The Democratic-majority Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law.
The U.S. House of Representatives, with broad bipartisan support, passed a $95 billion legislative bill. wrap providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite the bitter objections of Republican hardliners.
The bill was submitted Saturday to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago.
US leaders, from Democratic President Joe Biden to Republican Mitch McConnell, have urged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to put the issue to a vote.
The Senate is expected to pass the measure next week and send it to Biden to sign into law.
The bills provide approximately $61 billion to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, including $23 billion to replenish U.S. weapons, stockpiles and facilities; 26 billion dollars for Israel, including 9 billion for humanitarian needs; and $8 billion for the Asia-Pacific region, including Taiwan.
Zelensky thanks the House
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his thanks, saying U.S. lawmakers had decided to keep “history on the right track” by supporting his country after its invasion by Russia.
“The vital U.S. aid bill passed by the House today will prevent the war from spreading, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help our two nations become stronger,” Zelenskyy said on X .
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the new US legislation would “aggravate the crisis around the world”.
“Military assistance to the kyiv regime constitutes direct sponsorship of terrorist activities,” Zakharova said on Telegram.
It is unclear how quickly the new military funding for Ukraine will run out, likely prompting calls for additional action from Congress.
Biden, who had urged Congress since last year to approve additional aid to Ukraine, said in a statement: “This comes at a time of grave urgency, as Israel faces unprecedented attacks of Iran and Ukraine under continued bombing by Russia. »
The vote on passing Ukraine funding was 311 to 112. Only 101 Republicans supported the bill, and 112 voted against it.
Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington, said the number of Republicans who voted against the bill in the House is significantly high.
“It’s very remarkable that 112 Republicans voted ‘no’ for different reasons,” she said.
“Some think the European Union should do more to help Ukraine, while others say the money should be spent at home and that Ukraine has no responsibility for how it spends that money. funds.
“This package was adopted, but it calls into question what could happen if Ukraine needs more funds in the future,” our correspondent added.
The House supports Israel
Meanwhile, the House’s actions during a rare Saturday session highlighted some cracks in what is generally strong support for Israel within Congress.
Saturday’s vote, in which aid to Israel passed by a vote of 366 to 58, had 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans in opposition.
Al Jazeera’s Culhane said Democrats who voted against the Israel bill were very vocal in their criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“This figure may seem small… but it is truly remarkable. This would be unimaginable ten or twenty years ago,” she said. “I think it shows a big change within the Democratic Party.”
The passage of the long-awaited legislation has been closely watched by U.S. defense contractors, who could be in the running for huge contracts to supply equipment to Ukraine and other U.S. partners.
House Speaker Johnson chose this week to ignore threats of ouster from hard-line members of his split majority (218-213) and move forward with the measure that includes funding for Ukraine, as that country struggles to combat the two-year-old Russian invasion.
The unusual four-bill package also contains a measure that includes a threat to ban Chinese social media app TikTok and the potential transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine.
Some Republicans have repeatedly threatened to impeach Johnson, who became president in October after his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted by party extremists.
