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Utah senators split on passed $95 billion defense spending bill
Derick Fox – February 13, 2024
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Early Tuesday morning, the U.S. Senate voted to pass a $95 billion emergency defense spending bill, which has left Utah’s senate delegation split.
The bill included $60 billion in funding for Ukraine as well as $14 billion in security assistance to Israel. The bill passed through the Democratic-controlled Senate on a 70-29 vote. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) were on opposite ends of the resolution.
Lee, alongside Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), led the opposition to the bill, saying he had done everything he possibly could do to stop it.
“This didn’t have to happen. It is unfortunate we had Senate Republicans turn on the commitment they made to each other and to their voters and to our Republican colleagues down the hall,” said Lee.
During his speech on the Senate floor, Lee said the bill in its current form only serves to empower drug cartels and dissolve the U.S. southern border – a point of contention between the Biden Administration and GOP officials across the country. Lee said the bill, instead, spends an “insane amount” of money on foreign countries without properly addressing the U.S. southern border.
Romney, however, countered by warning of the “dire consequences” that would come by not continuing support for Ukraine. He claimed that by not helping Ukraine defend itself, the door would open for Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade NATO and allow China to spread fear to Taiwan that the U.S. will not help its allies.
He further said America would “cease to be the arsenal of democracy” and a global leader.
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“What sending weapons to Ukraine does do is help discourage further Russian and Chinese invasions which could draw us in, it helps preserve NATO, it allows America to remain the leader of the free world, and it shows that we honor our word to our friends and allies,” said Romney.
Romney further criticized some of his Republican colleagues by saying if their position is cheered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is “time to reconsider your position.”
Twenty-one Republican senators joined Romney in voting to pass the bill while two Democrats voted against it, citing deep concerns for supporting Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign in Gaza, per The Hill. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) also voted no for the same reason.
The package now goes to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where Lee has indicated Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pronounced the bill “dead on arrival.”