West Virginia’s senators — who have expressed support for aid to Israel and Ukraine, along with funding for American border security — today asked questions about how a Biden administration funding proposal would work.
Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., each serve on the Committee on Appropriations, which heard today from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about a proposed $106 billion appropriation.
“I remain an adamant supporter of our allies in Israel and believe that we should continue to back Ukraine against Russian aggression,” Capito told Blinken and Austin during the hearing.
Manchin also expressed support for the aid package but asked several questions about its overriding philosophies.
“First of all, we know that Ukraine can’t succeed without U.S. support. Can Israel succeed without U.S. support?” Manchin asked Blinken and Austin.
Austin replied, “We have to continue to support them.”
Manchin, who visited Ukraine last April, later asked if America’s support is enough to help that country actually defeat invading Russian forces, rather than just upholding a stalemate.
“Are we committed to staying with this to win because I believe Ukraine is — I just believe it’s the purpose and the most honorable position we’ve ever taken in in my lifetime to seeing we’re committed to playing the role the United States plays as defender of freedom and liberties,” Manchin said. “And when you have a country willing to risk their own life and put their people on the line, that’s the least we can do.
“And next of all, on our support to Israel — Israel’s got to take out Hamas. Israel has to be supported to do that. And with that, are we committed to make sure that happens?”
Austin responded, “We are committed to making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to defend its sovereign territory. That’s why we’re here and asking for that support.” Both Austin and Blinken expressed support for Israel throughout the hearing.
President Biden proposed the aid package during an Oval Office address this month that made a case for countering Russia’s authoritarianism and the terrorist acts of Hamas.
The proposal includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine military and economic assistance, $14.3 billion for Israel military assistance, $14 billion for immigration enforcement, $9 billion for humanitarian assistance, $4 billion aimed at countering China’s influence in developing countries and the Indo-Pacific, and $3.4 billion for submarine industrial base.
Senators have talked about altering some of the details of the proposal, but the majority have expressed bipartisan support. The House of Representatives has been a different story. There, new Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, has proposed breaking out just the funding for Israel and offsetting the cost through cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act.
That puts the House proposal on course for a collision with the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, each today made statements to support connected aid for both Israel and Ukraine.
“No major power has done more to turbocharge Iran’s terrorist network in the Middle East than Putin’s Russia,” McConnell said in a floor speech. “The Kremlin’s intervention in Syria allowed Tehran to establish a massive corridor of resources to terrorist proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas. So it should surprise no one that Iran has happily provided Russia with a kamikaze drone at Ukrainian cities.
“Russia, Iran and China do not share an ideology, but they do share interests. They see themselves in conflict with the West and especially with America. Russia would love to see Iranian-backed terrorists in the Middle East weaken America and our allies. Iran would love to see a Russian victory against Ukraine that divides the west and deepens its own defense cooperation with Moscow.”
McConnell continued, “Our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee now have a chance to provide critical resources that our military and defense industrial base need to keep pace with growing threats and support our partners. Congress also has an opportunity to force the administration to start treating our southern border like the sovereign legal boundary that it is.”
West Virginia’s senators expressed their support for border security during the Appropriations hearing.
“This is bipartisan, so when you hear all my Republican colleagues saying about how important it is to secure our own borders, I want you to know it’s bipartisan,” Manchin said in the hearing. “I’ve got more concern about our borders from my own people in West Virginia, and I want you to make sure we will do anything and everything possible to support securing the borders of the United States of America.”
Capito focused several questions about the proposed allocation on the border security provisions.
Right now, the proposal includes $4.4 billion for the Department of Homeland Security and $3.1 billion for additional Border Patrol agents, asylum officers and processing personnel. It also includes $1.4 billion to help state and local governments with shelter and services for migrants. And the request seeks $1.2 billion in additional funding to boost narcotics detection and interdiction at the border.
Capito has regularly said the emphasis needs to be refined to deterrence.
“Will you please make a better case of why our own homeland security here, including our southern border, is figuring into the equations that you brought us here today to talk about?” Capito asked at the Appropriations hearing.