the entire intelligence apparatus. So that’s what’s puzzling to us.”

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Will the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade shape the 2022 midterms?

One of the first tests of how public sentiment came in a poll in the First Congressional District race in Bucks County, a seat held by incumbent Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.

Democratic challenger Ashley Ehasz hopes to capitalize on the anger that has energized many pro-choice voters since the Supreme Court’s decision last Friday. The poll, conducted by Democratic polling firm Global Strategy Group, found Fitzpatrick leads Ehasz by 7 points with 18 percent undecided. However, when voters were told Fitzpatrick “wants to restrict abortion rights, even if the woman’s life is in danger and in most cases of rape and incest,” the results changed to a 10-point lead for Ehasz, a first-time candidate.

“This just echoes the conversations I have had with people at rallies and knocking doors since Friday’s announcement, which is that when voters learn their congressman had the opportunity to protect their right to an abortion and he refused to, they feel betrayed,” said Ehasz. “Fitzpatrick could have voted to codify Roe v. Wade, but instead he washed his hands of it, and sided with the most extreme members of his party. People feel abandoned, and rightly so.”

Not so fast, the Fitzpatrick campaign countered.

“The language in this partisan poll’s script pertaining to Brian’s voting record on abortion is categorically false, and they know it. This push poll is nothing more than a desperate fundraising ploy from a flailing campaign intended to mislead voters in an attempt to make their campaign relevant,”  said Nancy McCarty,  a Fitzpatrick campaign spokesperson.

According to Global Strategy Group, the poll also shows that 44 percent of voters said they disapproved of Fitzpatrick’s job performance while 33 percent approve. That included 40 percent of Republicans approving with 37 percent disapproving.

The pollsters surveyed 626 likely 2022 General Election voters in the First Congressional District on June 24 and 25. The findings have a margin of error of +/-3.9 percent.

Still, Christopher Nicholas, a veteran Republican consultant, said Ehasz will have a tough time beating incumbent Fitzpatrick.

“Her poll shows that when people find out Fitzpatrick is pro-life and she is pro-choice, her vote percentage goes up above his. Trouble is, no one knows who she is and that won’t be the only issue that the campaigns will talk about,” Nicholas said. “In addition to having no name ID she also has no money, so she has a hard road in front of her.”

Ehasz graduated from West Point and is an Iraq War veteran. She is a former Apache helicopter pilot and company commander. A Bensalem resident, she left the Army to study for a master’s degree at Oxford University.

Fitzpatrick, a former FBI agent and federal prosecutor, was embedded with U.S. Special Forces as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In the 117th Congress, he was elected co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Fitzpatrick is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Energy, the Environment, and Cyber, and he was appointed by House leadership to currently serve on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) and as a Commissioner on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick

He also serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and co-chairs the bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force.

In addition to being an attorney, Fitzpatrick is both a  certified public accountant and a certified emergency medical technician.

“As state legislatures across America begin to consider legislation on this extremely sensitive topic in response to today’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, I urge all state legislatures to always start from a place of empathy and compassion,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement released after the decision.

“Any legislative consideration must start with the process of seeing the world through other people’s eyes, and walking the world in other people’s shoes. Any legislative consideration must always seek to achieve bipartisan consensus that both respects a woman’s privacy and autonomy, and also respects the sanctity of human life. These principles are not mutually exclusive; both can and must be achieved,” he said.

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As new energy technologies increase demand for rare earth elements and materials, one local congressman is touting a proposal to increase domestic production.

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) and New Jersey Democrat Rep. Josh Gotthemier recently announced the Restoring Essential Energy and Security Holdings Onshore for Rare Earths (REEShore) Act. The legislation is a companion to a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate.

It seeks to strengthen the Department of Defense’s rare earth element reserves, according to a statement from Fitzpatrick’s office. Backers of the bill hope to decrease reliance on China. In 2021, 78 percent of rare earth imports were from China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“We cannot let the Chinese Communist Party continue to benefit from supplying our country with necessary rare earth materials,” Fitzpatrick said. “We will decrease our reliance on the CCP for these resources and will allow the United States to resume its rightful position as a leader in rare earth elements production.”

China’s dominance in the production of rare earth elements has made a once-sleepy issue prominent, according to Bojeong Kim, associate professor at the Earth and Environmental Science Department at Temple University.

