Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the $61 billion in aid to Ukraine will greatly help the European country, which is still fighting its war with Russia.
The Senate voted Tuesday to pass foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Indo-Pacific allies by a 79-18 vote, marking a victory for both Ukraine and the U.S. lawmakers who had pushed to provide the aid. McConnell explained that the $61 billion Ukraine will receive is much more valuable to it than to the United States, as the amount is only 0.2% of the latter’s gross domestic product.
“So put in that context, it’s not a whole lot of money for us, but it’s a very significant step for them because it gives them the more sophisticated weapons they need to hold the Russians at bay,” McConnell said on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom.
McConnell added in the Wednesday interview that by providing this financial aid, the U.S. is helping Ukraine without putting any of its personnel at risk. He also said the aid would degrade the military of Russia, which he called one of the U.S.’s biggest opponents.
Thirty-one Republican senators joined 48 Democrats to vote yes on the foreign aid, including eight who had originally opposed it. Among those who were against the aid but still voted for it were Sens. Katie Britt (R-AL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), James Lankford (R-OK), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE).
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This foreign aid legislation is worth $95 billion, with around $61 billion going to Ukraine, $26 billion going to Israel, and $8 billion going to the Indo-Pacific. President Joe Biden signed the aid on Wednesday, arguing that it will make both the U.S. and the world safer.
Graham had expressed “regret” that the southern border was not addressed in this bill, a topic the Republican Party has pushed greatly throughout the Biden presidency. However, he stressed that “we have to deal with what’s left for us to take care of in the world.”