A $13.6 billion emergency package of military and humanitarian aid for beleaguered Ukraine and its European allies passed easily in the US Congress on Thursday, being included in a government spending bill that is laden with political prizes. for Democrats and Republicans.
At a time when the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin has killed thousands of people and forced more than 2 million more to flee, the Senate passed the $1.5 trillion bill with a vote sharply bipartisan 68-31. Democrats and Republicans have included rising inflation, energy policy and lingering pandemic restrictions in their speeches this election year, but they have come together to provide assistance to Ukraine, whose tenacity in the face of brutal force has drawn inspiration. among many voters.
“We promised the Ukrainian people that they would not be alone in their fight against Putin,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said before the vote. “And once we shortly approve this financing, we will deliver on that promise.”
The House of Representatives approved the negotiated initiative on Wednesday without any surprises. President Joe Biden’s signature is certain.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the passage “demonstrates once again that members of both parties can come together to deliver results for the American people,” a rare phenomenon in recent years.
Psaki also encouraged lawmakers to pass resources that are “urgently needed to prevent major disruptions to our COVID response.” In an embarrassment for Biden and the Democratic leaders who had made it a priority, the House of Representatives on Wednesday scrapped the measure’s $15.6 billion to continue efforts to combat the pandemic after grassroots lawmakers opposed it. reduce promised assistance to states.
About half of the $13.6 billion in the measure was earmarked for arming and equipping Ukraine and for Pentagon costs to send US troops to other Eastern European nations unsettled by war near their borders.
[Con información de The Associated Press]
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