WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, Senator Rick Scott wrote an op-ed for The Hill as the Senate is set to consider a massive $95 billion foreign aid package later today. In his op-ed, Senator Scott makes clear how Joe Biden’s decisions to appease Iran and cede his party to radical pro-Hamas extremists have shown that the American people cannot trust his administration, and outlines his concerns that without proper safeguards, the Biden administration will use this aid package as leverage against Israel.

Senator Scott recently returned from his sixth visit to Israel as Florida’s governor and now U.S. senator. Senator Scott met with Prime Minister Netanyahu to express the United States’ support for Israel as it defends itself from the Iran-backed Hamas terrorists that killed thousands on October 7, 2023 and is still holding hundreds, including Americans, hostage.

Senator Scott has repeatedly tried to pass standalone Israel aid in the Senate and Democrats have blocked it every time. In November 2023, less than two months after the October 7^th attacks, Senator Scott voted to pass standalone Israel aid and Senate Democrats unanimously voted against it.

In the op-ed, Senator Rick Scott writes, “President Joe Biden has shown the American people that he will pander to his antisemitic base over supporting Israel, one of America’s greatest allies and the only democracy in the Middle East.

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One of his first actions was to resurrect the failed Iran deal, and since then he has greenlit billions of dollars in sanctions relief to Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. His pandering can be seen in our cities and on college campuses, where radical extremists rally violently in support of Hamas and the extermination of the Jewish people. This cancer has taken over the Democratic Party and caused violence against our Jewish communities.

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I have voted for the Israel aid in this bill, only to see it fail in the Senate with all Democrats voting against it. For years, I have voted for significant funding for the Iron Dome, David’s Sling and other key military assets that help Israel defend itself from Iran-backed terrorism. I am leading the Stop Taxpayer Funding of Hamas Act, to condition aid on the release of hostages and ensure that we don’t send a single dollar of American taxpayer money to Gaza unless the president certifies that it won’t end up in the hands of Hamas terrorists.

Senate Democrats have blocked this bill from consideration or passage in the Senate three times, including when I tried to include it in the Senate-passed foreign aid supplemental in February. And just this week, the Senate Democrats are again refusing to vote on this very simple amendment.

That means that this bill still contains billions of dollars in aid that we know will go straight to Hamas, and does nothing to ensure the release of the hostages, including eight Americans. That’s unacceptable — and while I can tolerate policy disagreements, I cannot and will not support providing aid to terrorists who have murdered and continue to hold American citizens hostage.

President Biden is ceding his party to radical pro-Hamas extremists. While these anti-Israel mobs call for the destruction of Israel and threaten Jewish Americans, Biden doubles down in his criticism of Israel, terrified to anger the extremists in his base because he cares more about winning in places like Michigan than standing up to violent antisemitism.

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The bill before the Senate today is a perfect example of this broken way of doing business that has become the norm in Washington. If given the opportunity to vote on these issues independently, as the House did, I would vote to support aid for Israel with strong safeguards prohibiting aid to Hamas, as I have multiple times — all of which have been blocked by Democrats prior to this vote.

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While some politicians will claim that the bill before the Senate today is some magic bullet that will restore order and protect democracy across the world, we know that’s not true. Most bills have some good policy; this one is not different. However, I cannot bring myself to look the other way and vote for policies that will in many ways prolong the suffering that Biden’s weakness and appeasement have caused for Americans and our friends and allies around the world every day.”

Read the full op-ed in The Hill HERE.

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