Hageman Votes NO on Ukraine, YES on Israel funding

Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman voted NO on H.R. 8035, the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, and YES on H.R. 8034, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act. Both bills, along with two other security supplemental bills, will be combined into one package with no opportunity for Congress to vote on that final package – making this bill the Senate supplemental that House Republicans have widely condemned.

Representative Hageman stated, “Yesterday I voted NO on the rule that led to the combining of the four supplemental bills because there are clear differences between the need to support these separate and unrelated challenges.  

“We have already given Ukraine over $110 billion in its conflict against Russia. We have had minimal accounting and oversight related to these funds but do know that Ukraine is plagued by government corruption. We do not know Ukraine’s strategy to defeat Russia, nor do we know what the end game is for the conflict. I also find it insulting to our own citizens that we are including $300 million to secure the UKRAINIAN border and provide drug interdiction while providing no funds to secure our own borders. With this supplemental, the United States has now committed over $172 billion to the Ukraine/Russia conflict. The United States is $34 trillion in debt – this spending is unsustainable.  

“I voted YES on assistance to one of our closest allies Israel to help respond to the brutal and unprovoked terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hamas and Iran. House Republicans are clear in our demands – secure the border and defend Israel. This is the only provision of the package which delivers on these priorities, and I will always stand with Israel in the face of terror.

“These two very different conflicts highlight why these bills should not be combined. It is infuriating to see these bills combined to make the Senate Foreign Aid Supplemental that House Republicans, including the Speaker, had said was ‘Dead on Arrival’ in the House of Representatives just a few short months ago. The passage of this Senate Foreign Aid Supplemental has blown past Nancy Pelosi’s bloated COVID spending by a tune of $32 billion dollars and counting. This status quo way of doing business is failing America and cannot continue.”