Mikie Sherrill: Foreign Aid Package Is A Win For United States, Allies

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey is among the federal lawmakers who are cheering for a massive foreign aid package that finally worked its way through Congress this week.

The $95.3 billion aid package contains $60.8 billion for Ukraine, $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza, and $8.1 billion for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region.

The foreign aid proposal took a major step forward last weekend, when the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a four-piece package that was combined into a single item and forwarded to the Senate. The Senate passed that package on Tuesday evening, and Biden is expected to sign it into law on Wednesday.

Sherrill, who represents New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District (Essex, Morris, Passaic) in the House, has been a vocal supporter of sending more funding to help Ukraine defend against Russian military aggression.

“Ukraine is running low on ammunition for essential artillery and air defense systems – all while Russia is receiving shells from North Korea and Iran,” the former Navy helicopter pilot said earlier this month.

Sherrill, a Democratic Party member, bashed House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, for not bringing the aid package up for a vote sooner.

“Time is of the essence, has been of the essence, and we must pass the supplemental. It is time for him to show true leadership, despite his own political concerns, and to stop playing politics with this and ensure that Ukraine can effectively fight because our allies and partners have stepped up in the absence of U.S. support,” the congresswoman said.

Sherrill hasn’t been shy about her stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, speaking directly with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and while representing the United States as part of a bipartisan Congressional Delegation to the Munich Security Conference. Recently, Sherrill signed a discharge petition to force a House vote on the Senate-passed national security supplemental legislative package and urged her Republican colleagues to do the same.

New Jersey is home to one of the largest Ukrainian-American populations in the country, the congresswoman pointed out.

• See Related: Ukraine Refugees Get A Little Taste Of Home In North Jersey

TIKTOK BAN

Another carveout in the foreign aid package approved in Congress this week contains more than $8 billion in aid for Taiwan and other “key allies” in the Indo-Pacific – an effort that lawmakers say aims to bolster U.S. military defenses against potential aggression from China.

China has responded to the bill by calling for the U.S. to rein in its support for Taiwan, saying that it “sends a wrong signal” to Taiwan separatist forces.

Another part of the foreign aid package contains a controversial measure that gives ByteDance – the China-based owner of popular social media app TikTok – nine months to sell its stake in the company. If it doesn’t, TikTok will be blocked in the United States.

TikTok has said it will fight the law in court if it is signed into law, a legal battle that could take years to resolve.

TikTok has said ByteDance “is not an agent of China or any other country.” And ByteDance insists it is not a Chinese firm, pointing to global investment firms that own 60 percent of the company, the BBC reported.

But critics of the social media app – including Sherrill – allege that’s not true.

“There is no question that the Chinese government’s influence over ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, is a national security threat,” she said in March. “The CCP uses TikTok to silence free speech and dissent in the United States and abroad, to intimidate and spy on journalists, to undermine democracy and our values, and to promote propaganda that is favorable to autocratic rulers like President Xi.”

Sherrill reiterated her support for the potential TikTok ban – and the other elements of the foreign aid package – in a statement last weekend.

“This long-awaited funding will deliver crucial support for our allies and push back against the aggression from U.S. adversaries across the world,” she said. “Whether it is our support for Ukraine’s valiant defense against Putin’s brutal invasion; Iron Dome and other funding for Israel’s defense against attacks from Hamas, Iran, and to keep the war from escalating into a regional conflict; life-saving humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians in Gaza; or support for our allies in the the Asia-Pacific in the face of rising aggression by the Chinese Communist Party; this legislation supports U.S. interests around the world and protects U.S. values here at home.”

“There is nothing ‘America First’ about surrendering to a brutal dictator like Vladimir Putin or failing to address the CCP’s malign influence,” Sherrill added. “We must always rise to the moment to defend our national security interests and democracy across the globe.”

At least one of Sherrill's challengers in the upcoming election is singing a different tune about this week's aid package, however.

Raafat Barsoom, who is seeking the Republican nomination in NJ-11, said the aid package will divert attention away from more serious problems here at home in the U.S., opining that there are better ways to use taxpayer money than to "continue a proxy war with Russia that will likely go on for years, bleeding U.S. taxpayers."

“I support the Ukrainian people," Barsoom said. "I support Israel and Taiwan, but not at the expense of ignoring growing, serious problems right here in America."

New Jersey’s 11th District includes the following municipalities:

• Essex County – Belleville, Bloomfield, Cedar Grove, Fairfield, Glen Ridge, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair (part), North Caldwell, Nutley, Roseland, South Orange, West Caldwell
• Morris County – Boonton, Boonton Township, Butler, Chatham, Chatham Township, Denville, Dover, East Hanover, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Madison, Mendham Twp (part), Montville, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Morristown Town, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway, Rockaway Township, Victory Gardens
• Passaic County – Little Falls, Totowa, Wayne (part), Woodland Park

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