Top US military chief visits munitions plants with lawmakers to press the need to arm Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown is visiting U.S. weapon factories in Oklahoma and Arkansas on Thursday as the Pentagon frames the $95 billion aid package hanging in the balance on Capitol Hill as not only vital to Ukraine’s survival but also critical to the U.S. economy.

Brown is visiting Lockheed Martin’s Camden, Arkansas, weapon facility and the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Oklahoma, with the lawmakers who represent those factory workforces to address concerns over billions of dollars being sent overseas when there are so many needs at home. Some of those lawmakers have either already voted against the aid or have indicated they will oppose it.

The general is scheduled to travel with Arkansas Republican Sen. John Boozman, Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin and Arkansas Republican Rep. Brad Westerman and then meet with Oklahoma Republican Rep. Josh Breechen while at McAlester.

Brown said he’ll use the trip to point out how the funding is needed to replenish U.S. military stockpiles that have been sent forward to Ukraine during its fight against Russia’s invasion and how that increased production supports local economies. It’s a point the Pentagon has increasingly pushed in recent months as current Ukraine funding ran out — and Ukraine’s front lines began to ration munitions against a much more robustly supplied Russian army.

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