In recent months, the United States House of Representatives has been in a state of turmoil: turmoil over the budget, turmoil over the speaker, and turmoil over the issue that is foreign aid. Out in the world, there are currently two democracies fighting wars. Ukraine continues to defend itself from Russian aggression, and Israel is fighting a war in Gaza to root out Hamas terrorists, as well as a shadow war against its Arab neighbors. Both of these countries are outgunned, outmanned, and outfinanced, and rely on American support to keep them in the fight for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” However, sending aid overseas is an issue that many Americans feel is unnecessary. The most common argument is that it is inappropriate to send aid to other countries when there are those who are hungry or without healthcare here in the US. It was with this argument that the Republican-controlled House took out foreign aid in this year’s budget — the budget is entirely the purview of the House.
However, the US Senate, which has constitutional responsibilities including foreign aid, recently passed a $95 billion bill, by an overwhelming majority, to send aid to Ukraine, Israel, and key US allies in the Pacific. For the Ukrainians, 14 billion goes toward buying arms, a further 15 billion to intelligence services and training, 8 billion for essential services, and 1.8 billion to rebuild the Ukrainian private sector. As said above, a key objection to this kind of foreign aid is that our nation is sending money to other nations when it is already in debt and with its own problems. However, many forget that a significant portion of this budget goes towards buying new equipment for US forces. When Ukraine buys our tanks, missiles, and planes, they buy our oldest and most worn-out equipment — which, by comparison with the ex-Soviet death traps the Russians use, is very effective. Effectively, most of the money we set aside for the Ukrainians is just buying the best for our own forces.
To Israel: 14.1 billion dollars. None of that money will be used for offensive weaponry, 4 billion goes towards air defenses. 1.2 billion would go towards additional anti-rocket defenses, including a laser weapon designed to shoot down rockets targeted at civilian populations. 2.5 billion would go towards US military operations in the region. This would entail keeping shipping lanes open, providing intelligence to the Israelis about Iran and other aggressive neighbors and other special operations. Beyond that, 9.2 billion dollars goes towards humanitarian aid for civilians trapped in Gaza and the West Bank. This comes at a time when the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), the UN organization responsible for Palestinian aid, is being stripped of its financing by Western nations after significant numbers of its workers and leaders aided and abetted the October 7 attacks on Israel that sparked the ongoing war.
In order for this to become a reality, the House of Representatives must pass this bill and place it on the Resolute Desk for President Biden to sign it. Failure to do so would leave our closest and most valuable allies in the fight against authoritarianism, religious fanaticism, and jingoism against the vulnerable and weak. Furthermore, it would surrender American dominance as the leader of the free world to another nation like Germany, the United Kingdom, or France. Since the United States was founded, it has fought against tyranny in every part of the globe. The question is whether we are willing to put down the mantle of the Arsenal of Democracy or fall back into the dark pit of isolationism.
