ST. LOUIS — U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, introduced legislation to light the Gateway Arch blue and yellow in support of Ukraine.
The legislation was co-sponsored by all seven Missouri members of the House of Representatives.
“The world is united behind Ukraine and lighting up symbols like the Gateway Arch in Ukrainian colors will send a message to our friends and allies in Europe, and across the globe, that the American people are supportive of the sovereign Ukrainian nation,” she said in a press release.
Wagner filed the legislation after returning from Poland, where she was among a bipartisan group of lawmakers that met with refugees that fled from Ukraine. The group also met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, NATO and European allies, and Ukrainian leaders.
We saw over 132,000 mostly women and children coming across the border from Ukraine, fleeing this war criminal, Putin, who was bombing and destroying their country, and it was heartbreaking," Wagner said Tuesday in an interview with 5 On Your Side. "These were women and children that were hugging their sons and their husbands as they said goodbye because they had to go back and fight."
Wagner said people they met with were asking for more military equipment, weaponry systems and humanitarian aid. Now, she and the other lawmakers will take that information and use it to inform how to best help Ukraine.
"They're not looking for American boots on the ground," she said. "They're not looking for us to do to ourselves supply or secure a no fly zone. They want to do it themselves. They just need the world's assistance in order to do so.
In addition to Wagner, the other lawmakers who made the trip were Rep. David Cicilline, D-New York; Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia; Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania; Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas; Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-New York; Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-California; and Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pennsylvania.