How Rand Paul's Past Statements Have Come Back To Haunt Him
A devastating string of tornadoes ripped through several American states on the night of December 10, 2021, and Kentucky ended up being the most hit. As of December 13, the Kentucky death toll from the weather event totaled 74, but Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said that number was likely to rise as "several of our towns [are] in rubble," with search and rescue teams still working. There were also 109 people who were still unaccounted for, according to CNN.
Like most responsible governors would do, Beshear requested federal assistance from Congress to help with the natural disaster cleanup, as well as help for extensive recovery efforts. One of Kentucky's two senators, Rand Paul (the other is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell) echoed the governor's sentiments in a letter to President Joe Biden, explaining why Kentucky needs federal emergency aid (via Newsweek). However, he's being called out as a hypocrite for this act.
Rand Paul asks for emergency aid when he didn't want to give it before
In Senator Rand Paul's letter to President Joe Biden explaining why Kentucky needs federal aid immediately, Paul wrote, "The Governor of the Commonwealth has requested federal assistance this morning, and certainly further requests will be coming as the situation is assessed. I fully support those requests and ask that you move expeditiously to approve the appropriate resources for our state" (via Newsweek).
However, when other states have needed emergency money from Congress to tackle recoveries from natural disasters, Paul voted no. For example, in 2012, the New York/New Jersey area was ravaged by Superstorm Sandy, resulting in nearly 120 deaths, according to USA Today.
While the states did get aid, Paul voted against it in his position as a senator. Paul claims he would have voted for the emergency relief bill if they were taking funds from other sources rather than adding onto the deficit.
Four years later, Paul also voted not to give aid to Puerto Rico after it was hit by Hurricane Maria. "They say we are out of money to pay for hurricane relief. So instead of finding that money somewhere else in the budget, they simply want to raise the limit on our credit card," Paul wrote in a statement (via Newsweek). "This has to stop...We cannot keep spending money we do not have."
There's no word on if Paul expects Congress to draw money from other sources to help Kentucky.