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Biden urges House GOP to pass $95 billion foreign aid bill

  • The bill was stripped of U.S. border security reform
  • Democrats: Ukraine needs money to keep Russia from winning
  • GOP: The U.S. must spend money on its own problems

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(NewsNation) — The Senate passed a bill early Tuesday that would send billions in military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies, but House leadership has already signaled their opposition to it.

“The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a morning statement. “America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo.”

The Senate vote was 70-29. It began at 5:15 a.m. after opponents delayed it overnight.

“History settles every account,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement after helping the bill pass. “And today, on the value of American leadership and strength, history will record that the Senate did not blink.”

President Joe Biden gave remarks on the bill Tuesday afternoon, warning House Republicans who won’t take it up that “history is watching.”

“Supporting this bill is standing up to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Biden said. “Opposing it is playing into Putin’s hands.”

Putin’s “appetite for power and control” won’t stop in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022, Biden said.

During his comments, Biden also addressed former president Donald Trump’s recent claims on NATO. Trump, who is running against Biden in the 2024 election, said he once told a NATO ally he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to “delinquent” members of the group.

Calling it an “invitation” by Trump to Putin to invade U.S. allies, Biden said no other president in history has ever “bowed down to a Russian dictator.”

“For God’s sake, it’s dumb. It’s shameful. It’s dangerous. It’s unAmerican,” Biden said.

Despite Biden’s insistence on passing the legislation, Johnson did not budge on his position, telling reporters later Tuesday that he will not bring the supplemental security bill up for a vote.

“National security begins with border security, we’ve said that all along,” he said. “That’s been my comment since late October.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, however, said Democrats are considering all legislative options to find a way to get the foreign aid package passed.

If the bill were brought to the floor, Jeffries said he’s confident there would be more than 300 votes for it — more than necessary for House approval.

The framework of the bill comes from the failed attempt at a compromise on U.S. border security that Republicans seek and Ukraine aid that Democrats have called imperative to thwarting Putin in the war.

The deal includes $60 billion for Ukraine; $14 billion for Israel; $9 billion for humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine; and $8 billion to support Taiwan and allies in the Indo-Pacific.

The package would allot roughly $60 billion to Ukraine, and about a third of that would be spent replenishing the U.S. military with the weapons and equipment that are sent to Kyiv.

Support for sending military aid to Ukraine has waned among Republicans, and progressives have objected to sending offensive weaponry to Israel. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent, as well as Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont voted against it.

“I cannot in good conscience support sending billions of additional taxpayer dollars for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s military campaign in Gaza,” Welch said. “It’s a campaign that has killed and wounded a shocking number of civilians. It’s created a massive humanitarian crisis.”

More than 28,340 Palestinians — including at least 12,300 children and young teens — have been killed since Oct. 7, the Associated Press reported.

Lawmakers have cast the aid as a direct investment in American interests to ensure global stability.

“I believe that if Speaker Johnson brought this bill to the House floor it would pass with the same strong bipartisan support,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the bill passed.

When asked what the plan B for the bill is since Johnson said it’s dead on arrival, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said it’s “critical” that the House takes it up.

“There is no magical pot of money from which to draw,” Kirby said.

Should the supplemental bill pass, Biden’s first priority would be getting Ukraine air defense and artillery weapons, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said.

Biden on Tuesday explained that though America is supplying Ukraine with military equipment, the United States then spends its own money replenishing those stockpiles, “made right here in America, by American workers.”

This “not only supports American jobs and American communities,” Biden said, but it also “allows us to invest in maintaining and strengthening our own defense manufacturing capacity.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Politics

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