A huge amount of America's Ukraine aid funding stays in the U.S.

One of the biggest myths surrounding American aid to Ukraine has been the confusion over just where that money was being spent. Most Americans don’t know that the vast majority of Ukraine's aid actually stays inside the United States. 

This was a fact that Washington Post columnist Marc Theissen attempted to explain in a November 29th opinion piece in which he revealed that the best-kept secret of Ukraine's aid was that the majority of it was spent within the union’s states. 

Theissen pointed to one analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies that found 90% of $68 billion dollars related to assistance for Ukraine approved by Congress had gone into the pockets of American workers and businesses. 

All throughout the union, states have been seeing the benefits of Ukrainian aid but there has been a real lack of understanding, at least until now. Theissen worked with colleagues Clara Keuss and Noah Burke to map where American aid money was going. 

The trio work together at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy, a think tank based in Washington, and found that over half of the states in the country were enjoying the benefits of American military aid spending to Ukraine. 

For example, Theissen reported in his Washington Post article that he and his colleagues were able to identify 117 production lines from 31 states across 71 cities where workers were producing major weapons systems for the Ukrainians. 

Theissen also explained that many other weapon systems were being made across the and noted that his list did not include the suppliers that provide parts and equipment for the major weapon system that he and his colleagues had tracked. 

This equipment from suppliers included mundane things like parts and plastics but also was comprised of sophisticated products like computer chips or smaller items like cold-weather night vision goggles, medical supplies, and small-arms ammunition. 

“Every single state in the U.S. contributes to this effort,” one Ukrainian official explained to Theissen, who wrote that U.S. aid to Ukraine was reinvigorating the country’s industrial and manufacturing base, which had been neglected for years. 

One good example noted out by Theissen was the country’s Stinger anti-aircraft missile. The United States had not manufactured a Stinger system since 2005. However, aid brought $624.6 million to Tucson, Arizona to replace the 1,400 sent to Ukraine. 

Unfortunately, most of the country would not realize American aid to Ukraine has been helping the country prosper according to Theissen, who called out U.S. lawmakers like J.D. Vance and Jim Jordan for their opposition to more funding for Kyiv. 

The Biden administration has taken note of the growing opposition to Ukraine's aid and has been quietly working to rectify the situation by providing lawmakers with a detailed account of how Ukraine's aid spending has been helping the country. 

On November 28th, Reuters reported that the first breakdown of U.S. aid spending was circulating Capitol Hill, and in the information, the administration showed that states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Texas were the top benefits of aid. 

Interestingly, eighteen out of twenty-five Republican representatives from Texas voted against giving more aid to but the previous aid approved had brought $1.45 billion into the state for the production of badly needed 155mm shells for Ukraine's war effort. 

Three out of six Republicans in Arizona voted against more aid but the state got $2.196 billion in funding from Ukraine's aid. A total of $27 billion was mapped out state-by-state showing where Ukraine funding was being spent in the U.S. 

In Joe Biden’s October Oval Office speech asking Congress to approve money for Ukraine, the president outlined how the money helped the United States. But Biden’s words didn’t seem to make a difference for some lawmakers. 

“Let me be clear about something,” Biden said. “We send Ukraine 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.” Biden said

“Equipment that defends America and is made in America. 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,” Biden continued. 

Now that the Biden administration is working harder to show the benefits that further aid to Ukraine can bring the country, there is hope that the enduring myth that the US is just giving money away might end. However, only time will tell if opinions change.