Senator McConnell believes that foreign aid benefits the United States

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said sending aid to countries such as Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan is “not charity, but an investment in cold, hard U.S. interests.”

In a Northern Kentucky Tribune opinion column on Wednesday, McConnell made his case for why Congress should come together to support allies in need of military aid.

The Senate last week passed a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and Taiwan. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the chamber will not feel “rushed” to pass the legislation.

Conservative lawmakers say stricter security measures at the southern border amid the current migrant crisis are a higher priority than assistance to foreign nations.

“What has been lost in all of the debate over the Senate’s legislation is this simple truth: By standing with our friend Ukraine and supporting their fight for freedom, we can degrade Russia’s military capabilities, the third largest military force in the world, without risking the life of a single American soldier,” McConnell wrote.

“And in the process, we can deter our adversaries, like Iran and North Korea, invest urgent resources into America’s defense, and sustain long-term competition with China, our greatest strategic threat. So this is not charity, but an investment in cold, hard U.S. interests.”

Former President Donald Trump and Republican Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., have blasted McConnell for supporting the Senate national security bill and a previous $118 billion bipartisan supplemental bill that addressed aid and border security.

McConnell said Americans should understand why friends and allies are helping Ukraine.

“Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are engaged in an active campaign to undermine the US-led order that has underpinned Western peace and prosperity for almost a century. From Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine to Iran’s persistent proxy violence against American servicemembers and our installations to growing Chinese aggression against Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners, these threats are serious, and they are linked,” he wrote.

“President Xi has said that Russia and China are engaged in a ‘friendship without limits,” and Tehran has joined in this unsavory union, supplying Vladimir Putin’s invasion with Iranian missiles and suicide drones. The Russian autocrat understands, as some in Washington fail to, that victory in Ukraine would hasten the rise of this authoritarian alignment.”

McConnell began his opinion column by citing former President Ronald Reagan’s “peace through strength” approach in winning the Cold War.

“Today, much like in the Washington President Reagan faced, it has become popular in some circles to bet against American resolve and bemoan the global responsibilities that come with global power,” McConnell wrote.

“Loud voices peddle the short-sighted and ahistorical notion that America’s interests do not extend beyond the water’s edge, and that abandoning our friends is the price of restoring order at home.”

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.