This Saturday, April 20, the United States House of Representatives quickly approved $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies in an unusual session. For the vote, Democrats and Republicans showed unity, after months of political unrest over renewed American support to repel the Russian invasion. The bill will now have to be approved in the Senate, where the Democratic Party has a slim majority.
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The United States House of Representatives approved this Saturday, April 20, a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, after the bill remained stalled for months due to the blockage of a group of Republican legislators. radicals.
Each item was voted on independently and the 61 billion for Ukraine was approved by 311 bipartisan votes in favor compared to 112 against, in a session in which Democrats cheered and waved Ukrainian flags.
The United States has been Ukraine's main military supporter in its war against Russia, but Congress had not approved large-scale funding for its ally in almost a year and a half, mainly due to political disputes.
President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers in Congress had been pushing for a major aid package for Ukraine for months.
But Republicans, influenced by their party's presidential candidate, Donald Trump, were reluctant to provide funds to kyiv for the protracted conflict.
War funding has become a point of contention ahead of a presidential election in November that is expected to once again pit Biden against Trump.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, after months of doubts, finally launched his support for a $61 billion package for Ukraine that includes economic aid and weapons, said:
“To put it bluntly, I'd rather send bullets to Ukraine than American guys.”
Israel and Taiwan will also receive aid
The allocation of 26.4 billion for Israel was approved by 366 votes in favor compared to 58 against and includes funds for anti-missile defense systems as well as for the acquisition of advanced defense weapons systems. 9.2 billion dollars are for humanitarian assistance.
In another vote, funds for Indo-Pacific security (Taiwan, among others) were approved with a bipartisan vote of 385-34 plus one blank vote, that of Democratic Representative Rashida Tlaib.
Among other items, there are $8.1 billion to counter China's actions in the Indo-Pacific region or $2 billion in foreign military financing for Taiwan and other key allies.
The bill will now have to be approved in the Senate, where the Democratic Party has a slim majority.
With EFE
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