Month after month, year after year, Oregon’s two U.S. senators often vote in lockstep. The senior senator, Ron Wyden, and junior senator, Jeff Merkley, are liberal Portland Democrats who see much of the world through the same lenses.
Then came Tuesday, April 23, and a $95 billion foreign aid bill that offers a pastiche of long-delayed goals: Aid to Ukraine and Taiwan; banning or modifying ownership of TikTok; addressing the importation of fentanyl and precursor drugs; $9 billion in humanitarian aid for those in the besieged Gaza Strip; and, most controversially, $17 billion in weapons aid for Israel.
When the roll-call came on the Senate floor, Sen. Wyden voted “aye.” And Sen. Merkley voted “nay.”
Wyden, in a written statement, lumped his support of Israel and Ukraine together. Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and Israel endured an attack by the terrorist organization Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, launched from the Gaza Strip, the narrow corridor of land within Israel that abuts Egypt. By some accounts, an estimated 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, and more than 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive.
The foreign aid package had stalled out in the U.S. House of Representatives for months. “It is shameful that House Republicans slow-walked vital aid to America’s allies and partners and humanitarian relief for worsening conflicts, but I’m glad it finally will be going to the president’s desk,” Wyden said. “This measure shows America is still a world leader, and I believe this aid will hasten the end of the wars in Israel and Ukraine.”
But Israel responded to the October attack by invading Gaza and a long, drawn-out urban war campaign continues today. According to Al Jazeera and the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 34,000 people have been killed and more than 77,000 have been wounded in Israeli attacks.
Merkley, in a written statement, said he supports most aspects of the foreign aid bill, including defensive aid to Israel for anti-missile weapon systems.
“The section of this bill I cannot support, however, is the funding and delivery of more offensive military weaponry to Israel at a time when Israel is using American weapons in what President Biden has called an ‘indiscriminate’ campaign of bombing,” Merkley said. “That campaign has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, including more than 24,000 women and children. It has also pushed Gaza to the brink of famine with 1.1 million Palestinians facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Hamas is Israel’s enemy. Palestinian civilians are not the enemy.”
The $95 billion supplement funding package passed out of the House on Saturday, April 20 as four separate bills. On Tuesday, the combined package passed the Senate in a bipartisan manner, 79 to 18, with three senators not voting. The “aye” votes included 46 democrats and 31 Republicans.
Washington’s Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray both voted in favor of the bill, as did Idaho’s Sens. Mike Crapo and James Risch, and California’s Sens. Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla.
President Joe Biden signed the bill Wednesday, April 24.
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