CAMDEN, Ark. — As they stood before massive rocket launchers built in part by their Arkansas constituents, Republican lawmakers got an unambiguous message Thursday from America's top military officer: A Ukraine aid package that's stalled in Congress will not only help in the fight against Russia, but also support jobs in their districts.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff doesn't normally fly around the United States with members of Congress. But Gen. C.Q. Brown's trip was part of the Pentagon's full-court press to get the House to move forward on a $95 billion foreign aid package that's key to getting critical munitions flowing to Kyiv again.
Brown's travel companions included both supporters and opponents of the current Ukraine aid package. Even some who have been cautious said they see a path forward for approval of the bill, which includes roughly $60 billion to support Ukraine.
"We want to be able to help our allies and also help keep our industrial complex to stay afloat," said Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark. "All of that said, it has to be a bill we can come to agreement on, and it has to be something that members of Congress feel like they understand what the mission is, and what the objective is, and what the plan is."
Republican Sens. John Boozman of Arkansas and Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma also joined Brown for a tour of Lockheed Martin's factory in Camden, Arkansas, where workers assembled massive ring bases for the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System and the tube components of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS. Both systems have been in high demand in Ukraine.
Mullin, who previously voted against the bill, said he still sees a way to get approval for the aid, which he supports.
"There is a package that's being worked on the Senate and the House side that could possibly move forward," he said, citing an idea that would give the U.S. first rights to Ukraine's mineral resources in return for the aid. It's a type of loan that former President Donald Trump has supported and that could make the U.S. less dependent on China, Mullin said.
"The whole world is out of ammunition," said Boozman, who supported the bill. "Eventually we are going to get the dollars, because it's so important."
All three cited the impact the massive bill would have on the local workforce.
Brown also met with Oklahoma Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen on this trip, during a second stop at the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Oklahoma. Brecheen previously indicated he would not support the bill currently in the House.
In a call with reporters before the trip, Brown said he would use the time with the lawmakers to talk about the importance of the supplemental national security funding.
"What I mean by that is much of the money, about 80% of the money out of the supplemental, will go back into our defense industrial base," he said.
He said the funding is needed to replenish U.S. military stockpiles sent to Ukraine, and increased production ultimately generates income at home. It's a point the Pentagon increasingly pushed in recent months as current Ukraine funding ran out — and Ukrainian forces on the front line began to ration munitions against a much more robustly supplied Russian army.
Lockheed Martin's Camden plant also makes Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS — long-range missiles Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said proved effective against Russian forces.
The McAlester plant produces Navy and Air Force bombs, but is also a major storage site for critically needed 155mm munitions. In support of Ukraine the McAlester plant accelerated repair of Stinger and Hawk missiles and refurbished South Korea-provided 155mm rounds with new markings and fuses.
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, a high-ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, who negotiated a failed border bill that became a sticking point for the Ukraine aid bill in the House, were scheduled to travel with Brown but were not on the trip.
Trump, the GOP's presumptive presidential nominee, led the Republican Party away from Ukraine aid.
On Thursday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who championed the Ukraine aid despite objections from his own party, urged the House to "finish the job" by passing the Senate bill.
McConnell said providing equipment to Ukraine for battlefield success is not only "the surest way" to resolve the war, but it strengthens America's interests. "Investing in our own military and our own defense industrial capacity at the same time is common sense," he said in a Senate speech.
To push the package forward, some House lawmakers are attempting a rarely used procedural tool — a "discharge petition" — that could force an eventual vote. But it is a cumbersome process that's also been complicated by dueling approaches, one for the Senate-passed bill and another for an emerging package.
Ukraine endures a second year of war with scenes of grief, suffering and also joy
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. C.Q. Brown, center, tours the HIMARS production line Thursday at Lockheed Martin's Camden, Ark., facility with Sen. John Bozeman, R-Ark., left.