Sen. Dan Sullivan
The Senate’s 70-29 predawn vote Tuesday approving U.S. aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan was a rare bipartisan accomplishment in Washington. This is a victory for American security that would buttress U.S. defenses and hold the line against compounding dangers abroad.
Some 22 Republicans voted for the bill, up from 17 who supported starting work on the bill last week, and the converts include Jim Risch of Idaho and John Boozman of Arkansas. A yes vote took political courage. Donald Trump and his new GOP establishment are campaigning against Ukraine, and President Biden is incapable of pressing a public case for his own policies abroad.
But China, Russia, North Korea and Iran are mounting an increasingly aggressive and coordinated challenge to U.S. power. Some Republicans grasp the stakes and are acting as a backbone to a weak President, in the best Republican tradition since World War II. Arthur Vandenberg helped Truman establish NATO, and Bob Dole supported Bill Clinton in the Balkans in the 1990s.
Deserving particular credit: GOP Senators Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. All shaped the bill for the better and repeatedly explained the U.S. interest in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan—over angry barrages from the bill’s opponents.
Sen. Sullivan was right when he said on the floor that the measure isn’t so much a foreign aid bill as a down payment on a badly needed American rearmament. About 60% of the bill’s $95 billion in funding will flow to a brittle U.S. industrial base that is straining to produce enough artillery shells, missiles and air defenses for the U.S. and its allies.
Yet the vote was instructive about some Republicans who portray themselves as defense hawks, not least Sen. Lindsey Graham, who voted no, demanding Congress focus first on the border. The South Carolinian is now ducking this weekend’s Munich Security Conference, where he’s been a regular, perhaps to spare himself the embarrassment. But the country needs him in a role more useful than Mr. Trump’s political spokesman.
Sen. Tom Cotton also voted no, and on the floor he said the bill offered too much economic and budget support for Ukraine. Yet Republicans managed to cut President Biden’s financial aid request by nearly $4 billion, to $7.9 billion. Europe is stepping up to offer more cash, and Republicans have a strong hand to continue trimming this account.
But much of the rest of the $95 billion is for U.S. arsenals and Red Sea operations, and a no vote heralds weakness against China and Iran as much as it does Russia. Anyone who thinks a fight over Taiwan is coming should be rushing to pass $2 billion in weapons sales and training for Pacific partners. The bill also includes billions to produce 100,000 155mm artillery rounds per month. Ukraine is voraciously consuming shells, but 155mm is important to Israel, Taiwan and U.S. forces on the Korean peninsula.
Wherever the U.S. fights, troops need air cover, and the measure helps grow Patriot missile production to 650 a year, from 550 now. The U.S. is expending Tomahawk missiles in the Middle East and needs more of its best weapons in the Pacific. The bill devotes $133 million to expanding production of rocket motors that feed cruise missiles.
***
Next up is the House, and Speaker Mike Johnson said this week the body will “continue to work its own will on these important matters.” If he means it, he won’t let the GOP’s isolationist wing block the will of the House majority that supports Ukraine. The supporters include half the Republicans, and critics can offer amendments. Mr. Johnson ascended to power as an affable patriot, and he can’t dodge this test of his leadership and convictions.
If Mr. Johnson blocks a vote, he and Republicans will bear responsibility for what comes next—in Ukraine and elsewhere. The world will absorb the lesson that the U.S. is unprepared to provide weapons for allies willing to fight in their own defense against a marauding dictator, as the Ukrainians have done with valor and at great cost.
Seventy Senators are on record opposing a diminished America in a world that is more dangerous than it’s been in decades. House Republicans now face a test of what they believe, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
No comments:
Post a Comment