The law now moves on to the Senate for final consideration, before ending up in President Joe Biden’s office for signature. In a statement from the White House on Saturday, the president urged the Senate to consider the matter quickly.
The chamber also approved, as expected, an aid package to Taiwan of $8.1 billion, as well as military aid to Israel totaling $13 billion. 9 billion dollars have also been set aside for humanitarian aid to Gaza and other vulnerable population groups around the world.
However, it was the Ukraine aid that was the biggest issue on the congressional representatives’ table on Saturday. It was adopted with a solid majority – 311 to 112 votes.
A series of amendments to the law designed by opponents to water down or destroy it were all voted down.
Prolonged standstill
The decision comes following weeks of political infighting and internal squabbling among Republicans in the House of Representatives. A group of far-right Republicans is strongly opposed to US military support for Ukraine’s fight once morest the Russian invasion.
This has led to Speaker Mike Johnson facing a very difficult political balancing act, since the Republican majority in the assembly is razor thin.
US military aid to Ukraine stopped following the previous package was exhausted. European and other Western backers have so far failed to fill this void, which has had consequences on the battlefield.
Struggling
In recent months, Ukraine has struggled hard in the fight once morest the Russian invasion forces. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly requested supplies of anti-aircraft and artillery shells.
The US military has estimated that Russia, which is said to have received material transferred from North Korea and Iran, among other things, has five times as much firepower as the Ukrainians.
The news agency AP describes the debate ahead of the vote as serious and purposeful. Both Republican committee leaders and the top Democrats in the groups called for a quick processing of the case.
– The eyes of the world are on us, history will judge us based on what we do here now, said Texas Republican Michael McFaul, who heads the foreign affairs committee.
When the support was approved, cheering and clapping broke out in the hall. Some waved Ukrainian flags.
Grateful
The reactions were not long in coming either. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj thanked the US in a message on X/Twitter.
– I am grateful to the House of Representatives, both parties, and Speaker Mike Johnson personally, for the decision that puts history on the right track, he wrote.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg was also pleased with the outcome.
– I welcome the fact that the House of Representatives in the USA has approved a large new support package for Ukraine. Ukraine uses the weapons that the NATO allies give it to destroy the Russian combat capability. This makes us all safer, both in Europe and North America, says Stoltenberg on X/Twitter.
– This is very good news. This support is badly needed and will, among other things, help to give Ukraine better air defense coverage, writes Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide (Ap) in an email to NTB.
Russian discontent
US President Joe Biden is happy regarding the aid packages and referred to them as a response to “the call of history”.
Russian authorities also commented on the decision on Saturday, saying that US support “will kill even more Ukrainians”.
– The decision to provide support to Ukraine was expected and predictable, said President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov to the state-run Russian news agency Tass.
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2024-04-21 13:01:35