“China has been a really big player for rare earth elements,” she said. “The awareness is that now the U.S. government has started to realize to rely on China on these issues is not reliable.”

The concern is that if China were to cut countries off of their rare earth supply, it could spark a crisis. The U.S. Geological Survey reported China accounted for 60 percent globally of rare earth mining production in 2021, up slightly from 2020. So boosting domestic production is a national security issue on the minds of legislators.

Rare earths are especially in demand right now as the U.S. looks toward different renewable energies. They are essential in wind turbines, solar cells, and electrical vehicle creation. The material is also important in smartphone, television, and computer production.

“These elements are good for high-performance applications,” Kim said. “Magnets, aircraft engines, something that’s part of our lives. It’s just that we don’t think that they require the presence of rare-earth elements.”

The Senate version of the bill looks to establish a strategic rare earth metal and products reserve. Additionally, it seeks to restrict rare earth metals processed or refined in China from entering the country.

Conor Bernstein, a spokesperson for the National Mining Association, called the REEShore Act an important first step in making the U.S. more resource independent.

“Now is the moment to take strong action to re-shore this critical piece of our industrial base,” Bernstein told DVJournal. “While this legislation focuses on rare earths, we hope Congress will acknowledge and act quickly to address our unnecessary dependence on imports for a wide range of minerals that are domestically available.”

Bernstein’s additional statement reflects the battle currently ongoing at the national level. Many environmentalists want to protect lands from harmful mining procedures, while simultaneously many of the minerals needed for renewable energy processes that environmentalists support, must be mined.

That was why Kim said a focus of research right now is discovering a new mining technique that would be more environmentally friendly.

“We are trying to come up with different ways of mining, which is not as effective as the traditional mining processes that we have,” she said. “We have these elements, but we are not going to mine them in the way we used to.”

Kim added governments are looking into localized reservoirs to see how mining can be facilitated at individual locations.

Fitzpatrick is not the first local representative to elevate the issue of rare earth minerals. Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester) introduced the Securing America’s Rare Earths Supply Act of 2019 in the previous Congress and supported an amendment to the FY2021 National Defense Authorization Act surrounding rare earths.

While a spokesperson for Houlahan could not say if she would support the bill or not until the legislation’s text is available, she reaffirmed Houlahan’s focus on the issue and expressed interest in the proposal.

“Rep. Houlahan is committed to securing our supply chains, and ensuring that critical resources like rare earths can’t be monopolized by China,” the spokesperson said. “The bill co-leads are colleagues of Rep. Houlahan on the Problem Solvers Caucus, and she looks forward to seeing final text and working with them in a bipartisan fashion.”

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In Washington, D.C. Republicans only need five more seats to win control of the House. And they could pick up two of them in southeast Pennsylvania, strategists say.

As President Joe Biden’s poll numbers plunge, GOP hopes are rising for pick-ups in PA-6—currently represented by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan—and PA-7, where incumbent Democrat Susan Wild’s seat has already been labeled “lean Republican” by the non-partisan Cook Political Report.

At the same time, perennial Democratic hopes of taking out GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the Biden-friendly First Congressional District have largely faded.

According to the data analysis website FiveThirtyEight, redistricting made Wild’s district more difficult to hold. Picking up Berks County was not ideal for Rep. Wild, nor was losing Stroudsburg—a borough in Monroe County that is a Democratic stronghold, said Charlie O’Neill, grassroots programs coordinator for the Leadership Institute.

Wild’s district is now considered one of the state’s three competitive congressional races, including races for an open seat in Beaver County and incumbent Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks), according to FiveThirtyEight.

Although Fitzpatrick is a perennial target by the Democrats with his Biden-backing district, Samantha Bullock with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said Republicans feel confident. Fitzpatrick’s opponent, 33-year-old army veteran Ashley Ehasz, has run a lackluster campaign, Bullock said, while Fitzpatrick has survived far more Democratic-friendly election cycles.

Federal Election Commission filings show Ehasz has $77,976 on hand, while incumbent Fitzpatrick has close to $1.4 million.

Wild may have twice the amount of cash as her Republican challenger Lisa Scheller, but veteran Democrat strategist TJ Rooney said this will be a difficult election cycle for the incumbent.

