Speaker Mike Johnson recently rejected a Senate proposal that would provide aid to Ukraine and other international interests of American foreign policy. Johnson continually emphasized the sentiment expressed by many Americans that the dire domestic issues observed throughout America should be prioritized over foreign aid.
The Senate approved the $95 billion foreign aid package, where American tax dollars would be allocated primarily to Ukraine and Israel. Despite the efforts of former President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans, 22 GOP senators voted in favor of the measure.
The House speaker criticized the measure for touting itself as protecting the interest of American “national security,” asserting that more would be done to solve the border crisis if that were true. He called out the Senate for not mirroring border-related initiatives like the House of Representatives.
“House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border. The House acted ten months ago to help enact transformative policy change by passing the Secure Our Border Act, and since then, including today, the Senate has failed to meet the moment,” Johnson said.
Johnson praised the Senate for initially rejecting proposed foreign aid-related legislation as it did not adequately address the open border. However, Johnson claimed the upper chamber missed an opportunity to revise the bill and include substantive measures to help secure the border.
“The Senate did the right thing last week by rejecting the Ukraine-Taiwan- Gaza-Israel-Immigration legislation due to its insufficient border provisions, and it should have gone back to the drawing board to amend the current bill to include real border security provisions that would actually help end the ongoing catastrophe. Instead, the Senate’s foreign aid bill is silent on the most pressing issue facing our country,” the speaker continued.
Johnson further criticized the legislation for ignoring the genuine national security interest of the American public. In light of the Senate’s failure to uphold American interests and enact any meaningful interest on the border, Johnson outlined how the House will have to pick up the slack.
“The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world. It is what the American people demand and deserve. Now, in the absence of having received a single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status
quo,” Johnson stated.
Despite the controversial Senate legislation, Republicans did secure a border-related win by successfully voting to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the Director of Homeland Security for the Biden Administration. Republicans have worked tirelessly to hold Mayorkas accountable for his abject failure to maintain a secured border.
“For nearly a year, the House Homeland Security Committee has taken a careful and methodical approach to this investigation and the results are clear: from his first day in office, Secretary Mayorkas has willfully and consistently refused to comply with federal immigration laws, fueling the worst border catastrophe in American history,” Johnson commented on the matter.
Watch the House impeach Mayorkas here:
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