As Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s GOP goes along with spending yet more money on supporting Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan at a time when America’s border remains relatively open and undefended, with many migrants pouring across it, some in the GOP are sounding off on the decision to defend other country’s borders rather than America’s. Among them was Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas.
Sen. Marshall, speaking to the Daily Signal on The Daily Signal Podcast, explained that he has tried to steer the Senate in the right direction on how it spends money, but that it has refused to prioritize what he thinks needs to be prioritized, which is the border. He added that he even brought forward a stand-alone aid for Israel bill, but said it was blocked by Democrats.
Speaking about how the Senate spends money like a drunken sailor, Sen. Marshall said, “One of my jobs is to prioritize where we’re spending the money. And I’m telling you, until we secure the border, I don’t think we should be spending any money outside of this country, let alone on what I’m describing as really Ukraine’s … never-ending war.”
Continuing, he said that six times he “brought to the Senate floor stand-alone funding for Israel—the opportunity to fund just Israel, to take these issues one at a time.” But, instead of doing that, “Six times the Democrats blocked that opportunity.” He added, “The Democrats used Israel as leverage to get their votes for Ukraine.”
Back when the massive foreign aid bill was being deliberated upon in late April, Sen. Marshall sounded off on it in a press statement in which he explained why he could not vote for it. In that press statement, he first pointed to the border crisis and said, commenting on the national security threat it poses, “Under the Biden Administration, Venezuelan drug cartels have been given more operational control of our southern border than U.S. Border Patrol agents.”
Continuing, he commented on the massive number of illegal immigrants who have poured across the border under Biden, including some from countries like China that are hostile to America. As he put it, “More than 11 million illegal aliens, including thousands of Chinese nationals, have been imported into every state in America – and we have absolutely no idea who these people are.”
Then, emphasizing that the Biden Administration does not have a grip on the border situation even as it grows in size, he explained, “Biden’s own DHS Secretary testified five days ago that he doesn’t know if our security technology at the border is even operational. This is America’s most important national security issue, and it isn’t even close.”
Then, getting to why he opposes the foreign aid bill, Sen. Marshall said, “We cannot continue selling our grandchildren down a river and sending another $60 billion that we do not have to Ukraine – that’s on top of the $125 billion we’ve already sent with no oversight or accountability.” He added, “Enough is enough. For me, it will always be America first – our safety, health, and security above all else.”
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