Both of Missouri’s U.S. Senators voted “no” Tuesday on the $95.3 billion foreign aid package, which was signed into law Wednesday morning by President Joe Biden.
Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt, both Republicans, opposed the bill primarily because it includes $60 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine. In a press release, Schmitt criticized spending billions of dollars to defend “the Ukrainian border while nothing is done to secure our own border.”
Hawley sent out a post over the weekend on X, formerly Twitter, that said in part “Another $60 billion for Ukraine. Not a penny for Missouri.”
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison was one of three Republican Missouri congressmen to vote “no” on sending $60 billion to Ukraine.
“I had concerns about where we’re spending the money in Ukraine, whether or not that’s going to actually purchase ammunitions and military equipment, instead of going towards a lot of the social aspects of Ukraine,” he told Missourinet.
Burlison also said the U.S. should prioritize securing the U.S. southern border over sending more money to Ukraine. He did, however, support the sections of the bill that provides military aid to Israel and gives China nine months to divest from the social media app TikTok or else it will be banned in the U.S.
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves, meanwhile, voted in favor of sending military aid to the war-torn country, but in a press release stated that he also voted to cut funding to provide economic assistance to Ukraine.
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