“Folks who have been elected in the last four or six years had nothing but favorable conditions to run as a Democrat,” Rooney said. “This time, the president has a very low approval rating and Americans, by and large, think the nation is heading in the wrong direction.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has both Houlahan and Wild in their “Frontline” program, a sign they believe the seats are at risk. Houlahan apparently believes it, too. Last week she hosted her 60th town hall meeting.

“Of all of the more recently elected members from Pennsylvania, she’s the head of the class,” Rooney said. “She’s done the things at home that will enable her to win this year.”

O’Neill isn’t so sure. Houlahan’s challenger, former Chester County Chamber of Commerce president Guy Ciarrocchi won a tough, competitive primary and is an experienced political player. And his background in the business community gives him credibility on the economic issues dominating this election cycle.

Both Houlahan and Wild voted with Biden 100 percent of the time, FiveThirtyEight reports, not a positive when the president’s approval is around 40 percent in most polls.

“It’s going to be hard for Wild to talk about the pocketbook and kitchen table issues when her president is largely responsible for inflation, O’Neill said.

Wild’s opponent, Scheller, serves as president and chairman of her family’s manufacturing company. She ran against Wild in 2020 and lost by 4 points.

Adding Carbon County and removing the majority of Monroe County will make Wild’s pathway more difficult, Bullock said.

“In 2020, Donald Trump won Carbon County with 65 percent of the vote as opposed to his 44 percent in Monroe County, which is now almost entirely eliminated from the new district,” Bullock said. “If Scheller mirrored Trump’s 2020 performance in Carbon County, she would have defeated Wild in 2020 due to her performance in Northampton and Lehigh Counties.”

Wild also faces a $50,000 ad campaign organized by the Pennsylvania Hispanic Republican Coalition of Pennsylvania targeting Hispanic voters in her district. It is the first Spanish-language advertising from the right in Pennsylvania, according to Chris Mundiath, the group’s chairman.

“We are investing in reaching the Latino community in areas like the Lehigh Valley and Hazleton where we can really make a difference,” Mundiath said. “Democrats will no longer have a stranglehold over our demographic in our commonwealth. We are ready to lead the movement.”

Lehigh County has the state’s largest Hispanic population at 26 percent, according to the Pennsylvania State Data Center. Wild won the county by a 6-point margin.

Back in Chester County, Ciarrocchi laid out a mantra voters are likely to hear again and again between now and November.

“This election is a referendum. If you like $5 gas, paying up to 40 percent more for groceries, rising crime rates, unsecured borders, our children being used as political pawns, and Russia and China growing in power, vote for Congresswoman Houlahan. She supported every single policy that brought us to this dangerous place.”

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is known to have a long list of enemies. So long, it reaches all the way to Bucks County, Pa.

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) is on Putin’s list of people banished from Russia’s borders, along with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

The list is both lengthy and impressive. It features people from many walks of life: Politicians, business executives — even acclaimed actor Morgan Freeman made the list of 963 people who are now banned from entering Russia.

Perhaps the most unexpected name is Fitzpatrick’s brother Mike. A former congressman himself, Mike passed away in 2020 after a battle with cancer. Both Brian Fitzpatrick and his brother were outspoken supporters of Ukraine.

“The current landscape in Russia is one that is ruled by a murderous war criminal who denies its citizens basic human and civil rights, imprisons peaceful protesters, and indoctrinates its citizens with state-controlled propaganda,” Fitzpatrick told the Delaware Valley Journal.

Despite massive sanctions from the U.S., the E.U., and the West, Putin has continued waging war against Ukraine, an assault that has now lasted more than 100 days. His army is facing accusations of war crimes in its attempts to secure some of Ukraine’s cities. Buildings have been bombed, entire towns have been leveled and promises of safe passage have been violated. Children and the elderly have been among the civilian casualties. Fitzpatrick has been supportive of the measures that Biden has taken so far in its attempts to cripple the Russian economy, but argues America should do more.

“As long as Vladimir Putin is leading Russia, the entire world should boycott them and not contribute a single dime to their economy,” said Fitzpatrick.

