Rand Paul blocks 'quick vote' to approve $40 bln aid to Ukraine
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Paul disrupts the green card to provide Ukraine with borrowed money.
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Rand Paul blocks 'quick vote' to approve $40 bn aid to Ukraine
Washington's promise to provide $40 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine was put on delay as US Senator Rand Paul, representative of Kentucky state, blocked a quick vote to approve the bill, which would delay the acceptance minimally till next week.
On Thursday, Paul blocked the passing of the bill by objecting to a request by Senate members to unanimously approve bills with strong bipartisan support to be fast-tracked without debate.
Paul said he will allow for a quick vote if the bill was altered to appoint a special inspector general to supervise the ways the aid package is spent, which is a demand that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to meet.
Schumer stressed that the US had a "moral obligation" to "help" Ukraine to fight Russia's "immoral war," and that Paul's alibi and perspective are majorly opposed by most Democrats and Republicans.
“There is now only one thing holding us back: The junior senator from Kentucky is preventing swift passage of Ukraine aid because he wants to add, at the last minute, his own changes directly into the bill,” the majority leader said. He added, “All he will accomplish is to singlehandedly delay desperately needed Ukraine aid.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, also of Kentucky, immediately voted on the bill which passed by majority consent on Wednesday. McConnell suggested that the revision Paul suggested be considered an amendment, which meant that it would be most likely to fail.
Noting that the latest package of aid would put the total of US aid to Ukraine at $60 billion since the start of the war on February 24 (which is almost as large as Russia's yearly defense budget), Paul stood his ground on adding the proposal to the bill, which would send the revised legislation back to the House for re-voting after Senate approval.
Read more: The US Is Running Out of Money, Literally (Part I)
Paul argued that the US is funding Ukraine's war with borrowed money, which would add to the US' $30 trillion debt, exacerbating the US' crippling inflation crisis.
“Americans are feeling the pain, and Congress seems intent on only adding to that pain by shoving more money out the door as fast as they can,” Paul said.
Washington, according to Paul, is still trying to recover from the $1.6 trillion spent on wars in the Middle East, in addition to the $5 trillion spent on the Covid-19 response.
“We should not forget that the Soviet Union collapsed in large part not because it was defeated militarily, but because it ran out of money,” he said. “In an attempt to save Ukraine, will we doom the US to such a future?”
