A top House Democrat has fired back at President Joe Biden over his decision to send controversial cluster bombs to Ukraine.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee, warned Friday that Biden has made a “terrible mistake.”
McCollum was responding to President Biden’s decision to green-light sending the controversial weapons to Ukraine.
Cluster munitions contain many explosives and remain on the ground undetonated for years after they were deployed.
In many cases, when dud submunitions fall to the ground without exploding but are unexpectedly detonated later.
They are currently banned in over 100 other countries as they can continue killing civilians for decades after wars end.
As Slay News reported earlier, Biden reportedly approved the move because America is now running out of bombs after sending so many to Ukraine already.
“The decision by the Biden administration to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine is unnecessary and a terrible mistake,” McCollum said in a statement.
“The legacy of cluster bombs is misery, death, and expensive cleanup generations after their use.
“The U.S. pays tens of millions of dollars annually to remove cluster munitions in Laos from the Vietnam era as these remnants of war continue to kill and maim civilians.”
The Biden administration announced that its latest aid package to Ukraine would include cluster munitions, bombs that release smaller explosives across a wide area when detonated.
Both Russia and Ukraine have used cluster munitions since Moscow first launched its attack in February 2022.
White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan acknowledged on Friday that cluster munitions do pose a risk to civilians.
However, he argues that the danger to their lives would be higher if Kyiv did not have enough weapons to fight off Russia’s troops.
The “dud rate” for munitions the Pentagon is sending to Ukraine is below 3%.
But McCollum called on the U.S. to have nothing to do with the controversial weapons altogether.
“As a strong supporter of the Biden administration’s policy in Ukraine, I must state in the strongest possible terms my absolute opposition to the U.S. transferring cluster munitions,” she said.
“These weapons should be eliminated from our stockpiles, not dumped in Ukraine.”
The decision did, however, earn Biden rare praise across the aisle from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).
“For Ukrainian forces to defeat Putin’s invasion, Ukraine needs at least equal access to the weapons Russia already uses against them, like cluster munitions,” Cotton said.
“Providing this new capability is the right decision—even if it took too long—and is one I’ve long supported.”
But another Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), said she was “alarmed” that Biden was “considering sending cluster bombs to Ukraine.”
“Cluster bombs work by scattering tiny ‘bomblets’ over a wide area,” Lee said on Twitter.
“Many of these bomblets don’t explode—but remain a threat to civilians for decades.
“The Ukrainian people are engaged in a just struggle for their rights, freedom, and humanity.
“The US and Ukraine don’t need to stoop to Putin’s level.”
