WASHINGTON, (WCAX) – Early Tuesday morning the U.S. Senate passed an aid package that would give $95B to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine. However, not everyone was happy to see it pass. Senator Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch voted against the package.
After voting against the National Security Supplemental package early Tuesday morning Welch took to the Senate floor to explain why he couldn’t support the bill.
He said the fighting between Israel and Hamas is making the Middle East less stable. He pointed to the $14M going to Israel, saying he can’t support their military campaign underway in Gaza.
“During my years in Congress… I have voted for tens of billions of dollars in aid for Israel. But I cannot send more taxpayer dollars to support Prime Minister Netanyahu’s continued bombardment and the wholesale destruction of Gaza knowing that the calamity that more U.S. bombs and artillery shells will cause for countless more civilians who had nothing, nothing whatsoever to do with the atrocities that were committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7th,” said Welch.
Welch said in his speech that his vote reflects the majority opinion of Vermonters who have reached out to him. The bill did include over $9B in aid to Ukraine, Gaza, and the West Bank.