(UnitedVoice.com) – Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that more has to be done to help Israel in the wake of the devastating terrorist attack launched by Hamas. President Joe Biden’s administration has already sent aid to the country. However, in order to do more, Congress will have to sign off on it.
In addition to the issues in Israel, the Russian war on Ukraine is ongoing. Although the majority of lawmakers agree that Eastern European nation also needs more aid, some people are angry that the president gave a speech and mentioned both allies.
Helping Both Allies
On October 20, Biden gave a primetime address and talked about the terrorist attack on Israel and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The president told the American people that the world is facing “an inflection point in history.” Biden said that he visited Israel the day before and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also spoke to people who lived through the terrorist attack by Hamas.
The president explained that more than 1,300 Israelis, including at least 32 Americans, were murdered. He said that, “Hamas unleashed pure, unadulterated evil in the world.” He said that he had also spoken to the president of the Palestinian Authority to express that America was still committed to their “right to dignity and to self-determination.”
After continuing on about his commitment to Israel for a bit, Biden brought up the war on Ukraine. He said the attack on Israel “echoes nearly 20 months of war, tragedy, and brutality inflicted on” Ukrainians as a result of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president mentioned the mass graves and tortured bodies in Ukraine at the hands of Putin’s forces. He compared the Russian president to Hamas because “both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”
Biden is asking Congress to provide aid for both countries to help them fight their respective enemies.
Republican Anger
Republicans attacked Biden for bringing up the Russian War on Ukraine. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) lashed out at the president, saying that he should have announced that he was “freezing $6 billion for Iran, halting aid to Gaza […] firing Jake Sullivan.” She went on to say that he shouldn’t tie the aid to the two countries together.
Tonight, Biden should announce he is freezing $6 billion for Iran, halting aid to Gaza, placing sanctions on Iranian oil, and firing Jake Sullivan. He should not be tying aid to Israel with aid to Ukraine, or the border.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) October 20, 2023
Biden has frozen Iran’s $6 billion that was being held in South Korea but was transferred to Qatar. The administration has said the Iranian government won’t receive that money for now.
Senator JD Vance (R-OH) called Biden’s speech “disgusting,” saying that he used the “dead children in Israel to sell his disastrous Ukraine policy to skeptical Americans.”
What Biden is doing is disgusting. He’s using dead children in Israel to sell his disastrous Ukraine policy to skeptical Americans.
They are not the same countries, they are not the same problems, and this effort to use Israel for political cover is offensive.
Hell no.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) October 20, 2023
Critics slammed the senator for not mentioning the more than 1,500 Ukrainian kids killed or injured since the start of the invasion.
Whether Congress does what Biden asks remains to be seen. The House needs to elect a speaker before anything can move through the lower chamber. For now, Capitol Hill is at a standstill.
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