The controversial $95 billion foreign aid package passed by the House last week continues to be plagued with criticism from Republicans for its lack of border security provisions. During a speech on the Senate floor, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) held nothing back in his critique of the bill, calling it "moral extortion" and "blackmail" to force support of aid to Israel at a time when Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS are taking advantage of the border crisis.
Sen. Rubio began by pointing out that the emphasis from the press would be the $61 billion allocated to Ukraine, not the $26 billion for Israel. Despite his support for aiding the embattled Jewish State, "This is something we actually tried to pass on its own, and could have passed on its own, months ago. It was blocked. It was held hostage for Ukraine funding. But it’s something we should have done months ago," referencing the $14 billion allocated by the House offsetting funds for expansion of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The Florida Senator let loose on the fact that the foreign aid package contained no border security provisions, saying, "[To vote for Israel aid], I have to drop my demand that the president enforce our immigration laws? I have to vote for billions of dollars to be spent on all kinds of programs around the world, including for people that are illegally entering this country? This is moral extortion."
After all, Sen. Rubio noted, not only have approximately nine to ten million people entered the country illegally in ten years, a far cry from legal immigration that should be encouraged, but America's enemies are actively taking advantage of it.
He pointed at the recent pro-Palestine protests throughout the country, such as the blockage of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the blockage of traffic in Oregon, Chicago, and Seattle, and the mass demonstrations on various college campuses, most notably at Columbia University in New York.
Moreover, Rubio suggested Israel's enemies in Hamas and Hezbollah "openly brag" about their "friends on the global left" who support the destruction of Israel, and particularly how "Because of the introduction of colonialism, racism, and slavery studies into history curricula, many young Americans have been groomed to support armed resistance, to support intifada in the United States."
As a result, Rubio concluded by repeatedly saying that despite the urgency at which America must help her allies, "I have to vote to do nothing to stop thousands of people a day that we know literally nothing about from coming across our border and being released into our country?"
"This is not a compromise. This is legislative blackmail, and I will not vote for blackmail," Rubio concluded.
