‘Why Don’t We Talk About the American People’: Republican Congressman Erupts on House Floor

Dana StancavageMay 11, 2022

Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy took to the House floor Tuesday afternoon to oppose a more than $40 billion spending bill to provide additional aid for Ukraine.

Roy criticized Democrats for rushing a vote on the huge spending bill mere hours after the text was released. Roy took to Twitter to criticize the “gall of Members of Congress lecturing us when jamming through a $40[billion] Ukraine funding bill.” He noted he and his staff could not review the 30-page bill thoroughly before the 3 p.m. vote, and moved to adjourn until Members had a chance to read the bill carefully. (RELATED: House To Include Ukraine Aid In Government Funding Bill, Pelosi Says)

“You [Democrats] want to sit here and lecture this body about what we’re going to do or not do about standing alongside Ukraine? Why don’t we talk about the American people who are hurting, the wide open borders, the inflation that’s killing people, the jobs that people can’t get because the cost of goods and services in this country?” Roy said on the House floor, according to his Twitter post.

Congress is jamming through ANOTHER massive spending bill that its members haven’t had time to read.

More from Rep Roy: pic.twitter.com/WNFEXzAU02

— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@RepChipRoy) May 10, 2022

The bill passed the House with a vote of 368-to-57 vote Tuesday and will move to the Senate where it is expected to pass, the Washington Post reported.

The spending package includes $6 billion for security assistance, $8.7 billion to replenish stocks of U.S. equipment, $3.9 billion for European Command operations, $11 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority, $4 billion in Foreign Military Financing, $5 billion in humanitarian assistance, and $9 billion for economic support, according to Reuters.

This year, Congress already approved $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine. With the passage of the latest spending bill, the total is now more than $50 billion in aid, according to The Washington Post. Roy was among the 57 Republicans who voted against the aid package, according to Newsweek.