President Joe Biden used his second Oval Office address to connect the importance of defending Israel and Ukraine to America’s security — and its defense industrial base.
“Let me be clear about something. We send Ukrainian equipment sitting in our stockpiles, and when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores, our own stockpiles with new equipment, equipment that defends America and is made in America,” Biden said Thursday night. “Patriot missiles for air defense batteries, made in Arizona. Artillery shells manufactured in 12 states across the country: in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, and so much more.”
The speech, which took advantage of the bully pulpit afforded to the president when he uses the Oval Office in prime time, previewed the emergency supplemental request for security assistance that he plans to send to Congress on Friday, which is expected to come with a price tag upwards of $100 billion.
