U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after voting against cloture on Tuesday’s foreign aid package:
“This is one of the toughest votes I’ve cast during my years in the Senate. It was a close call, because there are good elements in the bill that I strongly support. First, as always, I strongly support military aid to Israel, particularly in a time of war. That’s why several Republican senators and I went to the floor last November to force a stand-alone vote on military aid, only to be blocked by every single Senate Democrat. Emergency military aid should have gone to Israel over six months ago, and every day of delay has been due to Democrat obstruction.
“Second, the bill forces the Chinese Communist Party to give up control of TikTok in the U.S. This is incredibly important for our national security, and helps safeguard our young people from CCP propaganda.
“Third, the bill includes $8 billion in funding for our Taiwanese allies to defend themselves against the aggression of the CCP. I have long emphasized that China represents the most significant long-term threat to the national security of the United States. Taiwan is on the front lines of China’s global aggression, and it is critical that the U.S. continue standing with the people and government of Taiwan.
“That being said, the other elements of the bill were too problematic for me to support the entire package. First, the bill spends over $9 billion in so-called humanitarian aid, much of which will go to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and is sure to be diverted to fund yet more terrorism.
“Second, I am very concerned about the $3.4 billion reserved for ‘migration and refugee assistance.’ The Biden administration has historically used this funding to pour cash into NGOs that are assisting with illegal immigration at the Texas-Mexico border.
“Finally, the decisive reason I could not support this bill is because it did nothing to secure the Texas-Mexico border. As I’ve said many times, we are facing an existential crisis—a full-on invasion—at our own southern border. Democrats desperately wanted to pass this Ukraine aid bill—so much so that the world watched the ridiculous spectacle of Democrats gleefully waving Ukrainian flags on the floor of the United States House of Representatives; it’s difficult to imagine those same Democrats ever waving an American flag with the same joy. Once again, I introduced H.R. 2 as an amendment to this bill, which would have done much-needed work to secure our border. If H.R. 2 were added to this package, I would have readily voted for Ukraine military aid. But I can’t continue to allocate funds to secure Ukraine’s border before we secure our own.”
