(JustPatriots.com)- On Christmas Eve, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that a recent spending package that includes $45 billion in aid to Ukraine is the “morally right” thing to do.
On Twitter, McConnell posted a picture of him alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, adding the comment:
“Continuing our support for Ukraine is morally right, but it is not only that. It is also a direct investment in cold, hard, American interests.”
That funding for Ukraine was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill that will keep the federal government funded through next year. The $45 billion in aid that’s going to Ukraine as part of that package means that the United States has now sent more than $110 billion to help Ukraine in its fight against neighboring Russia.
This total amount of aid that the U.S. has sent to Ukraine now greatly exceeds the estimated average that America spent each year during its war in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military had more than 100,000 troops deployed at one point in time.
The Biden administration has pledged ongoing support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia for “as long as it takes.”
There were 18 Republicans in the Senate who voted in favor of the omnibus spending package. In addition to dedicating that money to Ukraine, the bill designates part of the national capital as the Ukrainian Independence Park.
Prior to the bill being passed, former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to encourage Republicans to vote against the big spending bill. In a video he posted to his social media platform, Trump said:
“Every single Republican should vote no on the ludicrous, unacceptable $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill. It’s a disaster for our country. And it also happens to be a disaster for the Republican Party because they can stop it.”
Of course, they didn’t stop it, and the bill passed.
McConnell pushed hard for the omnibus bill to pass before the vote, saying that he believed this additional aid for Ukraine was needed. He said recently:
“Providing assistance for Ukrainians to defeat the Russians is the number one priority for the United States right now according to most Republicans. That’s sort of how we see the challenges confronting the country at the moment.”
Kevin McCarthy, who’s angling to become the Speaker of the House in the next Congress, tried to sway Republican senators from voting in favor of the omnibus package. He even said that any member of the GOP who voted in favor of it would see any bills they propose immediately opposed by Republicans in the House.
That would mean their proposals would be dead on arrival, since the GOP has control of the House starting in 2023.
Despite all this money being sent to Ukraine, Zelenskyy said recently it’s “not enough” to help them ultimately beat back Russia so that the war can be over.
