Washington, D.C. — In a speech on the Senate floor today, Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) announced that he will be voting against the National Security Supplemental package.
Key excerpts:
“From the Middle East to Europe to the Indo-Pacific, weakness from President Biden has allowed chaos to spread across this globe.”
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“But right here at home, we are facing a crisis of our own. Most notably, the worst border crisis in American history. The truth is that the consequences of our border crisis affect our citizens the most.”
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“So, as we again debate foreign aid and foreign spending, I will repeat what I have said throughout the process: We must secure our own border before we help other countries protect theirs. In order to be a strong nation, we first have to have a strong border here at home.”
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“So, when I oppose this package, it won’t be because I oppose helping our friends and our allies.
“We should send Israel the weapons they need to eliminate Hamas and free the remaining hostages – one, by the way, is a North Carolinian. We should counter the Chinese Communist Party’s military aggression in the Indo-Pacific and its social media subversion inside our country. We should counter Russia’s brutality and force Putin to the negotiating table on terms most favorable to Ukraine. We should rebuild the arsenal of democracy and make significant investments in our national defense. We should do all of those things.
“But, not before we fix what affects our own citizens first.”
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“This is an order of priorities, and my first priority as a United States Senator will always be to make life better for us here in the United States and back home in North Carolina. I will oppose this foreign aid package because we must put America first — not alone, not alone… but first.”
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