This is going to be one of those weekends when we pay close attention to what is happening in Congress as the House has opened debate on several foreign aid bills, the most important being the needed support of Ukraine. That policy move is vital. Period. But given the fact we are also dealing with the most absurd base of the GOP opting for tantrums and their usual level of histrionics as they do the work of Russian President Vladimir Putin in combined efforts to undermine the process and the vote, means this political sideshow to the serious work of governing will also be on our radar. While many Republicans will make the correct decision and support the funding bill, it must be noted that Democrats will step up and make sure the policy is passed and the funds approved. It will not be the first time in this process that Republicans could not muster the votes to do the nation’s business.
Thursday night, Democrats were needed to pass the measure out of the Rules Committee, and that was historic. It was the first time that minority members of the Rules Committee voted in favor of reporting a rule to make up for the majority votes against it.
This morning, the House voted 316-94 to bring the four-bill funding package to the floor. That includes the much-needed aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, and monies to placate the Israeli lobby in their desire to continue war atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza. Each measure will pass with wide margins. But the vote this morning was most telling, and historic! We watched as 55 Republicans voted against advancing the package. To make sure this Ukraine funding bill did not flounder, 165 Democrats voted to bring up the bills. Republicans only had 151 votes.
Putting this into the larger mix, let us note that Republicans also have needed Democrats to pass several major pieces of legislation over the past year. Those include multiple spending measures to keep the government funded and the annual defense bill. These actions by Democrats were made essential due to the far-right wanting to attack women’s reproductive health care rights, attack transgender teenagers, and use racial diversity and inclusion policies at the Pentagon as a wedge issue to make cheap headlines and raise campaign cash. Meanwhile, Democrats worked in a bipartisan fashion with Republicans who were willing to do the work they all were sent to Washington to accomplish.
The House is now slated to vote on the bills early Saturday afternoon, and Johnson will again need substantial help from Democrats to get them over to the Senate. But I want to note this angst in the nation about funding bills for foreign aid is not new, nor is the path about a remedy to the discord anything new. I harken back to a favorite story, a perfect historical event that meshes with what is playing out now in Washington.
I am always reminded of the actions that Congressman Richard Nixon took in 1946 in the face of a very isolationist House of Representatives when dealing with foreign aid. There was a need in Europe that required American involvement, and RN, as part of the Herter Commission traveled to Europe to make an economic assessment. In the following weeks, Nixon would be a strong, committed advocate for the Marshall Plan.
But it did not come easy.
As RN penned in The Memoirs of Richard Nixon his polling showed that 75% of his constituents were “resolutely opposed” to foreign aid. But Congressman Nixon understood the facts, and the need to strongly support economic aid for large portions of Europe. He prepared newspaper columns and went out on the hustings to promote the issue of foreign aid. It made sense then, and history of course shows RN was correct.
We need more Republicans who will speak the truth to their constituents about Ukraine aid and the need for funding this war against Putin. The strident absurdity of the ‘Freedom Caucus’ (the irony is not lost at this desk) will be on dramatic display this weekend, with their ubiquitous volume and discord akin to the howling monkeys at the zoo on a warm July afternoon. I put money on Marjorie Taylor Greene throwing feces by sundown on Saturday. And Matt Gaetz looking for his baseball glove.
The madness of those jokers and the others in their camp run counter to the truly powerful and important players in our history that met their moment in time. Such an event from 1946 is told in The Presidents Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. It is about two Presidents of the United States speaking to the nation in a joint radio broadcast on the weighty matter of foreign aid.
Following the end of World War II, a pressing need across much of the world presented itself–namely how to ensure starvation did not do as much harm as the war itself. To find ways to meet the food shortages and work to make sure foodstuffs got to the places most in need President Truman called on former President Hoover, who had worked wonders with starving populations under President Wilson.
As the story moves along Hoover is abroad on a fact-finding mission but Truman feels the need to have a national radio broadcast about the urgency of the pressing problem. Hoover says he needs to fulfill his travel plans as the people of India, China, and Japan would be disappointed should he not visit. Truman insisted, however, that the speech must go forward.
Therefore, on April 19, 1946, Truman opened the broadcast from Washington which would air on all four networks with Hoover joining in from Cairo. It was simply unprecedented to have two leaders speak together in this fashion. As the authors note, where Truman was practical in the address Hoover was “preacherly”. Hoover had seen the ravages of war and the plight of people that would never leave him.
We know the test of mankind that year was met, but it took the combined efforts of Truman and Hoover to get the international problem handled. The story of the joint broadcast is a romantic one for radio junkies such as myself–but it is also a reminder of a political fact that too few grasp today.
Political opposites can work together for a larger goal. We WILL see that play out this weekend in Washington with the passage of the Ukraine funding bill. Let’s get it done.
In one minute and 24 seconds, I tell the story of that truly inspiring radio address.
