The Senate on Tuesday morning passed a bill that would appropriate $95 billion in fresh military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after several Republican senators spent eight hours delaying passage with speeches in opposition.
On Feb. 4, the Senate unveiled the text of a bipartisan national security bill to provide aid to Ukraine during its war against Russia and Israel during its conflict with Hamas, along with border security provisions, though it was rejected by the body on Feb. 7 after Republicans deemed the latter provisions inadequate to mitigate illegal immigration. A new version of the bill, stripped of such provisions, was passed by the Senate on Tuesday at 6:37 AM by a vote of 70 yeas to 29 nays in extraordinary circumstances, after the Senate remained in session
“[I]t should never have taken this long to move forward on this aid that so many of us are saying is necessary — but I am so glad that we are finally here making progress on this crucial package,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, who also chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, in remarks on the Senate floor on Feb. 8 about the bill. “[O]ur allies are at war, civilians are in harm’s way, and dictators are watching closely to see what we are going to do about it. So really, the stakes could not be higher.”
Opponents of the bill, led by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, sought to maximize their post-cloture speaking time in protest against the bill’s provisions. Paul and seven Republican colleagues delivered eight one-hour speeches, in sequence, beginning at 9:39 PM on Monday, though the Senate remained in session, with voting beginning at 5:12 AM on Tuesday.
“Every time we spend critical resources on Ukraine, we ensure they will not be available to a contingency necessary to the United States…even now, we are sending weapons to Ukraine far faster than we can make them…where is the anti-war left,” said Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, an opponent of the bill, on the floor of the Senate. Vance missed his son’s birthday to speak in opposition to the bill and also recited a poem by Dr. Seuss on the floor in his honor.
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