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a good thursday morning for you. you can start calling in now as we show you more from president biden yesterday. pres. biden: armored capability has been critical and that is why united states has committed hundreds of vehicles to date, including more than 500 as part of the package we announced last friday. today i am announcing the united states will be sending 31 abram tanks to ukraine. secretary austin has recommended this step because it will enhance ukraine's capacity to defend its territory and achieve strategic objective. abram tanks are the most capable tanks in the world. they are complex operated and maintained. where giving ukraine the parts and equipment necessary to sustain the tanks on the about a bill. -- on the battlefield.

will continue to train all maintenance as soon as possible. delivering the tanks of the field will take time. time we will use to make sure ukrainians are fully prepared to integrate the tanks into their defenses. host: president biden from the white house yesterday. reaction among republicans varied yesterday on a variety of reactions including from mike pompeo on twitter saying, the fastest way to defeat russia is to give ukraine the weapons it needs. from lindsey graham, the sooner the war is over the more stable the work will be. michael mccaul saying, he is glad that reportedly the german government will agree to the transfer of is tank. there is no excuse for the delay. marjorie taylor greene with this tweet, to the president, why are

you not calling tanks to the southern border while our country is invaded and americans are being murdered in record numbers by chinese, fentanyl. we serve the american people who pay for the tanks and our salaries not president zelenskyy. from the republican of kentucky, saying, we look weaker. they're not coming back. 31 fewer tanks to defend united states. here's one more from republican tom cotton, this is what he had to say. [video clip] >> is a welcome decision that they decided finally to provide the tanks ukraine but it is long overdue and continues and powders as before the war started. president biden be as scared of his own shadow and declining military support the ukraine army needs and to defend

ukrainian territory and to fight back against russia's unprovoked war. it is an admission of their own mistakes, not providing the tanks months ago, as you have seen for the last year when that administration explained some kind of weapon system or intelligence would be dangerously escalatory onto provided much later too late brett to be used to stop further advances -- for it to be used to stop further advances. to end the war, back ukraine army so they can defend their own territory. host: republican tom cotton on fox news yesterday. that is reaction among republicans. reactions from democrats and having four members of congress join us in the first segment of washington journal from our cameras on capitol hill. get their reaction to talk about

ongoing efforts to aid ukraine. we want to hear from you. do you think u.s. aid to ukraine has been too much? too little? about right? and a special line for current and former members. especially want you to join this discussion this morning on the washington journal. we start on that line, lives in virginia, good morning. host: good morning. i just retired a year ago from the military. i start in iraq twice, afghanistan wants. looking at the situation, i believe we need to back out of it. it is something about going -- it is like a sibling live -- bribery. -- it is like a sibling rivalry. we need to stay in our own lane. host: sending abram tanks into the fight. what does that mean?

what was your reaction? what would that mean on the about a filter from your experience? did you ever encounter those? caller: total destruction. that is what it means. as long as it is not the u.s. military there, i do not want to say i do not care, but as long as it is not as they are with it, that is fine. do not send us there. it is not worth it. host: michael in silver springs is next, the line for those who say support is too little. caller: i was saying to my wife about six months ago -- i am a democrat.

i think president biden is either scared, weak, or lying. i was saying 22-year-old american boys are running these tanks in america and then yesterday i'm sitting there watching msnbc and general mccaffrey comes on and he says it is a lot of malarkey that these are complex equipment. he said we should be sending a whole division i looked up the definition of division and it was 250 tanks in a division, in an armored division. 18-year-old and then mccaffrey came out and said, we could have these guys able to drive these

tanks within 30 days. i am going, oh my god. we should be sending -- we backed to south vietnam and we sit over hardware. we back south korea and we sit over hardware. we do not have to send man but we could send hardware. i think biden is being weak. it is upsetting. all military equipment is one way. it never comes back. after world war ii my dataset in japan they were pushing off equipment into the pacific -- my dad said in japan were pushing off equipment into the pacific ocean. it is the number one industry in america. that step is not coming back. host: the numbers here, 31 tanks and additional support vehicles in terms of the timing when they

might reach in battlefield, that is not clear right now. washington times points out, the first abram tanks could arrive in ukraine months from now. some officials say the delivery could take as much as 12 months and a lot of questions about the training of troops to use those vehicles. u.s. tanks according to the washington post will be purchased from manufacturers rather than transfer to existing military stockpiles. noting it is not immediately clear why the biden administration decided to pursue purchasing new tanks rather than sending some of the thousands in u.s. military inventory. the pentagon assesses they do not have an excess abram's. all of them are employed for our own national security defenses, according to john kirby the spokesperson for white house national security council. if