24/04/2024
reading time 5 minutes
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to fast-track the measure, which should be signed by Joe Biden.
The US Senate overwhelmingly approved $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Tuesday, as a bipartisan majority agreed to send the long-delayed package to Joe Biden for signature. The final vote was 79 to 18.
The bill easily cleared a key procedural hurdle earlier in the day. The Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass it, which the Majority Leader called “one of the greatest successes the Senate has faced in recent years.”
“Today, the Senate sends a unified message to the world: America will always defend democracy in its hour of need,” Chuck Schumer said in a statement. on Tuesday afternoon.
After months of delays and setbacks, the House passed four bills last week that fast-track funding for three U.S. allies, while also passing a conservative proposal that could lead to a nationwide ban on the TikTok platform. The measures were combined into one large package, which was approved by the Senate on Tuesday.
The legislation includes $60.8 billion to replenish Ukraine’s war coffers, $26.3 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid to civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and 8.1 billion to the Indo-Pacific region to strengthen its defenses against China.
In response to the funding to Taiwan, China said it is urging the US to fulfill its commitment not to support “Taiwan independence” with concrete actions and stop arming it in any way, a spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said.
Taiwan’s military said on Sunday it intended to discuss with the US how to use the money.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also responded to some of the funds, according to which it is a “strong message” to the country’s enemies.
Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone Monday that he would “act quickly” to send desperately needed military aid, including air defense weapons, to the country after the Senate passes the bill.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives added a provision that would have banned TikTok in the US unless its Chinese-owned parent company pulled out of the social media platform within a year.
Much of the foreign aid portion of the bill mirrors what the Senate passed in February, with the addition of a measure ordering the president to ask Kiev to repay roughly $10 billion in economic aid. in the form of “forgivable loans,” an idea first floated by Donald Trump, who was initially opposed to helping Ukraine.
Although the foreign aid package is largely similar to the measure that passed the Senate in February, several Republican senators voted against it. has now changed its stance and agreed on Tuesday.
Among them was Lindsey Graham, a longtime defense hawk who had previously opposed the Senate foreign aid package. because he was not associated with the U.S. border legislation, but voted to push it through on Tuesday. After visiting Ukraine earlier this year, Graham supported Trump’s loan plan and has since pointed to Iran’s airstrike on Israel as a reason to send aid to the country.
The Senate’s approval of the aid package capped a harrowing odyssey on Capitol Hill that began last year with the White House’s request for new funding for Ukraine and for Israel, which was reeling from an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas.
When the bipartisan border and national security bill negotiated in the Senate failed, Schumer proceeded to vote on the foreign aid bill. It overwhelmingly passed 70-29 in February, but had no clear path forward in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, where new Speaker Mike Johnson has delayed introducing it to lawmakers.
Personal interventions by Biden, senior Congressional leaders and European heads of state and government, and participation in high-level intelligence meetings finally convinced Johnson to act. The decision may have a political cost: he may lose his job.
“History judges us for what we do,” Johnson said at an emotional press conference. conference last week after a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers approved. aid package by a wide margin.
On Tuesday, Schumer praised Johnson, who he said had “braced up,” as well as Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate.
“A lot of people inside and outside of Congress wanted this package to fail,” Schumer said. “But today, those in Congress who stand on the side of democracy are winning.”
After announcing his decision to step down as the longtime Republican leader of the Senate, McConnell made financing the Ukrainian war effort a mission to build his legacy.
“Today’s action is overdue, but our work does not end there,” he said. “Confidence in American resolve will not be restored overnight. Expanding and replenishing the arsenal of democracy will not happen just by waving a magic wand.”
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