WASHINGTON, D.C. — Utah Senator Mike Lee spoke for over three hours Saturday, arguing against a bill that would allocate funding to help Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
The bill in question, originally part of the bipartisan border security bill that was defeated Wednesday, would provide over $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. On Friday, the Senate had voted 64-19 to advance the bill, but a number of preliminary votes still remain before it can pass.
In a tweet posted Saturday morning, Senator Lee announced his intentions to speak on the bill, saying he intended "to be there for a long time."
In one hour I return to the Senate floor to expose the Ukraine funding bill as the sellout that it is.
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) February 10, 2024
I intend to be there for a long time.
We made a promise to the American people: REAL border security before we send one more penny overseas.
I intend to keep that promise.
He began his filibuster around 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time, with his main point of contention being the ongoing dispute over the United States' border with Mexico, arguing that securing the border should take priority on the Senate floor.
"I think all of us would like to see Ukraine just win. We can't wish it into existence. We can't just dump enough money into it to make it happen, " Lee argued on the Senate floor. "On the contrary, economic aid by some measures, it is proving to be a colossal waste of money."
Over the course of his filibuster, Lee also took issue with an amendment process he said Senate Republican leadership had promised when the bill was advanced.
"What we heard from them is, 'hey, don't worry, we're going to have an amendment process. You'll be able to offer up amendments, have them voted on, have them debated,'" said Lee. "Well, that's not really materializing, isn't it?"
Lee also got particularly heated after Nevada senator Catherine Cortez Masto voiced an objection to one of Lee's amendments.
"Republicans had their chance to work in a bipartisan fashion," said Cortez Masto. "Right wing extremists and the GOP said no."
"Did you hear what she said, yet again, on a measure that has absolutely nothing, nothing at all to do with the border security measures that were rejected with good reason by nearly all Senate Republicans?" Lee responded after reclaiming his time. "She's on that basis, calling us extremists, and on that basis excluding us from even making our amendments pending. This is insane."
Lee's filibuster ended just before 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time. He ended by reiterating that his arguments calling for an open process on amending the bill, which is set to be discussed in a Sunday senate session.
"We haven't had a fair and open process or any kind of process on amendments because the firm is determined to exclude us," said Lee. "Determined to exclude us in a way that benefits the military industrial complex... but otherwise undermines American interests, especially when we refuse even to consider opportunities to make the bill better or at least less bad."
