US President Joe Biden makes a speech at an event at the Rose Garden in the White House in Washington, DC, May 9, 2022.
Kevin Lamarck Reuters
President Joe Biden on Monday called on Congress to quickly approve a multibillion-dollar aid package for Ukraine before trying to pass a new round of funding for Covid-19, warning that US aid to the country’s fighters is almost exhausted.
Biden’s new position marks a reversal of his insistence last month that military aid and pandemic funding be merged. The split between the two bills significantly increases the chances of Congress accepting the $ 33 billion in funding requested by Ukraine, while dampening hopes of $ 10 billion in Covid support, according to Biden, needed to deliver updated vaccines and vaccines for the fall.
“I have previously recommended that Congress take overdue action on much-needed funding for COVID treatment, vaccines and tests as part of the additional bill for Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement issued by the White House.
“However, I have been informed by congressional leaders on both parties that such an addition will delay action on urgently needed Ukrainian aid, an opinion strongly expressed by several Republicans in Congress,” Biden said.
“We cannot afford to delay this vital military effort,” he said. “I am therefore ready to take these two measures separately, so that the bill on Ukrainian aid can reach my bureau immediately.”
On April 28, Biden asked Congress to provide $ 33 billion to cover humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine by September. According to Biden’s proposal, nearly two-thirds of that amount will go to security and military aid to Ukraine, as it repels the invasion of Russian forces.
In a statement Monday, Biden said the additional funding was both necessary and urgent, with money for shipments to Ukraine running out in 10 days. “I have almost exhausted the resources provided to me by the bipartisan majority in Congress to support Ukraine’s fighters,” he said.
“This assistance was crucial to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield. “We cannot allow our aid deliveries to stop while we wait for further action by Congress,” Biden said.
His statement acknowledged that while there appears to be bipartisan support for the aid package, there is no such consensus on more funding from Covid. Republicans opposed Democrats’ efforts to combine money for Ukraine with additional funding to alleviate the pandemic.
“So I urge Congress to immediately pass the bill on additional funding for Ukraine and send it to my desk over the next few days. And then I urge Congress to move immediately to the COVID funding bill, “Biden said.
He stressed that more action by Congress is needed to tackle the pandemic.
“Without timely funding from COVID, more Americans will die unnecessarily,” he said. “In the autumn, if we are affected by new options, it will be too late to get the tools we need to protect ourselves – critical treatments that will be available in Europe but not in the United States.
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