House Passes Bill For $40 Billion In New Ukraine Aid
Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com
On Tuesday night, the House passed a nearly $40 billion bill for new Ukraine aid as Washington continues to escalate its role in supporting Kyiv in its war against Moscow.
The measure passed in a vote of 368-57, with only Republicans voting against the bill. The legislation now moves to the Senate, which could hold a vote this week.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has said the Senate will “move swiftly,” although some Republicans in the chamber have complained that the massive aid package is not large enough.
President Biden asked Congress for $33 billion for the new Ukraine aid package, but congressional Democrats ramped it up to $39.8 billion. The package includes $11 billion in presidential drawdown authority, which allows President Biden to send Ukraine military equipment from US stockpiles.
The aid also includes $6 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding, which enables the US government to buy weapons from arms makers and send them to Ukraine.
The Pentagon will receive $8.7 billion to replenish weapons stockpiles that have been to Ukraine, and $3.9 billion to pay for troop deployments in Eastern Europe.
You can’t find baby formula in the United States right now but Congress is voting today to send $40 billion to Ukraine. Let’s put America First for a change.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 10, 2022
In March, $13.6 billion for Ukraine aid was included in a spending bill signed by President Biden. The new $39.8 billion plan will bring total US aid for Ukraine in 2022 alone to over $53 billion.
The 57 House Republicans who voted against Ukraine aid package. https://t.co/BC5yWgNSpk pic.twitter.com/y80quvZZbt
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 11, 2022
To put the enormous figure into perspective, Russia’s entire military budget for 2021 was estimated to be about $65.9 billion.
Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/11/2022 – 07:26
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/YkFL7xR Tyler Durden