爱荷华州参议员乔尼·恩斯特呼吁拜登政府做出强烈回应，因为随着俄罗斯可能入侵乌克兰，紧张局势继续加剧。
“我们只需要让普京知道，美国与我们的乌克兰朋友站在一起，”恩斯特周日告诉美国广播公司《本周》联合主播玛莎·拉德达茨。
“在这一点上，你认为俄罗斯入侵的可能性有多大，美国人为什么要担心这一点?”拉德达茨问道。
“嗯，我们需要像美国一样强大，”爱荷华州的初级共和党参议员说，他是参议院军事委员会的成员。“我们看到俄罗斯在乌克兰边境集结军队和装备，这表明了某种行动。那会变成什么样，还有待观察。”
但是，她补充说，“我们可以说的是，我们需要非常积极地反击普京总统，无论是以制裁的形式，当然是从瑞士银行系统中驱逐，对Nord Stream 2管道的制裁，所有这些行动都需要到位，以及继续为我们的乌克兰朋友配备不仅是防御能力，而且是进攻武器。”
俄罗斯动员了多达10万军队，导致俄乌边境陷入僵局，并引发了关于入侵是否迫在眉睫的辩论。
“如果他们真的入侵了，如果俄国人入侵了，会发生什么?”拉德达茨问道。“制裁已经到位。普京下一步做什么?他还没有排除向古巴、委内瑞拉发射导弹的可能性。如果俄罗斯入侵，北约的军事反应应该提上日程吗?”
“我们想确保入侵不会发生，”恩斯特说。“这就是为什么我认为外交在这一点上非常重要。但也显示了美国的坚定决心。到目前为止，在本届政府执政期间，我们已经看到了绥靖主义。这当然不会阻止普京总统和俄罗斯入侵乌克兰。”
拉德达茨接着说:“我想回到我的第一个问题，这可能对一些人来说是显而易见的，但我想说，为什么——为什么这对你们的选民，对美国人来说很重要?”
“嗯，第一，我们确实需要为民主而战。了解普京的目标是保留他在苏联时期拥有的一些权力和控制，以扩大他在整个欧洲的影响力，”恩斯特回答。“我们知道，如果他能够进入乌克兰，而美国或北约几乎没有反对意见，这将使他能够进入东欧其他国家。”
“我们知道，当苏联扩张时，正如他希望看到的那样，这是，你知道，一个新形式的苏联，随着它的扩张，民主将会收缩，”她后来补充说，并指出，“当民主稳定时，这意味着我们的军队，我们的公民，更加安全。”
共和国总统普京想通过入侵乌克兰来创造“新形式的苏联”，@SenJoniErnst上面写着。“我们需要确保民主在全球盛行，确保社会主义、共产主义、旧苏联不会重新获得领土。”https://t.co/W7IFtQLDSzpic.twitter.com/bvXUptLJaw
—本周(@本周ABC)2022年1月23日
上周，参议院未能投票支持取消阻挠议案，以便以简单多数结束对民主党投票权法案的辩论。
这项立法将在全国范围内制定法律，将选举日定为全国假日，并允许无借口缺席投票。
投票失败后，拉德达茨在德克萨斯州外报道，报道了初选前的情况以及新的投票法如何影响选举系统。该州新的参议院法案1已经对选民产生了影响，据当地选举管理人员称，数百名选民的投票申请被拒绝。
“而且，参议员，我想转向投票权，”拉德达茨说。“我去了德州。你听到了无党派选举官员说的话，这是中期选举的金丝雀。你同意吗?”
在解释她反对民主党的投票权法案时，恩斯特坚持认为联邦立法是不必要的。
“每个州都会建立自己的投票系统。他们自己的选举制度。这是一个州的权利。我们不应该像民主党人试图做的那样，将我们的选举制度联邦化，”她说。
爱荷华州是无党派布伦南中心认定的19个拥有新的限制性投票法的州之一。新法律将提前投票时间从29天缩短至20天，并提前一小时关闭投票站。
“这些变化如何让投票变得更加安全?”拉德达茨问道。
“嗯，是同样的安全级别，”恩斯特回应道。“我想说的是，在选举日之前，我们还有三周的提前投票时间，这比纽约州自由得多。所以，我很想看到布伦南中心真正关注纽约。我认为他们只有15天的提前投票时间。所以还有三周时间进去投票。”
“但是为什么要缩短你已经拥有的呢?”拉德达茨按下。
“因为，当你这样做的时候，你就是在管理选举中心，”恩斯特解释道。“在像我这样真正有意义的农村社区，地方政府根本承担不起在较小的选举季节继续像他们那样行事的代价。”
当被问及爱荷华州缩短提前投票和提前关闭投票站时，共和党参议员乔尼·恩斯特说@ MarthaRaddatz“当我们的选民政策远比蓝色州的投票系统更自由时”，民主党人正在瞄准红色州的投票法律。"https://t.co/UKtkVdK1oCpic.twitter.com/XWvkyXg9uN
—本周(@本周ABC)2022年1月23日
恩斯特继续辩称，尽管有人警告说新的投票法限制了投票，但投票率实际上随着新的投票法而增加。
恩斯特说:“我还想说，由于我们在过去几年中实施了许多投票法——选民身份证就是其中之一——我们实际上看到了选民参与度的提高，即使是在非选举年也是如此。“所以我认为民主党人在宣传这是限制准入是一个错误的假设。因为，在爱荷华州，我们只看到更多的选民出来参加他们非常安全的选举。”
Biden administration has 'doctrine of appeasement' toward Russia: Ernst
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called for a strong response from the Biden administration as tensions continue to rise with Russia's potential invasion of Ukraine.
