Senator Scott Opposes Supplemental Funding Bill

WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) released the following statement after voting against the final passage of supplemental funding legislation:

“I have always stood by our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel, especially in the face of unspeakable atrocities at the hands of Hamas terrorists. And I have consistently supported providing Israel with the resources it needs to defend itself and defeat Hamas. However, this bill holds up Israel funding unless we provide more than three times that amount to Ukraine and could allow President Biden to pressure Israel into acting in the administration’s interest instead of their own. Democrats are using the crisis Israel is facing to fund their preferred priorities. We should first secure our southern border, second provide resources to Israel, third assist our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, and fourth make sure we have additional accountability woven into the resources we provide Ukraine. This bill falls far short of that standard.” 

Last week, Senator Scott introduced three amendments to the supplemental bill to prioritize border wall construction at the U.S.-Mexico border, abolish the antisemitic and terrorism-complicit United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), and establish greater oversight of foreign land purchases near U.S. military bases and other sensitive sites.

BACKGROUND

Senator Scott has unequivocally supported Israel and stood against Hamas’ terrorism by: 

• Championing S. Res. 417, a resolution expressing solidarity with Israel in the wake of the October 7th attack, which passed the Senate with near unanimous support;
• Voting in support of the FY24 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included numerous provisions to increase U.S. security cooperation with Israel;
• Introducing the Revoke Iranian Funding Act to permanently freeze the $6 billion released by the Biden administration to Iran and direct the Treasury Secretary to provide an accounting of all high-value Iranian assets around the world that are currently blocked by U.S. sanctions;
• Meeting with victims of Hamas and members of victims’ families, hearing first-hand about the brutality inflicted by Hamas on innocent civilians, including innocent children;
• Pushing for passage of his Solidify Iran Sanctions Act to extend sanctions on funding for Iran’s energy and weapons sectors and curtail the regime’s ability to develop its nuclear program and finance destabilizing activities;
• Before and after the attack, leading dozens of Republican senators in holding the administration to account for its dangerous Iran policy;
• Supporting the Israel Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023, which would provide $14.3 billion of aid to Israel;
• Introducing the Antisemitism Awareness Act, directing the Department of Education to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when investigating antisemitic acts on campus;
• Introducing the Stop Antisemitism on College Campuses Act to defund colleges and universities that enable violent antisemitism on their campuses;
• Authoring the Stop Support for Hamas Act with Senator Ricketts (R-Neb.) to cut U.S. funding for UNRWA and prevent bilateral U.S. assistance from winding up in the hands of Hamas terrorists;
• Helping to introduce the UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-Idaho) to restrict UNRWA funding until the Secretary of State certifies that the agency or its successor meets strict accountability criteria;   
• Introducing the Preventing Terrorism at the U.N. Act to cut off U.S. funding to the United Nations until UNRWA is abolished;
• Demanding any national security supplemental bill include “an immediate and permanent prohibition” of U.S. aid to UNRWA; and
• Voting against and condemning Senator Bernie Sanders’ anti-Israel resolution.