The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has teed up series of high-pressure votes on foreign aid in support of Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. Within his caucus, aid for Ukraine has prompted so much opposition among far-right members it threatens his speakership. Alongside the aid measures, though, the speaker is advancing a new sanctions proposal that is stirring up controversy of its own.
The 21st Century Peace through Strength Act incorporates another wordy legislative aspiration known as the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act. That’s the REPO Act for short. The basic idea is Ukraine needs money to fund its defense against Russia and eventually rebuild; Russia meanwhile has a mountain of assets frozen in foreign countries because it attacked Ukraine. So why not use the latter to solve the former?
Back in January, …