Published December 7, 2023
US President warned lawmakers not passing the measure would ‘kneecap’ Ukraine on the battlefield and be a ‘gift’ to Putin.
Republican senators in the United States have blocked $106bn in new funding for Ukraine and Israel, rejecting appeals from President Joe Biden amid anger over the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.
Biden had earlier warned of dire consequences for Kyiv – and a “gift” to Russia’s Vladimir Putin – if Congress failed to pass the measure, which includes about $61bn to help Ukraine keep up pressure on Russia during the freezing winter months, as well as help for Israel and Gaza.
“They’re willing to literally kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield and damage our national security in the process,” Biden said.
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SOURCE: www.aljazeera.com
RELATED: Senate Republicans Block $61B Ukraine Aid Package, Demand Biden Address Porous Southern Border
Biden speaks from the White House on the need to continue backing Ukraine [Evan Vucci/AP Photo]
Published December 6, 2023
Every Senate Republican voted Wednesday to block a procedural vote to advance a national security bill that includes $61 billion of Ukraine aid because they are demanding that we defend our own border, which President Biden has steadfastly refused to do. The Ukraine money was part of a larger $110B package that also included aid to Israel and Taiwan.
Aid to Ukraine, which is mired in a war with Russia, has become an increasingly contentious issue, with Republicans demanding more accountability about where exactly the money is going and what the overarching strategy is.
But it was the ongoing disaster at the border that caused them to shut this package down for the time being. As my colleague Mike Miller reported, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had indicated the move on Tuesday:
“[Ukraine aid is] dependent upon enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws.”
The Speaker first floated the idea of linking Ukraine aid and Biden’s border disaster in November.
“The American people feel very strongly about this, and I do as well. We have things that we can and should do around the world, but we have to take care of our own house first.
“As long as the border is wide open, we’re opening ourselves up for great threats. And again, it’s just a matter of principle that if we’re going to take care of a border in Ukraine, we need to take care of America’s as well. And I think there’s bipartisan support for that idea.”
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SOURCE: www.redstate.com
RELATED: Hoyer: The Border’s Been an Issue for a While, But Ukraine Needs Money Now So They Shouldn’t Be Tied
Published December 6, 2023
On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Chris Jansing Reports,” Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) stated that while we should pass legislation on the border, no one has been able to do anything about it since 2013, but “Ukraine needs resources now, not tomorrow, not the next day, but right now.”
Hoyer said, “What I’ve learned is that Ukraine needs resources now, not tomorrow, not the next day, but right now. And it is unconscionable to couple that with, if we don’t do the border, which we haven’t been able to do frankly for 13 years, a bipartisan bill passed the Senate in 2013 and nothing has happened since then. It’s a very tough issue.
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
