Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) says she’s voting against a ‘rule’ to allow four supplemental funding bills to be brought to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. This rule vote is consequential because although it allows for separate votes on Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan funding, and a Russia/Iran Sanctions bill, the rule would then force all bills to be combined into one package with no opportunity for Congress to vote on that final package – essentially making the bill the Senate supplemental that House Republicans have widely condemned.
“Time and time again, conservatives in the House of Representatives have expressed their strong objections to combining aid to Israel with additional funding of the war in Ukraine, yet that is exactly what happened today when the House passed a rule to combine four separate bills into one. This smoke and mirrors tactic that provided the illusion of separation is disingenuous and not how business should be conducted in Congress. In the past, I have always supported rule votes so that debate could be had and a final vote on a bill could occur. In this situation, the rule would actually limit debate and discussion,” the lone Representative from Wyoming says in a release.
“The legislation that this rule ties together is reckless in the amount of money being spent and the lack of accountability it requires. The package provides nearly $61 billion to Ukraine, including $300 million to secure the UKRAINIAN border. This additional funding brings the total amount that the United States has committed to the Ukraine/Russia conflict to over $172 billion. What is the end game? How is this money being spent? Where is the oversight? Why aren’t we spending $300 million to secure OUR borders?”
Rep. Hageman goes on to say that there is a link between funding Ukraine against Russia and the terrorist organization Hamas, making the connection in the media release: “In addition to Ukraine funding, the package contains $9 billion for ‘Humanitarian Aid’ – it is a certainty that a significant portion of these dollars will find their way to Hamas terrorists. In total, over $95 billion in funding is being distributed via four bills. This massive spending package is not offset by any spending cuts and will push FY2024 spending by this Republican Congress tens of billions of dollars over what Nancy Pelosi authorized when she was the Speaker and Covid funds were being appropriated.”
Hageman also made the case that being careless with taxpayer dollars is not what the GOP has been about. “Throughout our history, the Republican party has always stood for fiscal responsibility – it is past time that we return to that precept.”
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, overwhelmingly, despite the bitter objections from Republican hardliners, according to Reuters.
The legislation is now in the Senate, which had passed a similar bill more than two month ago.
The Senate is set to begin considering the House-passed bill on Tuesday, with some preliminary votes that afternoon. Final passage was expected sometime next week, which would clear the way for Biden to sign it into law. President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell have been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote.
The bills would provide almost $61B to help Ukraine defend itself from a Russian invasion, $26B for Israel, including $9B for humanitarian needs, and $8B for Taiwan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his thanks, saying U.S. lawmakers moved to keep “history on the right track,” and that American assistance is “vital” to keep the war from “expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger.”
President Biden, who had urged Congress since last year to approve the additional aid to Ukraine, said in a White House media release: “[Aid] comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia.”
The vote on passage of the Ukraine funding was 311-112. Significantly, 112 Republicans opposed the legislation, with only 101 in support.
