I am curious as to where that statement of purpose for the United States is found. It is certainly not spelled out in our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Law, Treaty or even our tradition. Our government's duty to protect and defend the United States is clearly defined in our founding documents although elitist such as Mr. Manchin don't seem to take that responsibility seriously. Even it he was correct about our purpose being to defend freedom and fight for democracy, I fail to find credible evidence that Ukraine meets that criteria.