WASHINGTON– U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jim Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Susan Collins, R-Maine, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., today offered the following comments in response to the appointment of Hon. Robert P. Storch as the lead Inspector General for the oversight of Ukraine aid: 

"Taxpayers must have confidence that U.S. aid to Ukraine is being used to support the national interest. I appreciate that the Department of Defense has responded to repeated calls from Senate Republicans to match military aid with significant oversight. Appointing a lead Inspector General will help ensure that Congress supports Ukraine's defense in the most responsible and effective way possible,” Wicker said. 

“At our insistence, the inspectors general at the State Department, USAID, and Department of Defense are doing a tremendous job at overseeing our assistance to Ukraine,” said Risch. “The appointment of a lead inspector general, which I have advocated for, will enhance the important transparency and accountability work they are doing and ensure no resources are wasted.”

“Maintaining strong oversight of U.S. aid to Ukraine is critical to ensuring taxpayer dollars are being well spent while providing Congress with timely, fact-based information,” said Collins.  “Congress has appropriated nearly $50 million towards oversight of assistance provided to Ukraine, and hundreds of oversight professionals are working in support of that effort.  The appointment of a lead Inspector General will continue such comprehensive and coordinated oversight, helping to increase transparency and provide Ukraine with what it needs to defend and take back its sovereign territory.”

“Thanks in large part to the requirements Senate Republicans have attached to our aid since the beginning of Russia’s escalation, the United States has unprecedented visibility into how Ukraine is using American weapons,” said Leader McConnell. “I am encouraged by the Department’s latest efforts to expand U.S. oversight as we continue to equip Ukraine to win.”