The US Senate has approved a $95 billion foreign and military aid package to help Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The bill also included a provision that could lead to a ban on TikTok. This is Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer: “Mr. President, today the Senate sends a unified message to the entire world: America will always defend democracy in its hour of need. We tell our allies, ‘We will stand with you.’ We tell our adversaries, ‘Don’t mess with us.’ We tell the world, ‘We will do everything to defend democracy and our way of life.’”
The final vote in the Senate was 79 to 18. Senators voting “no” included 15 Republicans, as well as Democrats Jeff Merkley and Peter Welch and independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
Sen. Bernie Sanders: “We are now in the absurd situation where Israel is using US military assistance to block the delivery of US humanitarian aid to Palestinians. If that’s not crazy, I don’t know what is, but it’s also a clear violation of US law. Given that reality, we should not even be having this debate today. It is illegal to continue current military aid to Israel, let alone send another $9 billion with no strings attached.”
