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Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville spoke at the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Wednesday morning and covered a number of topics, including his opposition to additional U.S. funding for Ukraine.
Mr. Tuberville opposed the $95 bill aid package passed by the Senate on Tuesday that included $60 billion to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression. Alabama Sen. Katie Britt also voted against it. The bill passed 70-29. Tuberville said the bill has received criticism from House Speaker Mike Johnson and is not expected to pass the House.
Tuberville, a former Auburn University football coach who was elected to the Senate in 2020, said it’s a waste for the U.S. to continue pouring money and resources into the Ukraine war, saying it’s a waste.
“It’s like being a middle school kid playing on an NFL team,” Tuberville told a large audience at a chamber breakfast. “They can’t win.”
Tuberville was then asked by reporters about the possibility that the withdrawal of U.S. aid to Ukraine could open the door to more aggressive action by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Tuberville said he did not believe Russia would use Ukraine as a springboard for further military conquest. He said he supports the United States playing a role in negotiations to end the war.
“My Republican colleagues also want to send more money, but they say (if) Russia wins, they’re going to keep running through Europe,” Tuberville said. “First of all, in two years and billions of dollars spent on both sides, they marched about 40 miles into Ukraine. You can’t win so much as overrun Ukraine.
“You have to think about this. Once you take over a country, you have to govern it,” Tuberville said. “They don’t want that. They want the part that they feel they’re owed. And I’m against that.”
“But at the end of the day, someone has to talk to the Russian people and put an end to this problem,” the senator said sadly. “We can’t afford that. The Ukrainian people can’t afford that. Lives are being lost. Russia can’t afford that.”
Tuberville said he believes there was a failure in diplomacy and that the war could have been prevented.
“Now we have to get out of this situation somehow,” the senator said. “We have to get rid of the Ukrainian people. We have to appeal to the American people.”
Tuberville said he believes Putin understands the consequences of further aggression.
“Do you think they will continue to pass through Europe? No, they don’t,” the senator said. “I don’t think they have any intentions. If they had any intentions, we would be involved in it. It’s not just the money, it’s the entire military. And that’s probably the end of the line for a lot of things. It will be the beginning.”
Mr. Tuberville said that as a member of the Armed Services Committee, he gained a deeper understanding of the importance of maintaining an open dialogue with Russia and President Putin.
“Russia is the only country in the world that can destroy this country in 45 minutes,” Tuberville said. “They have so many missiles. They’re loaded. They have more than China. They have more than we do. You can’t defeat them all.
“So, to me, that’s reason enough to say, ‘Let’s sit down and talk.'” Will he use them? I don’t think he will. they have the ability to use them. And they have the ability to destroy all of us here. But it should never come close to that point. ”
read more: Tuberville: President Putin is open to peace, but “warmongers in Washington, D.C., want the Ukraine conflict to last longer”
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Mr. Tuberville also touched on a number of other topics. He says he learned a lot from former Sen. Richard Shelby. He said the Montgomery area has growth potential. He cited the U.S. Air Force’s decision to base its new F-35 fighter jets at the Alabama Air National Guard Base in Montgomery.
The senator said the national debt, which is approximately $34 trillion, is not sustainable. He said debt and inflation remain threats to the economy, which is not as healthy as it appears on the surface.
“Don’t look at the stock market,” Tuberville said. “Because when we borrow that much money, that’s why our economy is in good shape. But sooner or later, that water tap turns off. And that’s why our economy is in good shape. When it runs out, we all have to pay for it in the form of taxes.”
The senator spoke about issues at the U.S. border, saying there are too many people entering the country illegally. He said it’s more pronounced in big cities, but it’s also affecting Alabama.
“We need to bring people here who speak our language, who are educated and who can come and take care of themselves,” Tuberville said.
The senator spoke about his months-long effort to block recommendations for military promotions in an effort to force a change in the Pentagon’s policy of paying compensation to service members who travel to other states to obtain abortions. Tuberville ended the effort in December, keeping the policy in place.
“Eventually, the Republicans turned on me, so I had to let it go,” Tuberville said. “But I was fighting for the right reasons, because I was fighting for my life. And I believe in life. But this is not about abortion, and people have to pay for it. Because taxpayer money shouldn’t be used for abortions.”
Tuberville said the work on policy change is far from over.
Tuberville, a longtime supporter of former President Trump, did not mention Trump, who is the front-runner for the Republican nomination. He said he believes Washington is “in limbo” because of the presidential election.
The former coach spoke about working with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, on a bill that would regulate policies that allow college athletes to receive compensation based on their name, image and likeness (NIL). Tuberville said he supports paying college athletes, but said the current transfer system and roster chaos is out of control.
“It’s hard to do your job when you can’t control your team,” Tuberville said. “And you can’t build a team when you have players who take money and transfer at any time. It’s no longer a team sport, it’s an individual thing.”
Tuberville said he and Manchin worked for two years with coaches, the NCAA and others to craft the bill, but it was never brought to a vote in the Democratic-controlled Senate. He said Democrats support unions for college athletes, but he opposes them. He said he will continue to advocate for the bill to be enacted.
“We’re at a point right now where we don’t know what direction this is going to take, but I’m going to keep fighting for it,” Tuberville said.
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