U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) slammed the White House’s announcement that President Joe Biden will order the U.S. military to conduct an “emergency mission” to establish a port on the Gaza coast that can receive large ships carrying food, water, medicine, and temporary shelters.
Biden is expected to detail the plan during his State of the Union speech on Thursday.
“Tonight, the President will announce in his State of the Union Address that he has directed the U.S. military to undertake an emergency mission to establish a port in Gaza, working in partnership with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Thursday.
Vance called the plan an “insane idea.”
This is an insane idea, almost impossible to execute well without putting Americans at risk.
Congressional leadership must fight this with every tool at our disposal. https://t.co/R3X2qeitbp
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) March 7, 2024
“This is an insane idea, almost impossible to execute well without putting Americans at risk. Congressional leadership must fight this with every tool at our disposal,” Vance said.
Touting how the U.S. has provided more than $180 million in assistance to Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, the senior Biden administration official said that the “needs of the Palestinian people has been a priority since day one, and it remains one today.”
“But the truth is, we know that the aid flowing into Gaza is nowhere near enough and nowhere near fast enough,” the U.S. official added. “The President will make clear again this evening that we all need to do more and that the United States is doing more, and we are seeking to use every channel possible to get additional assistance into Gaza.”
The official added that the Biden administration will “pursue every channel possible to get assistance into Gaza,” including by air, by sea, by land.
“However we can get the maximum amount in, possible,” the official said, noting how the operation would not require U.S. military boots on the ground at this time.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “JD Vance” by JD Vance.
