[The Epoch Times, May 14, 2022]U.S. Senator Paul on Thursday (May 12) delayed the Senate’s approval of a nearly $40 billion Ukraine aid voting for the program. He called for regulation of spending.
The package is aimed at providing further military and economic assistance to Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
While bipartisan leaders in the Senate agreed to work on passing the package this week, Senator Rand Paul has called for changes to the legislation to ensure the newly created inspector general can oversee billions of dollars expenditure.
Previously, the bill had been approved by the House of Representatives and had strong bipartisan support in the Senate. It is believed to be possible to pass immediately.
The U.S. Congress and the Biden administration have so far shown an overwhelmingly supportive stance toward Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to push for what he called a “special military operation.”
The liberal Republican senator has often opposed U.S. intervention abroad. He believes that the additional spending has exceeded what the United States is currently spending on several domestic programs, and expressed concern that it could further increase the federal deficit and the current inflation crisis in the United States. The current inflation rate in the United States has reached the highest level in 40 years.
“My oath is an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not an oath to any foreign country,” Paul said in a statement Thursday. “My oath is an oath to the national security of the United States of America, no matter how sympathetic you may be toward it.”
He added: “We cannot save Ukraine by destroying the US economy… Gasoline prices alone have risen 48%; energy prices have risen 32% over the past year; food prices have risen nearly 9%; used car prices have risen this year Up 35%; new car prices up 12% or more.”
Paul noted that inflation “doesn’t come out of nowhere,” and highlighted America’s massive deficit spending. He noted that the U.S. spent nearly $5 trillion on “COVID-19 relief,” leading to huge inflation.
“Americans are feeling the pain, and Congress seems to be only going to aggravate that pain by throwing more money out the door as quickly as possible,” the Republican said.
The roughly $39.8 billion aid package for Ukraine includes $6 billion for security assistance to its military and national security forces, and $8.7 billion to replenish stockpiles of U.S. equipment sent to Ukraine .
In addition, it includes $3.9 billion for European Command operations and will authorize an additional $11 billion in the Presidential Drawdown Authority. The authorization would allow Biden to move goods and services from U.S. inventories without congressional approval in response to an emergency. Biden had previously asked for a $5 billion authorization for this.
Another $4 billion will be used for foreign military funding, which will provide additional support for Ukraine and other countries to build and update their military capabilities.
If approved, it would bring U.S. support to Ukraine since the Russian invasion to nearly $54 billion. Congress just passed a $13.6 billion aid bill in March.
Paul noted that the U.S. has provided Ukraine with more than $6 billion in security assistance since 2014. He also said that if the latest aid amount is passed, the total amount of aid would be equivalent to Russia’s entire military budget.
“And we don’t have that money in our hands. We’re going to have to lend Ukraine money from China. The package we’re voting on today will cost more than America’s first year of war in Afghanistan,” he stressed. cost more.”
The senator also pointed out that compared with these tens of billions of dollars, the United States spends six billion dollars a year on cancer research; that amount is more than the gasoline tax that the U.S. government collects every year to build roads and bridges. more; it nearly equals the budget of the entire State Department; and exceeds the budgets of the Departments of Homeland Security and Energy.
Specifically, Paul asked for a special inspector general to oversee how military aid money to Ukraine is spent.
But Democrats oppose Paul’s plan because it would expand the powers of the existing inspector general, which is currently limited to Afghanistan.
“Congress should assess the cost of doing so,” the Republican senator said. “The biggest threat to America today is debt and inflation, and the destruction of the dollar. We cannot save Ukraine by stifling our economic strength.”
“I am therefore asking for action to amend the Act to allow for a special inspector general who has been overseeing waste in Afghanistan and has done an excellent job,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and other Democrats opposed Paul’s push to change language in the aid package and offered to vote on it immediately, but the proposal was rejected.
That means lawmakers will try to pass the bill again next week.
Schumer said on Thursday: “From what the junior senator from Kentucky said, it’s clear that he doesn’t want to help Ukraine. But what he’s doing here today will only delay it, And there is no way to stop aid.”
The Epoch Times has reached out to Paul’s office for comment.
(The Associated Press also contributed to this article.)
Responsible editor: Li Yuan#