Senator Paul Blocks Another Unanimous Vote To Replenish Iron Dome

US Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) voted on Wednesday to block another attempt to provide Israel with $1 billion to replenish its Iron Dome system, citing the need to find a financial source to the bill. The vote took place as Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) asked for unanimous consent for the Senate to proceed with the House version of the bill.

“The Senate must pass HR 5323 as quickly as possible,” said Blumenthal. “Iron Dome has widespread bipartisan support in Congress as well it should,” he said, noting that during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May, the system intercepted about 90% of the missiles targeting populated civilians in Israel.

“In total, 4,400 rockets were launched by Hamas,” said Blumenthal. “If the Iron Dome had failed, countless Israeli civilians would have been killed. The system performed exceptionally well and it showed its necessity for both humanitarian and strategic defensive purposes. I’m very concerned that one of my colleagues previously blocked the passage of this bill in the Senate.”

Paul replied to Blumenthal, “I’ve consistently opposed spending outside of the budget unless it’s offset by spending cuts elsewhere. It’s not only an opinion that I hold. It’s actually the law. It’s called pay as you go. We passed the law many years ago to try to balance our books by having people come forward with things that sound good, want to spend it, but not offset it by spending cuts elsewhere.

“There’s no question that the US has been a very good ally of Israel over time,” Paul continued. “Probably, funds exceeding 80 to 100 billion have been expended to Israel over the last four decades. Just on missile defense, the United States has given Israel seven billion.