Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has proposed an amendment to the Ukraine aid bill that stipulates funds repaid by Ukraine under the agreement be utilized to construct the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. The amendment comes as the House prepares to vote on three separate financial aid packages on Saturday, namely $26.4 billion in funding for Israel, $8.1 billion for Taiwan, and an additional $61 billion in aid for Ukraine.
“Funds repaid by Ukraine pursuant to an agreement under this section shall be made available to the Secretary of Homeland Security, without limitation as to fiscal year, for the construction of a physical barrier along the southern border of the United States,” the amendment reads.
“If Ukraine pays back any part of the money we are gifting them in this bill, that money should be spent on our nation’s largest domestic problem: the construction of a border wall with Mexico,” Gaetz said in an interview. “Time and again, Republicans have shown that they have no appetite to vote for what the American people demand, but if we have random billions laying around for a war halfway across the world, we should be able to get some table scraps for our own country,” he added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced his decision to permit members a span of 72 hours to review the respective legislation in anticipation of Saturday’s vote. The individual aid bills mark a u-turn for Johnson, who had earlier supported Ukraine aid only on the condition that it was linked with a border security package. While acknowledging the U.S.’ global commitments, he underlined the necessity of domestic security saying, “we have to take care of our own house first.”
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