While Putin is not making many friends in the U.S., a study conducted by Statista last month found 80 percent approved of Putin’s leadership. However, many critics have suspicions as to how accurate polls taken inside a state such as Russia can be.

Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick continues his fight against Russia and its treatment of Ukraine.

“I encourage everyone on Putin’s ‘ban list’ to join me in visiting Ukraine to meet a real leader like Volodymyr Zelenskyy, someone who shares our values and defends freedom and democracy in Ukraine and across the globe,” said Fitzpatrick.

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Democrats in the Delaware Valley congressional delegation are on board with a gun-control package being considered during a House Judiciary Committee emergency hearing this week, calling the proposals “common-sense, constitutional measures” that could prevent future tragedies.

The panel is expected to consider an omnibus package of eight bills, dubbed the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” during a mark-up session Thursday before a full House vote.

It comes in the wake of mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, where gunmen killed more than 30 people.

The bills contain proposals to raise the minimum age for purchasing semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, ban high capacity magazines, require a registry for bump stocks, and tighten federal firearms regulations to apply to so-called “ghost guns.”

It would establish new safe home firearms storage requirements and provide a tax credit to those who purchase the secure storage devices.

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware/Philadelphia) called the proposals “common sense” legislation that could help avert future shootings like the one in Texas that claimed 19 schoolkids and two teachers.

That massacre came after 18-year-old Payton Gendron gunned down 10 Black grocers at the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., in a hate-fueled attack that was streamed online.

“Our duty in Congress is to protect America’s kids—not gun manufacturers’ profits,” Scanlon told Delaware Valley Journal. “I refuse to sit back and watch preventable tragedies play out day after day, year after year. It’s not just horrific mass shootings like those in Buffalo and Uvalde but also the gun violence that wreaks havoc on our communities, unchecked, every day.

“We are not hopeless. We can change this. The ‘Protecting, Our Kids Act’ includes common sense, constitutional measures to address a range of steps we can take right now to prevent gun violence. There is no single magical solution to end the epidemic of gun violence, but there’s much we can do.

“The only unacceptable response is inaction. I look forward to beginning the markup process for this package and invite all of my colleagues — on both sides of the aisle — to show the American people that they’re serious about saving lives,” she said.

The Democrat-controlled House is expected to vote on the bills next week, CBS News reported.

The package faces long odds in the evenly-divided Senate, with most Republicans likely opposed to sweeping gun control measures. And President Joe Biden has not helped, making repeated gaffes that critics say feed fears among Second Amendment advocates. For example, Biden said there is no “rational basis” to own guns that fire 9-millimeter ammunition — among the most common weapons in the country.

“The .22 caliber bullet will lodge in the lungs, and we can get it out. A 9mm bullet blows the lung out of the body. The idea of a high caliber weapon, there is simply no rational basis for it in terms of self-protection, hunting,” Biden said.

The White House was forced to walk back his statement and assure the public the president doesn’t support a ban on handgun sales.

Tim Mack, a spokesman for Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery), called the House proposals “incredibly vital.” He added the gunman in Buffalo had “no business at that age having access” to what Biden called “weapons of war.”

“We think that it’s something that’s incredibly vital given the two previous mass shootings. They bring us all a lot of sadness,” Mack said.

Aubrey Suber, a spokeswoman for Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Berks/Chester), said Houlahan supports the gun control bill.

“Sadly, there are too many elected officials who have accepted this uniquely American tragedy as inevitable,” Houlahan posted on her website. “But we can prevent this. We can prevent town names from being forever remembered by bloodshed and tragedy; first responders from walking into carnage; parents shrieking after learning their child didn’t survive. And we have the roadmap to do it.”

“It starts with passing universal background checks, a commonsense reform that over 90 percent of Americans agree on,” she said. “The refusal of Republicans in the Senate to consider this legislation is, in no uncertain terms, deadly. I stand ready, again, to work with my colleagues on action of any kind and show our students and educators we care. To the small number of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle willing to find a way forward: thank you.”

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) did not respond to requests for comment outlining his position on the proposed gun reform package.

However, Fitzpatrick released a statement following the Uvlade tragedy offering condolences to the families of the victims and calling on lawmakers to “find a solution” to the nation’s gun issue.

