Missouri and Illinois senators voted on opposite sides of a $95 billion aid package to aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Tuesday.
Illinois Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth voted for the aid package. Missouri Republican Sens. Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley voted against the legislation. It came to the Senate after being approved with bipartisan support in the House on Saturday.
The Senate voted 79-18 to send the measure to President Joe Biden, ending a saga that divided members of the Missouri and Illinois delegations — especially in the House.
“With the eyes of the world upon us, this bipartisan package sends a strong message that the United States will not shy away from our role as a global leader in the fight to defend democracy against authoritarianism," Duckworth said.
By helping Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion, "supporting our Indo-Pacific partners as we work together to counter the Chinese Communist Party, greatly expanding life-saving humanitarian assistance to the innocent civilians suffering in Gaza and — at the same time — helping Israel eliminate the threats posed by Hamas and protect its people, we are making it clear that we will not abandon our partners and allies in their time of need," she said.
During a speech before the vote, Durbin zeroed in on the roughly $61 billion going to Ukraine.
“We always have had an isolationist sentiment in the United States,” Durbin said on the Senate floor. “If you're a student of history, you know that we had to overcome that sentiment in both world wars. But in both cases, and here today with Ukraine, and the larger national security supplemental bill which we are considering, it was not only in our interest to stop wars of aggression, but also to help maintain the international world order that reflects our values and benefits here at home,” she said.
Durbin also said it’s in America’s best interest to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin from advancing through Ukraine’s territory. If the United States fails to help Ukraine, he said, it will send a message of weakness to Iran, China and North Korea.
“Doing so not only would embolden Putin to try for more European land, including from NATO allies like the Baltics and Poland, but also would raise the risk faced by allies in the Indo Pacific and Middle East,” Durbin said.
Both Hawley and Schmitt have argued against continued aid to Ukraine, saying there are other priorities that Congress should take up. Hawley has been especially critical of the House for passing a foreign aid package but not taking up legislation reauthorizing and expanding a compensation program for people who became sick due to nuclear waste exposure — including in the St. Louis area.
On Tuesday, Schmitt lambasted the Senate for not allowing a more thorough process to consider amendments. Unlike the House, where members could vote individually on whether to aid Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, the Senate had to vote on the entire package.
“The only time you get to offer an amendment in this place is if it's sure to fail,” Schmitt said.
He said by failing to make any changes to the aid package, the Senate was effectively capitulating to the House.
“I would just hope that this is a clarion call for reform,” he said. “The Senate is broken.”
Big divides in the House
When the aid bills were brought before the House on Saturday, only four members who represent Missouri or Illinois’ Metro East voted to aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan: Illinois Rep. Nikki Budzinski and Missouri Reps. Emanuel Cleaver, Sam Graves and Ann Wagner.
Wagner said in a statement on Monday that she was proud to “support each of these pieces of legislation that will defend the world from the new axis of evil, Russia, Iran and China, that aims to remake the world in their own image.”
“Israel is fighting a war against Iran and genocidal terrorists who want to wipe them off the face of the Earth and are a national security threat to the United States,” Wagner said. “I will always stand with our greatest ally in the Middle East. This legislation will help them defend themselves at a crucial time in this war.”
Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush was the only member of the Missouri or Metro East House delegation to vote against the aid for Israel. The St. Louis County Democrat said Tuesday that funding for Israel would prolong a war that’s killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.
“We don't want our tax dollars going to anywhere that's going to bomb children and to bomb innocent people,” Bush said.
GOP Reps. Mike Bost and Mary Miller of Illinois and Republican Reps. Jason Smith, Mark Alford and Eric Burlison of Missouri voted against the Ukraine aid. Smith said he was particularly disgusted when Democrats started waving Ukrainian flags, writing on the social media platform X that “the United States flag is the ONLY flag that should ever be waved in our chamber!”
