The House of Representatives approved a $ 39.8 billion aid package for Ukraine on Tuesday, sending massive additional aid to the Senate as Russia’s invasion approaches the three-month mark.
The aid package was adopted by 368 votes to 57. All lawmakers who voted against the bill were Republicans. Two Democrats and three Republicans did not vote.
Legislation includes $ 6 billion in security assistance – including training, equipment, weapons, logistical support, supplies and services to Ukraine’s military and national security forces – and $ 900 million in refugee support services such as housing, language lessons and trauma services for persons fleeing Ukraine.
Approximately $ 8.7 billion of the money in the legislation will go to the Economic Support Fund “to meet urgent needs in Ukraine”, including budget support and anti-trafficking.
“For those in this country and others, Mr President, who saw war as a problem of the 19th or 20th century, this crisis has highlighted the importance of capable military alliances, the central role of NATO and the critical importance of American leadership. in the Transatlantic Alliance, “said House Representative Hal Rodgers (R-Ky.), dean of the House of Representatives.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said the bill was for “democracy against dictatorship”.
“The Ukrainian people are fighting for their democracy, and thus for ours,” Pelosi said. “The world needs to know why it’s important.”
Democrats offered a package of nearly $ 40 billion this week at a higher price than the $ 33 billion President Biden asked Congress to authorize last month. Legislation proposed by lawmakers includes an additional $ 3.4 billion in military and humanitarian aid from a package requested by the White House.
In the event of a change in strategy, the Democrats decided to offer the current aid package to Ukraine without linking it to the COVID-19 aid package. A total of $ 10 billion in aid to the pandemic has stalled for weeks as Senate Republicans push for a vote on a border policy measure. They want a vote on an amendment that would prevent the administration from repealing Title 42, a Trump-era pandemic policy that allows migrants to be expelled quickly at the border and forbids them to seek asylum.
The aid package also donated $ 4.365 billion to the United States Agency for International Development, with most of the money going to efforts to provide emergency food aid to people experiencing hunger as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In addition, the legislation includes $ 8.7 billion to replenish US supplies of equipment sent to Ukraine through the presidential withdrawal body and allocates $ 11 billion to fund the presidential withdrawal body.
The Biden administration used the withdrawal powers to send aid to Ukraine during the Russian invasion, which began on February 24.
Republicans who opposed the bill pointed to the fact that the bill was not paid, which increases national debt. Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) complains that he received text on the $ 40 billion bill at 3 p.m., before the House of Representatives voted on it Tuesday night, calling parts of the bill “a huge slurry fund that goes to the State Department. ”
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday night that passing the amendment in the House of Representatives was a “critical step” in showing the world that the United States supports Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
“Today, the chamber took a critical step to send a clear, bipartisan message to Ukraine, Russia and the world that the United States is with the people of Ukraine as they defend their democracy against Russian aggression,” she said in a statement. .
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Psaki said the additional resources in the aid package would allow the United States to “send more weapons, such as artillery, armored vehicles and ammunition, to Ukraine” and help the United States replenish its supplies and support US troops in the territory. NATO. “
“As the president said yesterday, we cannot afford to delay this vital effort. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Senate leadership to get this bill quickly to the president’s office and to keep the flow of aid to Ukraine uninterrupted,” she said in a statement.
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