The House should move with dispatch now that the Senate has passed a bill providing military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
Ukraine is particularly urgent, as it has the manpower and will to fight off a renewed Russian assault, but it lacks the weaponry, particularly the ammunition, to do so effectively. It is in the U.S. national interest for Ukraine to repel the imperial designs of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. His aggression cannot be allowed to succeed, a Western nation’s independence should be safeguarded, and the rest of the world must see that America and its Western allies have the will to confront expansionist tyrants.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) should keep his promises to support Ukraine along with the less controversial support for Israel and Taiwan. He should bring a bill quickly to the floor, allow an open amendment process, and work for final passage. If he doesn’t do so, the clear majority of House members who do support aid to the three U.S. allies should use a “discharge petition” to force the bill through.
Both parties have been playing political games over this assistance to allies for at least seven months. Most Republicans justifiably want money for real, honest border control, too, but in the end, that’s entirely different, divorced from the military concerns that the supplemental spending bill is supposed to address. There is no need to block one necessary matter that has majority support to demand movement on another matter on which there is no agreement.
In that light, it was good that the Senate on Feb. 12 finally passed a $95 billion aid package mostly aimed at helping Ukraine fight Russia, helping replenish Israel’s arms as it dismantles the Hamas terrorist organization, and arming Taiwan in ways that make China less likely to start a war to regain control of the island state. It is true, as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) said in a floor speech, that the bill is bloated and that some nonmilitary items should be removed. That’s why Johnson should allow amendments.
But no bill is perfect, and time is short. If amendments cannot secure bipartisan majority support, Johnson should move forward with the bill the Senate passed it.
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Russia rapes, tortures, and kills civilians as it tries to trample the sovereign nation of Ukraine. Putin has made clear that his ambitions are not limited to Ukraine, and if he is not stopped there, he might attack a NATO nation. That, unlike Ukraine, would require the insertion of U.S. troops.
For reasons of realpolitik and morality, the United States should provide the Ukrainians the weapons they need to fight for themselves. Likewise, Israel is in the right fighting Hamas, and Taiwan has done nothing to earn China’s invasion threats. The Senate bill represents barely 3% of the federal budget. The House should cease delay. Lives and U.S. interests are at risk.