LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The U.S. Senate voted Thursday afternoon on $8 billion of funds to fight the coronavirus, and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was the only one to vote against it.
Paul proposed that under the "Pay-as-you-go" rule, Congress should cut $8 billion worth of unspent foreign aid money in order to pay for the coronavirus funds. But the Senate rejected his plan, and he voted against the emergency package.
"If someone proposes new federal spending, no matter what it's for, you're supposed to pay for it by cutting spending somewhere else," Paul told WDRB News before Thursday's vote. "So what I proposed is if they're going to spend several billion dollars on the coronavirus, we should take that from the foreign aid account."
He said he's committed to not adding to the national debt, despite the coronavirus fears.
"Yes, we can help," he said. "The government is already situated to help with coronavirus, and I think the government should act in a responsible way. I think we could allocate more money, but we should pay for it. If you don't follow through and you say, 'Oh, well, we should pay for it, but I'll vote for it anyway.' Then that just gives them license to do it again and again and again, and that's what happens up here. This isn't the first time we've had emergency money. This is probably the tenth time we've done emergency money in the past two or three years. So everything is an emergency."
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