The bill will now go to President Biden for signing, helping him fulfill his promise to NATO allies to continue helping Ukraine as it enters its third year to fight against the Russian invasion.
Passage of the legislation marks the first significant new tranche of aid passed by the U.S. Congress to the beleaguered nation in more than a year, as some Republicans align themselves more with the “America First” foreign policy » of former President Trump have waged a fierce battle against her. They ultimately lost when President Mike Johnson (R-Los Angeles) decided last Saturday to withhold $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, citing his belief that Russia posed a serious threat.
“Today, the Senate sends a unified message to the world,” Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday. “America will always defend democracy in times of need.”
Nine Republican senators voted in favor of the bill Tuesday after voting against an earlier version of the aid in February.
The legislation also provides $26 billion in funds for Israel and humanitarian aid for Gaza and other places, at a time when some congressional Democrats are calling for more aid to Israel to come with strings attached.
Only three senators united with Democrats opposed the aid program while progressives continue to denounce increasing civilian casualties in Gaza. University protests are growing and becoming more volatile, and the State Department released a report saying the human rights situation has deteriorated significantly in the region due to the conflict.
“Israel has no right to go to war against the entire Palestinian people, and that is exactly what it is doing,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt). told the Senate before the vote.
Sanders and other Democrats, including Schumer, have criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza war that has left more than 34,000 Palestinians dead and destroyed much of the region’s housing and civilian infrastructure. Famine is spreading, aid officials and USAID Administrator Samantha Power said this month.
The Senate measure would also force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the social networking site or face a ban, as well as allocate $8 billion to Taiwan, other Indo-Pacific allies and counter the China. Part of the $61 billion in funds granted to Ukraine is paid via a loan to Ukraine that the US president could cancel from 2026.
The Ukrainian funds come at a key time for the country in its war against Russia, as the Pentagon warns that without help from the United States – the country’s biggest military benefactor – Ukraine would gradually cede ground to the forces Russians and would find themselves faced with staggering difficulties. victims.
“Much of the hesitation and myopia that has delayed this moment is pure fiction,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday. “Make no mistake: the delay in supplying Ukraine with the weapons needed for its defense has severely tested the chances of defeating Russian aggression. »
The Senate passed a version of the aid bill in February, after months of negotiations to reach a bipartisan border deal demanded by the Republican Party and linked to aid that collapsed after Trump announced his opposition. The effort divided Senate Republicans at the time, with only 22 voting in favor. But on Tuesday, 31 Republicans voted in favor of the measure, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a longtime hawk who reversed her February vote.
At a celebratory news conference after the success of a key procedural vote, McConnell said he believed the vote showed that Republicans rejected an isolationist worldview that he said had been promoted by Tucker Carlson , a former Fox News personality, who he mocked for recently interviewing Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“I think we’ve turned a corner in the isolationist movement,” McConnell said.
In February, Trump told a rally that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever it wants” to any NATO member country that does not spend enough money on its own defense.
“I think it’s an insult to the American people to think that, once again, we’re going to send another $60 billion to secure another country’s borders,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo. ), who voted against the bill. Invoice.
The aid package was long-awaited by the White House, which requested the current version of the funds in October, shortly after Israel was attacked by Hamas in the Oct. 7 assault that killed about 1,200 deaths among Israelis.
Schumer and McConnell were largely united in pushing for aid to Ukraine, despite fierce opposition from the House Republican Party bearing down on Johnson as he weighed his decision. Speaker could still lose his job over Ukraine aid vote due to lingering anger on his right flank, but Trump has so far praised him and warned against expelling Johnson .
“McConnell and I locked arms on this, we were side by side throughout,” Schumer said of the Senate efforts in an interview. The two men strategized to convince Johnson to let the House vote on their measure and made a pact not to separate Israeli aid from Ukrainian funds, he said.
The bill prohibits humanitarian funds provided for in the bill from being disbursed to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency which operates in Gaza and the West Bank, following allegations that some of its employees allegedly was involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. An independent review commissioned by the United Nations found no evidence that agency employees have activist ties.
The bill prohibits US aid funds from going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) – the organization that distributes most food, medicine and basic services to Palestinians Gaza and the Middle East – operating in Gaza and the West Bank. following Israeli allegations that a dozen of its employees were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. An independent review of the latter claim commissioned by the United Nations found no evidence to support it.
Polls suggest Democrats are deeply divided over Israel’s approach to the war, but Democratic senators remained largely united in approving the aid plan Tuesday. Some Democrats cited the recent Iranian strike against Israel as a development that they said would impress upon voters the need for the aid.
“The idea that we should help Israel defend itself is also, I think, a little more obvious to people than it might have been in February,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.). The senator added that he believed Israel had authorized more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in recent weeks, following a deadly Israeli strike on aid workers at World Central Kitchen.
Others spoke of the impossibility of imposing conditions on the aid, believing that such action would be more effective coming from the president.
“The more I looked into the mechanics of what it would actually mean to try to condition aid in response to a specific event at a specific time – it was always going to require cooperation and partnership from the executive branch” , said Senator Chris Coons. (D-Del.). “Because the aid we approve or vote for now won’t arrive for months or years. »
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who visited Capitol Hill in December to ask for more support, thanked Congress for its actions before the Senate vote. “We are happy that the United States stands by Ukraine, remains our main strong ally,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
washingtonpost
