Sen. Joe Manchin (D-Va.) on Wednesday told Senate Republicans who voted against pursuing a long-sought bipartisan border security agreement that they “start putting our country before ourselves.” ” he urged.
“What if there’s a chance that things change and President Biden and everyone else agrees that this bill gives us the means to secure our border and that politics rears its ugly head? There’s no doubt that we’re going to say, ‘I’m sorry, but that’s not me.’ It’s not good for our politics.” Manchin said during his speech. interview on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
“I’m sorry to all my friends and colleagues, but this is for America and it’s good for our country,” he continued. “Start putting your country before yourself. Stop worrying about whether a Democrat or a Republican will get reelected. If you have to do this to get reelected, be a congressman. I’m sure you don’t want to.”
His comments came shortly after a motion to advance the border security package failed by a 49-50 vote after weeks of negotiations between both sides. The Senate Republican conference announced that Republican senators Susan Collins (Maine), one of the leaders of the agreement, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), and James Lankford ( All but one state (Oklahoma) voted against moving forward with the agreement. Negotiator — A person who votes in favor of advancing a bill.
The bill would provide massive emergency foreign aid to the Ukraine-Israel war effort and Indo-Pacific security, after Senate Republicans have repeatedly insisted that any aid to Ukraine must be tied to border security reform. It became part of the package.
Manchin praised Lankford’s negotiating work, calling him “one of the most honest conservatives I’ve ever met,” and said the bill includes border policy that has been debated “forever.” He claimed that it was.
Manchin, considered one of the Senate’s most moderate Democrats, said the bill’s defeat “reaffirmed” his commitment not to run for re-election this fall.
“I have come to the conclusion that we are not going to fix Washington’s political stance here in Congress from Washington. It will be resolved outside of Washington,” he said.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper pointed to Romney’s comments late last month in which former President Trump claimed he wanted to scrap the border agreement in order to use it as an issue against President Biden in the 2024 presidential election. did.
Asked if that was his understanding of why the bill was defeated, Manchin said, “Well, that’s what happened, because basically the bill was going down a path…a path to passage. That’s why,” he answered.
A handful of Democratic senators, including Ed Markey (Massachusetts), Bob Menendez (New Jersey), Alex Padilla (California) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), also voted against advancing the bill. .
Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) also voted against the bill, citing Israel’s shelling of Gaza, which has killed more than 27,700 Palestinians since early October, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. . The package was supposed to provide billions of dollars in aid to Israel in its fight against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, a U.S. terrorist organization that has controlled Gaza since 2007.
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