WASHINGTON – The House passed a $95 billion package Saturday that includes two long-awaited bills, including $60.8 billion in aid to Ukraine and $26 billion in aid to Israel.
The Ukraine bill, which passed with 311 votes in favor, 112 votes against, and 1 vote in favor, will be sent to the Senate along with the Israel aid bill and two other bills, one to support Taiwan and the other to force TikTok's parent company to sell. will be done. platform.
Lawmakers could also be seen waving Ukrainian flags and cheering for the passage of the Ukraine bill. 101 Republicans and 210 Democrats voted in favor, with Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pennsylvania) voting present. All 112 votes against were from Republicans.
The Israel bill passed 366-58, with 193 Republicans and 173 Democrats voting in favor.
Passage of the bill comes weeks after the Senate passed a massive bill that includes funding for border security, as well as aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Speaker Mike Johnson refused to bring the bill to the floor, choosing instead to pass three separate bills with aid to three countries.
The Ukraine aid bill comes at a critical time in the war with Russia, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has expressed an urgent need for weapons and supplies to continue defending Ukraine from Russian attack.
President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the House of Representatives' passage of the foreign aid bill on Saturday, with Biden saying in a statement that a bipartisan group of senators was “clear about American leadership on the world stage.” We have decided to send a message of encouragement.” . ”
“At this critical turning point, they came together to answer the call of history and pass the urgently needed national security legislation that I have spent months fighting to secure. ” he added.
“Today's action moves this important national security supplement one step closer to helping the United States and its friends address the most dangerous set of threats in a generation,” McConnell said in a separate statement. ” he said. From the battlefields of Ukraine to the cities and kibbutzim of Israel, from the Red Sea to the South China Sea, our adversaries conspire to violently undermine America, our allies, and our global interests. ”
The House also passed a bill Saturday that would force TikTok's parent company to sell the company or ban its sale in the United States. Under the bill, China-based ByteDance would have to sell TikTok within nine months (the president could extend this by a year). Otherwise, it will be banned nationwide. The policy, which extends the divestment period from an earlier House bill and has support from the Senate along with Biden's support, brings TikTok closer than ever to being banned in the United States.
The House also voted to provide $8.12 billion in aid to Taiwan.
A day after a rare bipartisan coalition increased its votes, the House voted on four bills in a row, with 165 Democrats voting in favor of the “rules” for the bills to advance compared to Republicans. (151 people).
The three foreign aid bills will now go to the Senate for approval. Collectively, they include a $95 billion relief package backed by Biden, with some changes from the one passed by the Senate two months ago.
The withholding of the vote represented an act of defiance by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) against an outspoken faction of conservative dissidents who opposed Ukraine funding and had pushed to keep the vote from coming to a vote. Three of them are: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). — threatened to expel him from the chair. The bill's passage could bring Greene one step closer to forcing a vote to remove her from office.
After months of hesitation, Johnson sided with Biden, Democrats and Republicans who believe helping Ukraine fend off Russian aggression is essential to U.S. national security interests. Citing the press conference he received, he warned as follows: It was allowed. ”
“I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than boys in America,” Johnson told reporters, noting that his son will be attending the Naval Academy this year. “This is a live-fire exercise for me, as it is for many American families. This is not a game or a joke.”
Ahead of the vote, former President Donald Trump did not take a clear position and issued confusing statements sympathetic to both pro- and anti-Ukraine wings of the Republican Party.
The bills will be combined and sent to the Senate, which must vote on the entire bill and send it to Biden's desk for signature. It's unclear when that will happen, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, R-N.Y., and McConnell have been outspoken supporters of the package's foreign aid provisions.
Schumer said, “President Biden will provide much-needed funding to support Ukraine, Israel, our friends in the Indo-Pacific region, and innocent civilians in need of humanitarian assistance in Gaza and around the world. We hope to have funding on the table soon.” Before the House vote, he warned that Ukraine's hopes for Russia would dwindle if the U.S. did not provide additional weapons to defend itself.
Schumer said late Friday that the Senate was working to get unanimous agreement to expedite a vote on the foreign aid bill. “We are working on an agreement to consider a supplemental bill,” he said on the Senate floor.
“Here's the political reality,” McConnell said earlier this week. “If you think the fall of Afghanistan was bad, then the fall of a European capital like Kiev to Russian forces would be unimaginably bad. If the U.S. “Even if support stalls and that outcome becomes possible, that is not the case.” Where does the responsibility lie? The problem lies with us. ”
