Cory Booker Supports Huge Foreign Aid Package Despite 'Shortcomings'

NEWARK, NJ — A massive foreign aid package has finally made its way through Congress to the desk of President Joe Biden, with billions in federal aid potentially headed to Ukraine, Israel/Gaza and the Indo-Pacific region. And although U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has frustrations about some of the details – including a potential nationwide ban on TikTok – it’s a “long-overdue” package of legislation that is worth supporting, the New Jersey congressman says.

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.

Booker, a Newark resident who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a statement about the foreign aid package late Tuesday evening.

“Congress is sending a clear message: the United States stands with its allies and will rise to address humanitarian needs that are causing enormous human suffering in the world,” Booker said.

“Supporting the defense of other democracies under urgent threat and working to prevent humanitarian catastrophe is unquestionably in our national security interests and will save many lives, and that’s why I supported this legislation despite its shortcomings,” he added. “This aid package is long-overdue, and a fringe minority in the House shouldn’t have been allowed to hold it up for months on end.”

The senator continued:

“The people of Ukraine are fighting to defend their freedom in the face of Vladimir Putin’s ongoing, illegal war. Our allies in Israel and Taiwan are facing new threats from Iran and China that demand our continued support. And the close to $10 billion in humanitarian aid I fought hard to include in this bill will help people suffering due to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as those affected by conflicts that aren’t drawing as much attention and are contributing to an unprecedented global hunger crisis, such as the year-long war in Sudan that has resulted in nearly nine million people fleeing their homes.”

New Jersey's other U.S. senator, Robert Menendez, also voted in favor of the aid package.

CHINA, TIKTOK

One of the carveouts in the foreign aid package approved on Tuesday in the Senate 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.

Here’s what Booker had to say about the potential ban in the wake of Tuesday’s vote in the Senate:

“I’m frustrated this package includes riders that should have moved through Congress on their own, like a provision to force a sale of TikTok. I would have voted against this provision if I had the opportunity, not because I don’t have concerns about TikTok or its ownership structure – I do – but because I worry that Congress is missing an opportunity to address larger issues with social media in general, from screen addiction, to its negative effects on mental health, to the alarming impact it can have on the well-being of American children, to privacy, to the stunning proliferation of hate speech online, to its use for bullying and intimidation, to its toxic spread of misinformation, and many more.”

“Congress should take on these broader challenges in a separate bill and have a full debate on them, and I worry the urgency to address them will be lost by this piecemeal approach,” Booker added.

Booker is one of several U.S. senators who has an active TikTok account.

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