Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) railed against the Biden administration’s plan to forgive $4.7 billion in loans to Ukraine, arguing American taxpayers are footing the bill while wondering if they can afford to pay for rent, energy bills and groceries – while receiving no such debt forgiveness.
“Here we go again with the Ukraine-first, America-last policy,” Paul began his nearly 11-minute long speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.
“President Biden is forgiving loans that aren’t due for 40 years,” he continued. “This makes a mockery of the entire charade that this is a loan. They should have just said it was a gift.”
Americans all across the United States are grappling with high prices and their own debt thanks to four years of the Biden-Harris Administration, all while the U.S. national debt has hit a record $36 trillion, and we cannot afford a $4.65 billion dollar gift to Ukraine. Senators… pic.twitter.com/UFnXQcyCGJ
— Senator Rand Paul (@SenRandPaul) November 21, 2024
Sen. Paul went on to point out Ukraine’s loans are being forgiven while Americans are financially struggling.
“That is a sick joke on every American who has a loan at the bank for their house and has to pay their mortgage every month, while Ukraine is never going to have to pay their loans.”
“Let me remind President Biden that, due to his failed policies of the last four years, Americans across this country are struggling with their loans. Today some 37 million Americans live under the poverty line, including 9 million children. Yet the concern is for the loans of a foreign country that will never be repaid.”
He went on to point out American money was used by Ukraine to line the pockets of bureaucrats.
Americans may be surprised to discover that their aid has not, in fact, shifted the war in Ukraine’s favor.
“They may also be surprised to learn that much of the money Congress sends to Ukraine isn’t actually being used to support Ukraine’s military. While American families struggle to put food on the table and keep the lights on, U.S. taxpayers are paying for the salaries of thousands of Ukrainian bureaucrats—their pensions. We are paying for their teachers.”
The Kentucky senator went on to highlight Ukraine’s notorious reputation for corruption.
“Adding insult to injury, Ukraine is consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world,” Paul said. “Transparency International ranked Ukraine 104th out of 180 countries in 2023 with respect to honesty and integrity and also found that 23 percent of public service users paid a bribe in the previous 12 months in Ukraine. And yet we give billions of dollars, and we have no special inspector general.”
In an update, Paul said he was able to bring the issue to a vote, but that “America Last” legislators decided forgiving Ukraine’s debt was in America’s best interest.
Tonight, I forced a vote to block Biden from canceling $4.65B of Ukraine’s debt at the expense of U.S. taxpayers. His plan shifts the burden onto hardworking Americans already struggling with inflation. Sadly, the Ukraine 1st, America Last Caucus defeated my resolution.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) November 21, 2024
Read a transcript of Sen. Paul’s speech below:
Here we go again with the Ukraine-first, America-last policy. Earlier this week, President Biden delivered a report to Congress informing us that he now intends to forgive or cancel $4.65 billion worth of U.S. loans to Ukraine. You might ask yourself, when were these loans issued? Oh, about a month or two ago. Well, when does Ukraine have to pay back these loans we’re forgiving? They made an agreement to start paying them back in 40 years.
President Biden is forgiving loans that aren’t due for 40 years. This makes a mockery of the entire charade that this is a loan. They should have just said it was a gift. A forgivable loan? It’s not even a loan. It’s not due for 40 years, and we’re forgiving it now. These funds were provided by the American taxpayer in the form of loans with the expectation that they would be repaid. We’re not going to wait any period of time—they weren’t even going to be repaid for 40 years—and we’re forgiving them.
That is a sick joke on every American who has a loan at the bank for their house and has to pay their mortgage every month, while Ukraine is never going to have to pay their loans. Seems like this is Ukraine first, America last. We’ve got a $36 trillion debt in our country. We’re paying a trillion dollars in interest. We can barely keep up—we’re not keeping up—with all the things we’ve promised Americans: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, food stamps. All the things that have been promised, we’re $2 trillion short. So what do we do? We’re just shipping billions to Ukraine. About $200 billion has been sent so far.
Such blatant disregard of American citizens is unacceptable. The joint resolution of disapproval that I’ve put forward today provides the Senate an opportunity to prevent the president from doing this—from canceling this debt and making a mockery of the idea that it was ever a loan. We will not stand idly by as the president elevates the interests of a foreign country above our own.
Let me remind President Biden that, due to his failed policies of the last four years, Americans across this country are struggling with their loans. Today, some 37 million Americans live under the poverty line, including 9 million children. Fifty percent of Americans say they’re living paycheck to paycheck. And yet the concern is for the loans of a foreign country that will never be repaid—that we’re not even going to begin to be repaid for 40 years.
This is an insult to every American who has a mortgage that they have to pay. Eight out of ten Americans who earn less than $50,000 a year are unable to cover their bills into their next paycheck. Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, and we’re shipping this money to a foreign country that will never be asked to repay it. In 40 years, if they were somehow gloriously successful again, they’re still not going to be asked to pay this.
