Senate passes $40 billion Ukraine aid package
by Alexander Bolton - 05/19/22 1:54 PM ET
The Senate voted 86 to 11 Thursday to approve a $40 billion Ukraine aid package that would replenish U.S. stockpiles of weapons transferred to Ukraine and provide billions of dollars to help the Ukrainian government continue operating and for humanitarian assistance.
President Biden is expected to sign the legislation, which exceeds his $33 billion request to Congress, immediately. The House passed the legislation overwhelmingly earlier this month by a vote of 368 to 57.
Biden on Thursday applauded Congress “for sending a clear bipartisan message to the world that the people of the United States stand together with the brave people of Ukraine.”
“The resources that I requested will allow is to send even more weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, replenish our own stockpile, and support U.S. troops stationed on NATO territory,” he said in a statement.
Biden announced that he would immediately provide another security package of artillery, radars and other equipment.
Democratic and Republican leaders hailed the vote as a crucial step to halting Russian aggression and firmly within U.S. national security interests.
“This is a large package, and it will meet the large needs of the Ukrainian people as they fight for their survival. As President Zelensky has said, the Ukrainians are caught up in a fight for democracy, the very democracy we love itself,” Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor before the vote, referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It’s a fight we should not and cannot turn away from,” he warned.
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Eleven Republican senators led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted against the measure.
Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), John Boozman (Ark.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), Mike Lee (Utah), Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), and Tommy Tuberville (Ala.) also voted against the measure.
