Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell sent a not-so-subtle message to House Republicans on Tuesday while criticizing the House effort to untie support for Israel and Ukraine.
Although he stopped short of directly denouncing the GOP ploy, McConnell (R-Ky.) said in remarks from the Senate floor that the United States would be naive to ignore how the crises are connected.
“At the risk of repeating myself, the threats facing the United States and our allies are serious and intertwined,” he said. “If we ignore that fact, we do so at our own peril.”
“The Biden administration’s defense budget requests have consistently ignored these growing threats,” McConnell added. “The president’s additional request to address the multiple crises that unfolded during his tenure is an acknowledgment of this failure.”
Earlier this month, the White House unveiled a sweeping $106 billion proposal, which sought $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel and $14 billion for immigration enforcement.
Mitch McConnell pushed House Republicans to support President Biden’s $106 billion supplemental package. ZUMAPRESS.com
Newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has publicly called for the Ukraine and Israel components to be “bifurcated” as he grapples with a Republican Party conference skeptical of greater support for Kiev.
Instead, House Republicans plan to introduce the $14.3 billion in aid to Israel later this week as a stand-alone bill, paid for in part by cuts to IRS funds allocated under the so-called Act. Biden’s Inflation Reduction Plan, a plan that the White House called “not viable.” “Monday night.
“We can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine because I don’t think he would stop there and it would probably encourage China to take action in Taiwan,” Johnson told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in an interview last week. “We are not going to abandon them.”
Mike Johnson won applause from GOP hardliners when he agreed to push a standalone bill to address the war in Ukraine.Getty Images
However, Johnson also said Ukraine aid needs stronger oversight, while the war in the Middle East is a more urgent matter.
“The GOP bill is woefully inadequate and has the imprints of the far right all over it. It makes aid to Israel, which just faced the worst terrorist attack in its history, dependent on poison pills that reward rich people who evade taxes,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). , in response to the Republican proposal.
On Tuesday, McConnell also made clear his preference for coupling the two tranches of aid.
Chuck Schumer says stand-alone House Israel bill is impossible.AP
“Our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee now have the opportunity to provide critical resources to our military and defense industrial base to keep pace with growing threats and support our partners,” he said.
In contrast to Democrats, McConnell has to perform a more delicate dance, while advocating for more foreign security aid while avoiding alienating the more isolationist members of his conference.
The Kentuckian has previously tried to counter Republican critics of Ukraine, such as Senator JD Vance of Ohio, by emphasizing that greater assistance to the government in Kiev will help American industry rebuild the US military with newer, more advanced hardware.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, largely echoed Mitch McConnell’s call for more aid for the nation attacked by Russia.WLKY
On Monday, the 81-year-old Senate Republican leader led a speech in Louisville with Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States.
During his remarks, McConnell condemned the “loud voices on both sides of the aisle” that have opposed more aid for the embattled Eastern European nation.
“The path to greater security for all of us is simple: help Ukraine win the war,” he said.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan quartet of House lawmakers on Monday urged Johnson to put the full $106 billion package to a vote.
In addition to negotiating the fight over aid spending, the new president has until Nov. 17 to pass legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn