House passes military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. How members from KS, MO voted

Rep. Eric Burlison is adamantly opposed to sending additional money to Ukraine. He supports sending money to Israel. He supports sending money to Taiwan, but thinks the Biden administration will transfer the money over to Ukraine.

So on Saturday morning, as the House voted on a series of bills that would send military and humanitarian aid overseas, Burlison split his votes.

“Ukraine is not an ally, they are not a formal ally of the United States,” Burlison said. “Israel is an ally of the U. S. and it serves the best interest of the U.S. for Israel to be there and for Israel to exist.”

Burlison, who represents the Springfield area, wasn’t alone.

Five lawmakers from Kansas and Missouri voted for all four packages – one bill each for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and a fourth bill that imposes sanctions on Russia, China and Iran and includes a provision that could ban TikTok. But six split their votes – Burlison and Missouri Reps. Mark Alford, Cori Bush and Jason Smith and Kansas Reps. Ron Estes and Tracey Mann.

All of the bills passed with bipartisan support. The Ukraine aid bill passed 311-112, the Israel aid bill passed 366-58, the Indo-Pacific bill passed 385-34 and the sanctions bill, which included the TikTok provision, passed 360-58.

The legislation will now head to the Senate, but as just one bill, not four standalone bills.

“At the end of the day it’s disingenuous because they’re all getting pushed back together,” Burlison told the Star Friday.

The House bills come two months after the Senate passed a similar National Security package and nearly seven months after the White House first asked for the foreign aid. It has long been stalled by House Republicans who have come out in opposition to sending more money to Ukraine.

The White House quickly celebrated the passage of the bills.

“Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history’s call, passing urgently-needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday the Biden administration would quickly move to get weapons to Ukraine after the Senate passes the bill and it’s signed by the President.

“It is critical, it is critical,” Jean-Pierre said Friday. “They have been losing ground because of Congress inaction.”

The bill would send $60.8 billion to Ukraine, $23.68 billion to Israel and $8.12 billion for military aid in the Pacific – including nearly $2 billion to Taiwan for defense.

It also contains language that attempts to force a sale of TikTok within about nine months – with a possible three month extension – or else the app would be banned in the U.S. Lawmakers in the House and Senate have called the popular social media app a threat to national security out of fears that China can access its vast troves of user data.

The House already passed a similar bill to force the sale of TikTok, but it stalled in the Senate, where some Democrats raised concerns about whether it would hold up to legal challenges.

Jean-Pierre said Friday that the House and Senate made improvements to the bill before it was included in the national security supplemental. And while the app would be banned if ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, doesn’t sell to a non-Chinese owner in 270 days, with a possible three month extension, Jean-Pierre called it a “divestiture” bill.

“Let’s see where this goes,” Jean-Pierre said. “We support the package as it currently stands. We see it as a divestment not a ban.”

For months, the national security supplemental was stalled as Republicans wanted the foreign aid to be tied to tougher immigration laws at the southwestern border, but rejected a bipartisan border agreement in the Senate.

Hard-right members of the Republican conference said they would try to remove Johnson as House Speaker if he were to bring Ukraine aid to the House floor, where it had bipartisan support. Already, three Republican lawmakers have signed on to a motion to remove Johnson.

Burlison, who is a member of the hard-right House Freedom caucus, said he isn’t sure whether he’d vote to remove Johnson from his leadership post.

“I’m not convinced that there’s someone behind him who would be better, but I’m also not happy,” Burlison said. “So I haven’t made up my mind about that.”

The more controversial vote on the package came Friday morning, when members took a preliminary vote on the package. It passed with bipartisan support 316 to 94, with 55 Republicans voting against the package.

Only four representatives from Kansas and Missouri voted against the preliminary measure – Missouri Republicans Alford and Burlison, Kansas Republican Mann and Missouri Democrat Bush.

Alford quickly left the House chamber after voting against the bill.

“I’m not feeling good about it,” Alford said, in reference to the security package.

Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat, stuck around on the House floor with several Democrats out of concern that someone would try a back-door way to defeat the measure. Instead, he emerged from the House chamber happy.

He said the vote showed that Johnson was willing to govern with the majority of the House, rather than letting bills get derailed by vocal, but small, opposition in the House.

“I know there’s a lot of tension on the floor and there’s also a lot of frustration,” Cleaver said. “However, today is one of the biggest days I have experienced since the beginning of the turbulent era. We have gone back to majority rule.”

How they voted

Here’s how the members voted on the sanctions/TikTok bill, the Taiwan aid bill, the Ukraine aid bill and the Israel aid bill, in order. A yes vote indicates support.

Kansas

Rep. Sharice Davids (D) — Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes

Rep. Ron Estes (R) — Yes, Yes, No, Yes

Rep. Jake LaTurner (R) — Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes

Rep. Tracey Mann (R) — Yes, Yes, No, Yes

Missouri

Rep. Mark Alford (R) — Yes, Yes, No, Yes

Rep. Eric Burlison (R) — Yes, No, No, Yes

Rep. Cori Bush (D) — No, Yes, Yes, No

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D) — Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes

Rep. Sam Graves (R) — Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R) — Not Voting

Rep. Jason Smith (R) — Yes, Yes, No, Yes

Rep. Ann Wagner (R) — Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes