U.S. Sen Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) is continuing to fight for additional funding for Israel while refusing to give “another dime” to the war effort in Ukraine.
Since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, members of Congress have been in near lockstep in showing their support for Israel — a sharp contrast with the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine, the funding of which nearly created a government shutdown earlier this month and still may as Congress’s limited time frame to agree on government spending shrinks.
Tuberville recently criticized the $105 billion national security spending package approved by President Joe Biden, where $61.4 billion is allocated to Ukraine and $14.3 billion for Israel.
On Wednesday, Tuberville doubled down on his refusal to support any additional Ukraine funding, especially when paired with lesser funding for Israel.
“In the U.S. Senate, I’m standing in full support of Israel and its right to defend itself from barbaric terrorists,” Tuberville said. “Yet, now, President Biden is trying to use support for Israel to send more money to Ukraine. Last week, he announced his request for $61.4 billion more for Ukraine. He only requested a quarter of this amount in aid for Israel. America has already sent more than $75 billion to aid Ukraine since the war began.”
He continued, “We know we are paying for expenses not related to their national defense. We have given them nearly $30 billion to prop up Ukraine’s economy, including its pension system. We have also given them $987 million for food security.”
Tuberville said he will continue to vote against continued funding for Ukraine due to the war being at a “stalemate” for a year and that a lack of oversight has plagued the funds from the beginning. He also said there had been a suspicious lack of information from Ukraine regarding war updates and diplomacy.
“We can’t get any accounting on one dime that’s gone to Ukraine,” Tuberville said. “There’s no accountability whatsoever. We don’t know where it’s going… We have propped up the entire country for the last almost two years. We’re paying their first responders, which is 57,000 of them. We’re paying government employees. We’re paying for their pension funds. We’re doing everything that you would do for a state in this country. They’re like the 51st state in the United States of America.
“There’s a lot of suspicious things that are going on between Ukraine and Russia. We can’t get any answers when we go to either hearings or classified hearings. It’s kind of like a secret for the Biden Administration. They’ll tell you some things, but many of them don’t add up. So, that’s the reason I haven’t voted for anything to go to Ukraine. It doesn’t make a lot of sense what they’re doing. There’s no diplomacy. There’s no negotiations.”
Tuberville juxtaposed the two conflicts, saying Israel continued to ally with the United States while Ukraine avoided diplomacy and negotiations to end the war.
“The contrast with Israel could not be clearer,” Tuberville continued. “Israel is our number one ally in the Middle East. Israel is killing terrorists who want us dead. I stand with Israel 100%, but I do not support sending another dime to Ukraine.”
“Joe Biden should not exploit a war in Israel to get more taxpayer money for Ukraine.”
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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