Top lawmakers in the House finalized a bill early Wednesday morning that would send $13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, settling on a number more than twice the amount originally requested by the Biden administration.
The ballooning price tag of the aid measure, which began at $6.4 billion, reflected the furious backlash in Congress to Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine. Democrats and Republicans who have struggled to coalesce behind meaningful legislation to aid the Ukrainian cause are rallying around one of the few substantive tools available to them: sending money and weapons.
The package is part of a sprawling $1.5 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September that is expected to be approved by the House as early as Wednesday afternoon. It is about evenly split between military and humanitarian aid.
Here’s what is included:
Lawmakers in both parties have been eager to help arm the Ukrainian military, and that appetite only grew after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, met with members of Congress last weekend and pleaded for additional jets and weapons.
Mr. Biden earlier this month authorized a $350 million package of weapons that included Javelin antitank missiles and Stinger antiaircraft missiles as well as small arms and munitions, a shipment that represented the largest single authorized transfer of arms from U.S. military warehouses to another country.
And the United States alone has deployed more than 15,000 troops to Europe, while committing an additional 12,000 to NATO’s response force if necessary.
www.nytimes.com
The ballooning price tag of the aid measure, which began at $6.4 billion, reflected the furious backlash in Congress to Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine. Democrats and Republicans who have struggled to coalesce behind meaningful legislation to aid the Ukrainian cause are rallying around one of the few substantive tools available to them: sending money and weapons.
The package is part of a sprawling $1.5 trillion spending bill to fund the government through September that is expected to be approved by the House as early as Wednesday afternoon. It is about evenly split between military and humanitarian aid.
Here’s what is included:
Military aid: $6.5 billion
The bill would send $6.5 billion to the Pentagon, to cover the costs of deploying American troops to Eastern-flank allies and providing Ukrainian forces with intelligence support, as well as to backfill weapons the United States has already sent to the government in Kyiv. The Biden administration initially requested $4.8 billion in military aid.Lawmakers in both parties have been eager to help arm the Ukrainian military, and that appetite only grew after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, met with members of Congress last weekend and pleaded for additional jets and weapons.
Mr. Biden earlier this month authorized a $350 million package of weapons that included Javelin antitank missiles and Stinger antiaircraft missiles as well as small arms and munitions, a shipment that represented the largest single authorized transfer of arms from U.S. military warehouses to another country.
And the United States alone has deployed more than 15,000 troops to Europe, while committing an additional 12,000 to NATO’s response force if necessary.
Humanitarian and economic aid: About $6.7 billion
The aid package includes money intended to help both Ukrainians still living in the country and those who have fled Russia’s brutal military onslaught. It devotes $1.4 billion to humanitarian support for the two million refugees who have left Ukraine. Another $2.65 billion would go to the United States Agency for International Development to provide emergency food assistance and health care to Ukrainians and other affected people in the region.Funding to crack down on the Russian economy and oligarchs: About $120 million
The bill allocates nearly $120 million in funds to the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury to prosecute those who violate new sanctions and export control measures imposed by the United States to try to squeeze the Russian economy, as well as to boost F.B.I. agents monitoring for Russian cyberattacks.
Live Updates: Costs of War Mount for Russia, and for Civilians in Ukraine
Russia’s Central Bank limited withdrawals of foreign currency, hoping to shore up the plunging ruble as Western economic penalties take a serious toll. In Ukraine, efforts to evacuate civilians from battered cities resumed, but many remain trapped in the areas of heaviest fighting.
