26 April 2024,   18:05
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U.S. House passes USD 40 bln bill to bolster Ukraine against Russian invasion

The Democratic-led House of Representatives voted 368-57 on Tuesday evening to pass a roughly USD 40 billion bill to deliver aid to Ukraine as it continues to face Russia"s brutal assault, writes CNN.

All 57 votes in opposition were from Republicans.

The measure will next need to be passed by the Senate before it can go to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier in the day on Tuesday that after the House approved the package, the Senate “will move swiftly” to get the measure passed and sent to Biden’s desk.

Aid to Ukraine has been a rare bright spot of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill with Democrats and Republicans largely rallying around a call to help the nation as it faces Russian attack.

Lawmakers unveiled bill text earlier in the day ahead of the House vote. The legislation the House approved provides funding for a long list of priorities, including military and humanitarian assistance.

The bill includes an increase in presidential drawdown authority funding from the USD 5 billion the Biden administration originally requested to USD 11 billion. Presidential drawdown authority funding allows the administration to send military equipment and weapons from US stocks. This has been one of the main ways the administration has provided Ukrainians with military equipment quickly over the past 75 days of the conflict in Ukraine.

In the Ukraine aid supplemental that was signed into law in mid-March, USD 3 billion in this kind of funding was included. The Biden administration has been using that funding to provide military assistance to Ukraine in a series of presidential drawdown authority packages. The latest package of USD 150 million was authorized on May 6.

The bill also provides USD 6 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding, another way the Biden administration has been providing Ukraine with military assistance. USAI funding allows the administration to buy weapons from contractors and then provide those weapons to Ukraine, so this method does not draw directly from US stocks.

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