Rep. Langworthy's Weekly Newsletter: Votes on Foreign Aid
The following is an excerpt from Congressman Langworthy's weekly newsletter. Sign up here to receive the full newsletter every week!
"After Iran's full-scale attack on Israel, House Republicans focused on supporting our strongest ally for freedom in the Middle East. This also means holding Iran, the leading state sponsor of terror in the world, accountable by ending the Biden Administration's policy of appeasement.
Joe Biden's continued weakness on the world stage, failure to support Israel, and constant appeasement emboldened Iran to launch these unjustified attacks. In response, the House passed a series of bills that ensures U.S. sanctions against Iran can only be waived if Iran has ceased support for international terrorism, eliminates current sanctions waivers for Iran granted by the Biden Administration, and gives Congress greater oversight over the Biden Administration's future attempts to issue sanctions waivers. It's disgusting that our own President is undermining one of our closest allies; watch my floor speech on this here.
We passed additional aid to Israel that would replenish Israeli air defenses after thwarting last weekend's attack and provide Israel with key military aid, showing that America stands behind our ally and the stabilization of the region. We passed similar provisions to help Taiwan, which is a beacon of freedom under constant threat by the Chinese Communist Party. Keeping Taiwan free is essential to our own national security as they are America’s biggest partner in manufacturing technology like semiconductors, or chips, used in everything from cell phones to fighter jets. Additionally, we passed the 21st Century Peace Through Strength Act to strengthen our nation's global position by enacting policies to counter Iran, China, and Russia.
The House also chose to send additional aid to Ukraine — I've always been supportive and sympathetic to Ukraine's efforts to defeat Putin, but I could not in good conscience vote for the $60 billion aid bill as it was crafted. My priority will always be listening to my constituents and doing what's right for them. This legislation included provisions beyond military assistance to include $7.85 billion for the salaries, pensions, and “other needs of Ukraine’s government employees.” It also contains a so-called $9.85 billion “loan” for Ukraine’s infrastructure and energy development that allows the U.S. President to unilaterally and without any input from the elected Members of Congress to forgive half the loan after this election and the rest after the midterms. Does anyone think that money will actually be returned to the US taxpayer? While far too many hardworking families are struggling to make ends meet and putting their groceries on their credit cards as a result of our government’s inflationary spending, the last thing we should be doing is paying the salary of a Ukrainian bureaucrat. It’s just wrong.
Our nation has already provided $113 billion to Ukraine in the last two years, and there have been clearly documented cases where the money has not been effectively tracked in a country that ranks one of the top in the world for corruption. In light of the United States' staggering $34.5 trillion debt, Congress has a duty to exercise responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, particularly when sending aid overseas. Make no mistake: Putin is a thug and a butcher, and Ukraine is right to defend itself from Russian aggression — I would have supported legislation that purely provided munitions with direct oversight. I am disappointed that this bill was filled with wish list items and fundamentally fails to address the real concerns of everyday Americans, like the Biden Administration’s decision to allow an invasion of our southern border. When it comes to votes like these, my duty is to America first, and I will always have the needs of Western New York and the Southern Tier at the forefront of my mind. It was clear that this legislation fell short of those goals.
Right now, I hear from many constituents that one of their biggest concerns, aside from our economy, is securing our own borders. That's why the House sent another border security bill over to the Senate containing many essential provisions of H.R. 2, the strongest border security legislation in history, that never made it off Senator Schumer's desk to the Senate floor last year. Democrats need to wake up to the serious crisis at our Southern Border that President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas created, allowing drugs and criminals to flood into our country.
This week, Senate Democrats failed the American people once again as they took a party-line vote against holding Mayorkas accountable, dismissing the impeachment articles against him without a proper and constitutionally mandated trial. Secretary Mayorkas' dereliction of his duty to secure the southern border comes at the cost of American lives, from those murdered by criminals, like Laken Riley, to those who were killed by deadly fentanyl. We cannot afford to allow Mayorkas to continue jeopardizing our national security as well as the health and safety of all Americans."