The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives today approved a $95 billion package of aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, after months of arguments and counter-appeals between Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration and Republican opponents. of.
More than two months have passed since the Senate — where Democrats passed a similar bill — and President Biden and even top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring the bill to the floor.
The unusual four-bill package also includes giving US military aid to Israel, giving aid to Taiwan and other US allies in the Asia-Pacific region, and a measure that includes sanctions and measures against the Chinese social media app TikTok and the possible transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.
The bill imposing the new restrictions on TikTok was the first of four to be passed today.
“People are watching what Congress is doing,” the White House said in a statement Friday. “The passage of this bill will send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal time. The administration urges both houses of Congress to vote and quickly send this supplemental funding package to the president’s office.”
“It’s not perfect legislation, it’s not the legislation we would write if Republicans had control outside of the House, the Senate and the White House,” Johnson told reporters yesterday. “This is the best possible outcome we can come up with under these circumstances to take care of these really important obligations.”
Some hard-line Republicans had voiced strong opposition to further aid to Ukraine, with some arguing that the US could not afford it given its growing national debt of $34 trillion. However, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump – a huge influence in the Republican party – on April 12 expressed his support for Johnson and in a post on Thursday on social media said that the survival of Ukraine is important to the US.
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