Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) expressed his active support for President Joe Biden’s recently proposed $100 billion spending package for Israel, Ukraine, and other foreign policy causes.
“It’s correct. No Americans are getting killed in Ukraine. We’re rebuilding our industrial base. The Ukrainians are destroying the army of one of our biggest rivals. I have a hard time finding anything wrong with that,” McConnell said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” in an episode the aired Sunday.
McConnell also stated he hopes for a more “functional” House of Representatives, disapprovingly referring to the ongoing struggle to elect a new Speaker.
Last week, Biden stated he was preparing to ask Congress for roughly $105 billion in foreign policy-related aid. It was comprised of $60 billion for Ukraine (expected to replenish weapon supply), $14 billion for the Israeli state, $10 billion for humanitarian efforts, $14 billion for managing the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, and $7 billion for the Indo-Pacific region including Taiwan.
McConnell supports Biden’s Israel and Ukraine aid bundle, hopes for ‘functional’ House https://t.co/52uLMfSXqK pic.twitter.com/N1rxB3r8pk
— New York Post (@nypost) October 22, 2023
Meanwhile, dozens of GOP members in both the House and Senate have publicly begged for the Biden administration to split the aid requests for Ukraine and Israel into two packages. Many are resistant to give more aid to Ukraine, which has received over $113 billion from the United States already.
In response to these critics, McConnell said, “I just think that’s a mistake […] I know there are some Republicans in the Senate, and maybe more in the House, saying Ukraine is somehow different. I view it as all interconnected.”
Learn the benefits of becoming a Valuetainment Member and subscribe today!
“We have big power competition from China, and Russia and we still have terrorism problems,” McConnell continued. “So I think that requires a worldwide approach rather than trying to take parts of it out.”
McConnell also defended Europe’s role it has played in aiding Ukraine. “They’ve done almost 90 billion dollars, they’re housing a bunch of refugees who escaped. I think that our NATO allies in Europe have done quite a lot,” he said.
He did reserve some criticism for Biden on the topic of Iran. “You can’t on the one hand, be negotiating with Iran on some kind of nuclear deal that you know they won’t keep, and then turn around and declare that you’re going to get tougher with Iran,” the 81-year-old said.
Add comment