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At risk, the aid proposed by the Senate for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific

2024-02-14 17:02:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The US Senate on Tuesday approved a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. But as Voice of America correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the bill faces a difficult approval process in the House of Representatives with a Republican majority.

As the Senate passed the landmark bill on Tuesday, it was a vital moment for $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, $14 billion to Israel and billions more to Indo-Pacific countries facing the threat of China.

President Joe Biden called on the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to take up the bill.

"I call on the Speaker of the House of Representatives to allow the House to give its opinion and not allow the most extreme voices to block this bill by not putting it to a vote ," said President Biden.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that the House will not vote on the bill unless changes are made to the US immigration system. A deal on a $118 billion budget bill that also included some measures on the border collapsed last week when former President Donald Trump encouraged Republicans to vote against sending aid to Ukraine.

"If we gave all this money, we would have sent over 200 billion dollars to Ukraine. And they could reach a deal with Russia in the next three weeks and all of a sudden they don't want a deal with us anymore ," former President Trump said.

Democrats hailed the passage of the aid bill as a key moment for American leadership amid global crises.

"One of the most historic and important bills approved in the Senate. A bill that affects not only our national security, not only the security of our allies, but also the security of democracy as we know it today ," said Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader.

Republicans are split on whether to send further aid to Ukraine, saying the funds are more needed for security in America.

"What we asked is that since the administration has prioritized giving over another $60 billion to help Ukraine secure its border, we thought maybe we could use that to force this administration to secure our border," he said . Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.

But 22 Republican senators, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, joined the Democrats, saying they could not ignore the huge consequences for the national security of the United States.

"Our allies and partners hope that the irreplaceable country, the leader of the free world, has the resolve to continue, while our opponents are hoping for something quite different ," said Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader.

The United States sent the latest round of aid to Ukraine on December 27. Analysts say the delays embolden Russia.

"For Putin, this is a kind of triumph. Makes Russia look like it's on its way to victory. And it makes Ukraine look like it's stuck in place, or in some kind of stalemate in this war ," says Michael Kimmage, from the Catholic University of America.

Legislators in the House of Representatives will be in work session for three more days and will then rest until the beginning of March./ VOA