Two Republican members of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation both voted ‘No’ on foreign aid packages for Ukraine and Israel on Saturday.
U.S. Representatives Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) (pictured above, left) and Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) (pictured above, right) were the only members representing Tennessee to vote against both the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act and Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act.
The $60.8 billion Ukraine aid package passed the House by a vote of 311-112 while the $26.8 billion aid package for Israel passed by a 366-58.
While the rest of the Tennessee delegation voted with the majority to pass the Israel aid package, DesJarlais and Burchett argued against the package’s included assistance for Gaza, which the congressmen said will likely end up in the hands of the terrorist group Hamas.
“I have voted for two bills in the past to support our allies in Israel, and I would have liked to vote for this bill, but it contains billions of dollars in aid that could end up in the hands of Hamas,” Burchett said in regards to his vote against the Israel aid package.
DesJarlais released a statement relaying the same concern in addition to his argument that emergency assistance for Israel should not be “bundled” with additional incentives in an “emergency fashion.”
Blank checks without guardrails, transparency and oversight, money and assistance flowing to Gaza and Hamas, along with a lack of legislation for securing our border – a national security issue of the highest order – necessitated my no votes today.
My full statement 👇 pic.twitter.com/4ed7aIcYH3
— Scott DesJarlais (@DesJarlaisTN04) April 20, 2024
“When I travel throughout Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District, I hear one thing consistently – secure America first. Instead, we have been presented a false narrative that all of these foreign aid issues must be handled and bundled together in an emergency fashion,” DesJarlais said.
“Other than providing emergency assistance to Israel – which is a legitimate emergency response to action taken since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. The remainder of the supplemental emergency funds should be considered and debated in regular order. And even more disappointing is that assistance for Israel in this bill today – on which I have consistent record of supporting – is only given with a trade off of providing $9 billion in economic assistance to Gaza, meaning many financial and other resources are likely to fall into the hands of some of the very same people that supported and perpetuated the attacks on innocent Israelis,” DesJarlais added.
“Blank checks without guardrails, transparency and oversight, money and assistance flowing to Gaza and Hamas, along with the lack of legislation for securing our border – a national security issue of the highest order – necessitated my no votes today,” the congressman concluded.
In regards to the Ukraine aid package, six Republican members representing the Volunteer State – Burchett, DesJarlais, Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), John Rose (R-TN-06), and Mark Green (R-TN-07) – voted against the bill.
“I have said many times that the United States has already sent Ukraine nearly $114 billion in aid, and Europe should take the reins,” Burchett said in regards to the aid package for Ukraine.
Rose, who also voted against the package, said while he supports “Ukraine’s right to defend itself,” he cannot support the funding of the country’s fight “without a realistic strategic plan from the Biden Administration to win the war against Russia.”
“I have consistently voted against sending billions of borrowed dollars in foreign aid to Ukraine without a realistic strategic plan from the Biden Administration to win the war against Russia. I support Ukraine’s right to defend itself; however, I do not support the Biden Administration’s half-baked plan to ship Tennesseans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars across the Atlantic without a solidified strategic plan for victory and sufficient cost-sharing by European countries more directly affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Rose said.
“I will continue to do everything in my power to conduct oversight and accountability of these tax dollars to prevent another Biden Administration disaster like Afghanistan,” Rose added.
Republican members Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), David Kustoff (R-TN-08), and Democrat Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) voted with the majority to pass the bill.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Rep. Tim Burchett” by Rep. Tim Burchett and “Rep. Scott DesJarlais” by C-SPAN.
