The Biden administration should take into consideration pressing issues facing Americans like rising inflation, Chinese aggression, and the ongoing border crisis when sending money to support Ukraine during its conflict with Russia, according to Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.).
Steube’s comments come after House lawmakers on Tuesday approved a new $40 billion aid package for Ukraine in an another show of support for the nation that has been fighting off an invasion for three months.
The package, $7 billion more than president Biden’s request in April, would provide the embattled country with further military and economic assistance while bringing the total American support to nearly $54 billion, including the $13.6 billion in support Congress enacted in March.
It still needs to be approved by the Senate but was delayed after Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blocked a fast-track vote and urged leaders to include language in the bill that would ensure monitoring of exactly how the $40 billion is spent.
“We just allocated $14 billion, 300+ million dollars was going to weapons, have those been received in Ukraine? What happened to the initial funding? Why do we need more funding?” Steube said.
“What happened to the amount of spending that was originally there? $40 billion is the equivalent of DHS Customs and Border Patrol, Coast Guard, TSA, and ICE combined in one annual spending. We have an invasion on our southern border, record inflation, [and] all sorts of big issues that are affecting our country. I don’t understand why we should be borrowing $40 billion from the Chinese to give it to the Ukrainians with absolutely no assurances or safeguards that the money is actually going to go for its intended purpose.”
Steube then suggested that the Biden administration is “obviously compromised” by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and is not taking a strong enough stance against the CCP, instead funneling its money and resources into fighting Russian aggression.
