The ‘new’ Ukraine Bill still hides the truth and still funds Gaza and the West Bank

Senators Murray and Schumer, after last week’s defeat of the 370-page long, $118,214,271,000 “Border Bill,” have proposed a new amendment to HR-815. This new “Ukraine Bill” (S Amendment 1388) is only 82 pages long and has a price tag of $95,628,914,000, just $22.6 billion less than its predecessor. It has two sections—the National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, and the Fend Off Fentanyl Act.

The new Ukraine bill portion that the Senate Democrats hope to pass this week is just a hacked-up version of last week’s border bill. They renumbered Section 3801 of the earlier amendment as Section 3401, but it still prohibits calculating the true cost of this bill and its impact on the budget. As I wrote earlier, this hamstrings their congressional colleagues and the President in executing their duties to manage federal appropriations. House members who are ultimately responsible for the budget, especially the majority Republicans, should not tolerate this.

The Department of Defense funding in the bill, some $67.3b, is unchanged. The funding to nonprofits “to prevent, prepare for, protect against, and respond to acts of terrorism or other threats” is to assist high-risk urban areas, states, local, and tribal governments, not the nonprofits themselves, as I had presumed in my earlier discussion of this funding. If we would just close the border to all but properly visaed and vetted applicants for entry, this would not be such a concern.

Image by AI.

This amendment leaves in $481m to pay for assistance to “entrants,” but removes $350m to provide legal representation to trafficked children. $1.3b in disaster and economic assistance to migrants is also gone. That does not mean that the huge amount set aside for the President to spend won’t be spent on exactly this.

Given that addressing the fentanyl crisis is part of the purpose of this amendment, it is surprising that $25m to the State Department “to counter the flow of fentanyl, fentanyl precursors, and other synthetic drugs into the United States” is gone. Also gone is the $23.2m that had been designated to the DEA “to enhance laboratory analysis of illicit fentanyl samples to trace illicit fentanyl supplies back to manufacturers, to support Operation Overdrive, and to bolster criminal drug network targeting efforts through data system improvement.” Same goes for an unspecified amount for the Border Patrol for “counter-fentanyl activities.”

All the funding to the President for a variety of purposes remains intact, which is $18.7b plus another $7.1b for the Foreign Military Financing Program. Of that, $1.6b is for Ukraine, $3.5b for Israel, and $2b for the Indo-Pacific region. Whether that’s going to Taiwan or to the submarine base is not detailed in the bill. It would be nice to know in advance.

The $25m for the State Department and USAID Inspectors General is there, including the $10m to provide oversight to ensure that funding appropriated under this bill to the West Bank and Gaza is not misused or diverted to Hamas or any other terrorist or extremist entities in Gaza. But what portion of the President’s $5.7b for “Ukraine, Israel, other vulnerable populations” is expected to be spent on people in the West Bank and Gaza? Certainly, a goodly amount if it’s going to take $10m to oversee it. It would be prudent to wait until the conflict in Israel has calmed down and then appropriate a specific amount of money for well-defined purposes for West Bank and Gaza residents.

The remainder of border-focused legislation is removed completely. Obviously, most of it needed to go, but not all. If we control our border, there is no need to build intake, processing, or detention facilities on the border. No need to allocate a penny on deportation flights for those not yet here.

There is concern that a failure to expend these funds could result in an impeachment attempt against a President. Appropriations bills are law. If the Chief Executive halts the execution of that law, there is always that possibility.

Anyone wonder why Biden reversed himself after he halted building the border wall, sold off the materials at pennies on the dollar, and welded portions of the wall open? It’s because the wall was funded in an earlier bill. However, Congress, specifically the House, has the job of properly allocating and reallocating, if necessary, federal funding.

Since it’s Congress, no one will be surprised to hear that, so far, there have been more than 100 amendments proposed to the new amendment of HR-815. Senate Republicans should jump into the fray and ensure the bill addresses We the People’s concerns. Beef up the anti-fentanyl portion. Remove the prohibition on the Congressional Budget Office costing out this bill. Limit or remove the funding for Gaza and the West Bank. Add back in the completed border wall and comprehensive surveillance technology. Stop funding assistance to those who are not proper legal migrants. We’re counting on you.

And if this makes it to the House, Speaker Johnson and the Republican Caucus…well, it’s up to you to make it work best for America.

Anony Mee is the nom de blog of a retired public servant who X-tweets at oh_yeahMee.