“You can never truly adjust to the loss of a loved one’s life that has ended too soon. My prayers are with the families of those who died, and I hope that we can work together as a country to find a solution that protects our children and citizens from the evils of unnecessary violence,” he said.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used both his talents as a video performer — along with an actual video — to make a powerful case for America to do more to help his war-torn nation fight off its Russian invaders. And while most of his remarks were delivered in Ukrainian, he used language that resonated with average Americans.

“Remember Pearl Harbor, terrible morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. Just remember it,” Zelensky said. “Remember September the 11th, a terrible day in 2001 when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories, in battlefields, when innocent people were attacked, attacked from air.

“Our country experiences the same every day.”

Zelensky also mentioned Mount Rushmore, America’s sacrifices on behalf of democracy abroad, and even the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“I have a need. I need to protect our sky. I need your decision, your help, which means exactly the same, the same you feel when you hear the words, ‘I have a dream.'”

Wednesday afternoon President Joe Biden signed a bill to send $800 million worth of military equipment and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, saying, “We’re going to continue to have their backs.” However, Biden did not act on Zelenskyy’s request for a no-fly zone.

Local legislators reacted with alacrity.

“This morning, President Zelenskyy delivered a powerful and sobering address not only to the U.S. Congress but also to all Americans who value peace and democracy around the world,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester/Berks). “Many lines struck me, but he pierced the entire room when he said: ‘I see no sense in life, if I cannot stop the deaths,’ referring to all of the innocent children who have died. He also asked us to ‘do more.’ We must all ask ourselves how long we can delay providing the aircraft and weapon systems Ukrainians have asked for and need to defend their sovereign nation. I say we cannot delay one moment longer. In this historic moment, we must stand up for freedom and democracy around the world.”

Houlahan, however, does not support American boots on the ground or the imposition of a no-fly zone.

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-Delaware) issued the following statement after Zelenskyy spoke: “This morning, President Zelenskyy reminded us: ‘Ukraine is not fighting just for Ukraine.’ His nation’s battle is a pivotal fight for freedom and democracy, not just in Ukraine but around the world. We must remain clear-eyed about the fact that a tyrant like Vladimir Putin will continue his quest for power until he is stopped. I am incredibly grateful to President Zelenskyy for speaking candidly with me and my colleagues about the situation on the ground in Ukraine during this dark time for his country and the world.

“I stand in awe of the courage and passion displayed by President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people as they fight to defend their homeland and democracy from Putin’s unprovoked, illegal war. Their resolve in the face of Putin’s evil acts will go down in history.

“This morning, President Zelenskyy called for more humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, as well as increased economic pressure on Russia, and I expect the United States will respond to that call. The U.S. Congress and Biden administration are united in our determination to provide every feasible measure of humanitarian and military aid possible to the Ukrainian people until Putin ceases his unlawful attack on this sovereign nation. I believe it is crucial for the U.S. to rely upon advice from our military and foreign policy experts as we determine the best course to further support Ukraine.”

Likewise, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) favors more aid for war-ravaged Ukraine.

“President Zelenskyy’s address before Congress today was incredibly powerful and moving. What the world is witnessing is a modern-day Winston Churchill laying down his life for his country and honorably leading his people through a brutal and senseless war in defense of independence, peace, and democracy. President Zelenskyy undoubtedly exemplifies everything a leader should be and has continued to inspire the entire world.

“Equally, the United States must meet this moment with strength, unity, and leadership and immediately fulfill the requests of President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people. I continue to call on the Administration to deliver additional humanitarian aid and critical lethal defensive equipment to Ukraine, specifically military aircraft and air defense systems, so the Ukrainians can defend their skies.

“This should include approving the transfer of Polish MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. The U.S. and NATO must continue to do everything in our power to firmly stand behind the people of Ukraine by supporting a humanitarian no-fly zone to give Ukrainians a fighting chance to save their innocent civilians. It is no secret that weakness invites aggression. Now is the time to send a message to murderous war criminal Vladimir Putin regarding what the United States intends to do to back our ally and friend Ukraine, rather than telling our enemy what we won’t do.”

And Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said, “President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people’s bravery and resolve has shown the world that Ukraine will do everything they can to stand up to Putin. But today, President Zelenskyy once again made clear that the Ukrainian people need our help, including by ensuring ‘the Russians do not receive a single penny’ to fund the killing of Ukrainians.