"We simply need to let Putin know that the United States stands with our Ukrainian friends," Ernst told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz Sunday.
"What's the likelihood you see of a Russian invasion at this point, and why should Americans be worried about that?" Raddatz asked.
"Well, we need to be strong as America," said Iowa's junior Republican senator, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "And what we see with Russia amassing troops and equipment at the Ukrainian border is indicative of some sort of action. What that will transpire into is yet to be seen."
But, she added, "What we can say is that we need to be very aggressive in pushing back against President Putin, whether that's in the form of sanctions, expulsion from the Swiss banking system certainly, sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, all of these actions need to be put in place, as well as continuing to equip our Ukrainian friends with not only defensive capabilities but also offensive weapons."
Russia has mobilized as many as 100,000 troops, causing a standoff at the Russian-Ukrainian border and sparking debate about whether an invasion is imminent.
"And what happens if they do invade, if the Russians invade?" Raddatz asked. "The sanctions are put in place. What does Putin do next? He hasn't ruled out missiles to Cuba, Venezuela. Should a NATO military response be on the table if Russia invades?"
"We want to make sure that an invasion doesn't happen," Ernst said. "And that's why I think diplomacy is very important at this point. But also showing a strong resolve from the United States. So far, with this administration, we have seen a doctrine of appeasement. And that certainly is not going to deter President Putin and Russia from invading Ukraine."
Raddatz followed: "I want to go back to my first question, it may be obvious to some, but I would like to say, why -- why is this important to your constituents, to Americans?"
"Well, number one, we do need to fight for democracy. And understanding that Putin's goal is to retain some of what he had during the Soviet era, that power and control, to expand his reaches across Europe," Ernst answered. "We know that if he's able to go into Ukraine, and there's very little pushback from the United States or from NATO, it allows him to move into other countries in Eastern Europe."
"And we know that when -- when Soviet Union expands, as -- as he wants to see it, it's, you know, a new form of the Soviet Union, as it expands, democracy will constrict," she later added, noting that "when democracy is stable, that means our troops, our citizens, are much more safe."
Pres. Putin wants to create "a new form of the Soviet Union" by invading Ukraine,@SenJoniErnstsays."We need to make sure that democracy is prevailing around the globe and that socialism, communism, the old Soviet Union is not regaining territory."https://t.co/W7IFtQLDSzpic.twitter.com/bvXUptLJaw
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)January 23, 2022
Last week, the Senate failed to vote for eliminating the filibuster to allow ending debate on the Democrats' voting rights bill with a simple majority.
The legislation would have created nationwide laws that would have made Election Day a national holiday and allowed for no-excuse absentee voting.
Following the failed vote, Raddatz reported out of Texas, covering the lead up to the primary election and how new voting laws are impacting the election system. The state's new Senate Bill 1 has already had an impact on voters, with hundreds of voters' ballot applications being rejected, according to a local election administrator.
"And, Senator, I want to move to voting rights," Raddatz said. "I went down to Texas. You heard what the nonpartisan election official said, this is a canary in the coal mine for the midterms. Do you agree with that?"
Explaining her opposition to the Democrats' voting rights bill, Ernst insisted that federal legislation is unnecessary.
"Well, every state will put in place their own voting systems. Their own election systems. That is a state's right. We should not be federalizing our election system, as the Democrats had attempted to do," she said.
Iowa is one of 19 states identified by the nonpartisan Brennan Center as having a new restrictive voting law. The new law shortens the early voting period from 29 to 20 days and closes polling sites an hour earlier.
"How do those changes make voting any more secure?" Raddatz asked.
"Well, it is the same level of security," Ernst responded. "What I would say is we still have three weeks of early voting before our Elections Day, which is far more liberal than the state of New York. So, I would love to see the Brennan Center actually focus on New York. I think they only have 15 days of early voting. So it's still three weeks to go in and vote."
"But why shorten what you already had?" Raddatz pressed.
"Because, when you do that, you are manning election centers," Ernst explained. "And in rural communities like mine where it really does make sense, simply local governments can't afford to step out there and continue to man as they would during a smaller election season."
Asked about Iowa shortening early voting and closing voting sites earlier, GOP Sen. Joni Ernst tells@MarthaRaddatzthat Democrats are targeting voting laws in red states "when our voter policies are far more liberal than blue states' voting systems."https://t.co/UKtkVdK1oCpic.twitter.com/XWvkyXg9uN
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC)January 23, 2022
Ernst went on to argue that voter turnout has actually increased with new voting laws despite warnings that such provisions restrict ballot access.
"I would also say, since we have put a number of the voting laws into place over the last several years -- voter ID is one of those -- we've actually seen voter participation increase, even in off-election years," Ernst said. "So I think it's a false premise that the Democrats are promoting out there that this is restricting access. Because, in Iowa, we've only seen voters get out in higher numbers to participate in their very safe elections."