Americans are working two, sometimes three jobs, just to make ends meet. And while millions of Americans work day in and day out to pay off their own personal loans, President Biden wants to forgive Ukraine’s economic loans without any debate. This was rushed forward. I was fortunate enough to get 16 colleagues to allow this vote to happen, but they didn’t want this vote to happen. They gave us a short window, and boom, it’s going to be gone. They don’t want a discussion about how obviously insulting this is to every American.
The American people have been more than generous when it comes to supporting Ukraine. In the nearly three years of this war, Congress has appropriated nearly $200 billion in aid. For three years, the American people have been sold the lie that if we only send tens of billions more of their dollars to Ukraine, Ukraine would be able to push Russians out, secure the 2014 borders, and achieve victory on the battlefield. It won’t happen.
The president of Ukraine, the generals of Ukraine, and the people who have followed this situation all agree: the war is at a stalemate. Trillions of dollars more will only lead to more carnage on the battlefield, and it won’t achieve victory. These assertions were always farcical, as they failed to contend with basic battlefield realities. Despite massive assistance provided by the United States and others, Ukraine is no better off now than they were three years ago. It is arguable that their ability to negotiate has decreased, as they’ve lost more land to Russia. Their leverage for negotiation with Russia is less than it was when the war began.
In fact, Ukraine is now in a worse negotiating position because they’ve likely incurred hundreds of thousands of casualties and now face a critical manpower shortage. That shortage is becoming impossible to ignore as Russia consolidates its gains and continues to make progress across eastern Ukraine. Americans may be surprised to discover that their aid has not, in fact, shifted the war in Ukraine’s favor.
They may also be surprised to learn that much of the money Congress sends to Ukraine isn’t actually being used to support Ukraine’s military. While American families struggle to put food on the table and keep the lights on, U.S. taxpayers are paying for the salaries of thousands of Ukrainian bureaucrats—their pensions. We are paying for their teachers. Do our teachers make enough money? Probably not, but I’m guessing if you ask an American teacher, “Should we be paying the salaries of Ukrainian teachers?” you might get a debate.
We’re paying their health worker salaries, their first responders. We’re buying seeds and fertilizer for their farmers, and we’re bankrolling Ukrainian small businesses. A report conducted earlier this year found that 43 percent of small businesses in America were unable to pay their rent in full and on time in the month of April. Yet, we’re sending billions of dollars to Ukraine to subsidize their small businesses.
A report by CBS News discovered that U.S. taxpayers are helping a Ukrainian knitwear company find new international customers overseas. Oh boy, we’re helping Ukrainian businesses expand overseas. But we don’t even need independent journalists to highlight such absurdities. U.S. AID bragged on their own website about how they provided funding for six Ukrainian fashion brands to participate in Paris Fashion Week. I’m sure they will be glad that they won’t be paying back any loans.
This is what we’re asking the American people to pay for—to send Ukrainian fashion brands to Paris Fashion Week. I’ve never had one constituent in Kentucky come up to me and say, “Please send more money. We’re fine in Appalachia. We’re fine in rural Kentucky.” I don’t think there’s anybody in Asheville, North Carolina, today that’s pleading for more of your money to be sent to Ukraine.
It’s bad enough, but it’s also impossible to ensure that this amount of money actually gets to the misguided priorities that have been set. The Government Accountability Office admits that there are a number of ways in which federal agencies could improve oversight and aid to Ukraine. It’s been three years. Why hasn’t the government improved the oversight? Well, because it’s impossible to send so much aid to a country as quickly as we have and expect that there won’t be waste, fraud, and abuse.
I forced the Senate to vote on a special inspector general for Ukraine, and the Ukraine-first uniparty—both sides of the aisle—voted it down. Even with a special inspector general, it’s nearly impossible to ensure oversight on this vast amount of money in such a short period of time. Adding insult to injury, Ukraine is consistently ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Transparency International ranked Ukraine 104th out of 180 countries in 2023 with respect to honesty and integrity and also found that 23 percent of public service users paid a bribe in the previous 12 months in Ukraine.
And yet we give billions of dollars, and we have no special inspector general. Now, despite all of this, President Biden wants to forgive over $4.6 billion in loans that the U.S. taxpayer provided under the auspices that they would be repaid. This lunacy is just another example of how the Washington establishment is completely out of touch with Americans. You ask Americans about this—they’ve got to pay their loans. They don’t understand forgiving Ukrainian loans.
The election earlier this month made it eminently clear that the American people are sick and tired of the status quo. They are sick and tired of business as usual in Washington, and they want their elected officials to deliver change. It’s fitting that in the final months of this disastrous presidency, Joe Biden caps off his foreign policy for the middle class by asking to cancel over $4.6 billion in loans to Ukraine, once again prioritizing the interests of a foreign country at the expense of our own.
I urge my colleagues to vote in support of this resolution to disapprove of the president forgiving these billions of dollars worth of loans to Ukraine and put the American people first.
Mr. President.