The House of Representatives on Saturday approved a four-part foreign aid package totaling $95 billion that will go to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Now, what was approved is heading towards its promulgation after a long and difficult journey in Congress.
Package Included $61 billion for kyiv's ongoing war against Moscow's invasion, as well as $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza, and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, structured the bills so they can be combined into one after each is passed, to prevent opposition to any one piece from derailing the entire deal.
“Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage. At this critical turning point, they came together to answer the call of history, passing urgently needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure,” President Joe Biden said in a statement Saturday.
“I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law, and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent needs on the battlefield,” he said.
The Democratic-majority Senate will consider the legislation early next week and then send it to President Biden's desk for signing into law.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, confirmed in a statement Saturday that the Senate would “finish work on the supplement with the first vote Tuesday afternoon.”
“To our friends in Ukraine, to our allies in NATO, to our allies in Israel and to civilians around the world who need help: rest assured that the United States will deliver once again,” he added.
What was approved includes TikTok
The approved bill also imposes new limits on the social media platform TikTok was the first of four measures approved on Saturday, with a vote of 360 to 58. That measure requires Bytedance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, sell your stake within a year or face a ban in the United States. It would also allow the president to impose new sanctions against Russia and Iran.
The second bill, which passed with a bipartisan majority of 385 to 34 votes, provided billions in aid to the Indo-Pacific region. The $8 billion bill aims to counter China by investing in underwater infrastructure and helping Taiwan through military financing.
The third bill passed was a major aid package ($61 billion) for Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia. The bill passed with a vote of 311-112.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Congress for passing the aid bill.
“I thank the US House of Representatives, both parties and personally President Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X.
[Con información de AP y Reuters]
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channelYoutubeand activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
