(UnitedVoice.com) – President Joe Biden wants Congress to pass a bill giving more aid to Ukraine. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) also agrees that America cannot allow Russia to win the war, but Conservatives are also concerned about the US-Mexico border. The new House leader has decided to kill two birds with one stone.
On November 1, Johnson spoke to Fox News’ Sean Hannity about passing more funding for Ukraine. The new speaker said the House GOP is going to “marry” the “appropriations bills for Ukraine funding […] with border security.” He said they will be handling those two issues at the same time “because [Republicans] believe it’s a top priority.”
Johnson told Hannity that America shouldn’t “take care of other countries […] if we can’t seal our own border.” Shortly after winning the vote for speaker, Johnson told Hannity that he believes the US needs to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from winning in Ukraine. He explained that he doesn’t think the conflicts would stop in Ukraine if Putin prevails because “it would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan.”
The speaker’s position is one that Biden has also expressed support for. In late October, the POTUS tied Ukraine and Israel funding to border security. Biden asked for $1.6 billion to hire 1,600 processing personnel and asylum officers. If Congress approves, that would double the number of people working on asylum cases, allowing the government to resolve those cases faster. He also wants $4.4 billion for Homeland Security to use to deport people who don’t qualify for asylum and to increase the funding for the facilities that hold migrants. Finally, Biden asked for $1.4 billion to hire more than 300 new immigration judges, their staff, and 1,300 new Border Patrol agents.
Congress has until mid-November to pass appropriations bills to fund the government or risk a shutdown.
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