On Thursday, U.S. Senator Mike Braun and 8 colleagues sent a letter to Senate Leadership requesting any federal assistance to Israel not be leveraged for more Ukraine funding. It has been reported that President Biden plans to pair tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine with any new request for federal assistance for Israel.
Senator Braun was joined in support of the letter by Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Rick Scott (R-FL), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Josh Hawley (R-MO).
In the letter, the senators highlighted that these are two separate and unrelated conflicts that cannot be considered as a ‘package deal.’ Any attempt to give additional money to Ukraine risks complicating the process and prolonging the time it will take to get aid to our ally Israel.
Excerpts from the letter below:
“We write today in the wake of over 1,400 Israeli civilians and at least 30 American citizens having been killed over the last week after brutal Hamas terrorists invaded Israel,” the Senators wrote.
“In response to these developments, it is critical we give prompt consideration to any request for financial aid or other material support requested by Israel. Based on the breadth of responses from members of Congress, there is a shared urgency to consider such a request,” the letter continues.
“That being said, we know there will no doubt be efforts to attach any funding to Israel to more aid to Ukraine, in excess of the already $113 billion Congress has provided to Ukraine,” the Senators continued. “These are two separate and unrelated conflicts and it would be wrong to leverage support of aid to Israel in attempt to get additional aid for Ukraine across the finish line.”
“Furthermore, it would be irresponsible and we should not risk a government shutdown by bundling these priorities together and thus complicating the process and lessening the likelihood of a funding package,” the Senators wrote.
“We urge you to keep separate attempts to provide military aid to Israel from additional funds to Ukraine or other matters,” the letter concludes.
Read the full letter here.
