Rand Paul Was Right to Delay Vote on Funding Bill for 9/11 First Responders
The Kentucky senator wants the Senate consider offsetting spending cuts before approving limitless, automatic spending for the rest of the century.
CHRISTIAN BRITSCHGI
7.18.2019
Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) is catching a lot of flak for demanding that the Senate actually debate an open-ended extension of the September 11 Victims Compensation Fund.
On Wednesday afternoon, Paul objected to when Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) attempted to pass the bill by unanimous consent—an expedited process that does not require each senator to record his or her vote.
"Any new spending that we are approaching, any new program that's going to have the longevity of 70, 80 years, should be offset by cutting spending that's less valuable," said Paul on the Senate floor. "We need to at the very least have this debate. I will be offering up an amendment if this bill should come to the floor, but until then I will object."
Sen. Mike Lee (R–Utah) also opposed passing the bill by unanimous consent.
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Despite Paul's objections, the permanent extension of the victim's fund will almost certainly pass. The Senate's reauthorization measure currently has 73 co-sponsors, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (D–Ky.) has said he will put it to a vote before the August recess.
On Fox News, former Daily Show host and 9/11 first responder champion Jon Stewart accused Paul of "fiscal responsibility virtue signaling," saying the Kentucky senator's current concerns about the deficit were hypocritical in light of his support for 2017's tax cuts.
Stewart was not alone in this line of criticism.
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These condemnations skate over Paul's rather reasonable position that the Senate should actually debate the bill and consider fiscal offsets before approving nearly a century's worth of effectively unlimited spending.
Rep. Justin Amash (I–Mich.) made this same point last week when explaining why he voted against the victim fund's extension in the House:
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