The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved long-delayed military aid to Ukraine in a rare show of bipartisan unity, while also bolstering Israel and Taiwan defenses and threatening to ban Chinese-owned TikTok.
The four bills in the US$95 billion package were overwhelmingly approved in quick succession, although they leave the future of US House Speaker Mike Johnson in some doubt as he seeks to fend off angry far-right detractors in his Republican Party.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement that the legislation would “deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and other locations ... and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
Photo: Reuters
He praised lawmakers who came together across party lines “to answer history’s call.”
Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the US$61 billion earmarked for his country, saying the military and economic assistance would “save thousands and thousands of lives.”
Not surprisingly, Russia took the opposite view.
“It will further enrich the United States of America and ruin Ukraine even more, by killing even more Ukrainians because of the Kyiv regime,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, state news agency TASS reported.
The US Senate is tomorrow to take up the bill.
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated that his chamber would act quickly, saying in a statement that “the finish line is now in sight... America will deliver yet again.”
The bills are the product of months of acrimonious negotiations, pressure from US allies and repeated pleas for assistance from Zelenskiy.
The US has been the chief military backer of Ukraine in its war against Russia, but Congress has not approved large-scale funding for its ally for nearly a year and a half, mainly because of cross-aisle bickering.
Democrats in Congress have been pushing for a major new weapons package for Ukraine for months, but Republicans, influenced by the party’s presidential candidate, former US president Donald Trump, have been reluctant to provide funding to Kyiv for the drawn-out conflict.
Johnson, after months of hesitation, finally threw his support behind the aid package for Ukraine.
“To put it bluntly, I’d rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” Johnson said.
The Ukraine bill also allows Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets and provide the money to Ukraine to finance reconstruction, a move that has been embraced by other G7 nations.
At Biden’s request, about US$8 billion under one bill would be used to counter China through investments in submarine infrastructure and boosting competition with Beijing on projects built in developing countries.
The first of the bills passed would force social media platform TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a nationwide ban in the US.
Western officials have voiced alarm over the popularity of TikTok with young people, alleging that it is subservient to Beijing and a conduit to spread propaganda — claims denied by the company.
TikTok sharply denounced the bill, saying it “would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate seven million businesses and shutter a platform that contributes US$24 billion to the US economy annually,” a TikTok spokesman said.
A total of US$13 billion in military assistance has been allocated for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. The money would essentially be used to reinforce Israel’s Iron Dome air defenses.
More than $9 billion will be earmarked to address “the dire need for humanitarian assistance for Gaza as well as other vulnerable populations around the world,” the legislation says.
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