“America can lead the rest of the world in answering Zelenskyy’s call by imposing secondary sanctions on the entirety of Russia’s financial sector. These sanctions would effectively prohibit foreign banks anywhere in the world, under the threat of U.S. sanctions, from making payments to Russian banks, including for oil and gas. Stopping these funds from flowing to Putin’s war machine is a critical lifeline for the Ukrainian people.

“The American people stand with Ukraine, and we must help them as they heroically fight for their lives,” said Toomey.

Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery) tweeted this: “President Zelenskyy’s address to Congress this morning was deeply moving and very clear about what Ukraine needs.

We must do all we can to support Ukrainians in the fight to protect their democracy. Slava Ukraini.”

Sen. Bob Casey also sent a tweet: “I just watched @ZelenskyyUa’s address to Congress. He spoke clearly and eloquently about Putin’s brutality and outlined the support he needs from the world. The United States stands by the Ukrainian people and we will work with our allies to support their needs.”

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Democrat Rep. Chrissy Houlahan and Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick are on opposite sides of the partisan aisle, but they are in full agreement when it comes to Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: Give them what they need.

That was the message of the two Delaware Valley members of Congress when they appeared on “Fox and Friends” Wednesday morning in advance of Zelenskyy’s speech to Congress.

“We should give Zelenskyy what he’s asking for,” Fitzpatrick said.

Houlahan said it is the job of Congress to “ask questions and push for answers” from the White House when it comes to providing material support to Ukraine. “The administration is where the buck stops.”

Fitzpatrick was more direct in his criticism of the Biden administration’s Ukraine policy, particularly its refusal to participate in the transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets from Poland to the embattled nation’s military.

“It’s inconsistent to say on the one hand, ‘They [the Ukrainians] don’t need them,’ and on the other hand to say, ‘It’s provocative for us to give them,'” Fitzpatrick said. “I don’t understand the distinction between lethal equipment like Javelins and Stinger missiles being driven across the border… It’s a distinction without a difference. We should give Zelenskyy what he’s asking for, which is the ability to knock these missiles that are causing such incredible devastation out of the sky.”

In his speech to Congress later that morning, Zelenskyy renewed his request for the fighter jets, as well as his call for western nations to impose a no-fly zone in the skies over Ukraine.

“I have a need. I need to protect our sky. I need your decision, your help, which means exactly the same… when you hear the words, ‘I have a dream,'” he said.

“Remember September the 11th, a terrible day in 2001 when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories on battlefields, when innocent people were attacked from air, yes, just like no one else expected it, you could not stop it. Our country experiences the same thing every day, right now at this moment, every night for three weeks now various Ukrainian cities — Mariupol and Kharkiv — Russia has turned the Ukrainian skies into a source of death for thousands of people,” Zelenskyy said.

Polls show Americans overwhelmingly support Ukraine, with 59 percent saying they would even support America imposing a no-fly zone.

Few in Congress or the White House are prepared to take that step, however, and neither representative gave the idea their support.

“I hope we will continue to be as creative in our solutions as possible,” Houlahan said. “They are in a fight for their lives and we should be as helpful as we possibly can.”

Both members are also in agreement on extending sanctions to Chinese banks as well, as part of the pushback against Russia. “I think that our partnership with China will still allow us to maintain the cooperation that we have achieved, and not only maintain, but also increase it in an environment where Western markets are closing,” Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Sunday. There are also reports Russia asked China for armed drones on the eve of its invasion of Ukraine.

“We need to keep China on the sidelines as much as possible,” Houlahan said. She also expressed disappointment over news India may take up a Russian offer to buy crude oil and other commodities at a discount.

“I’m frankly confounded by India and this particular set of circumstances, and their movements right now have been a little bit perplexing, to be honest,” she said.

Fitzpatrick recently traveled to the Ukraine border and he described the conditions there as “heartbreaking.”

“Watching the men staying behind to fight for their country saying goodbye to their spouses, their wives, their moms, their daughters — it’s one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever seen.”

Houlahan’s father was born in Lviv when it was part of Poland, “So certainly it’s personal to me. And it should be, frankly, personal to all of us. Because it’s reflective of 1939 and that should concern all of is,” she said.

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