WASHINGTON DC: US President Joe Biden signed legislation providing $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, saying, “When our allies are stronger. We are stronger.”
He said the new assistance, aimed at helping Ukraine fight Russia’s two-year invasion and Israel to fight Hamas militants and fend off airstrikes from Iran, is “going to make America safer. It’s going to make the world safer. And it continues America’s leadership in the world.”
Biden said that within hours, the U.S. would begin shipments of air defense munitions, artillery for rocket systems and armored vehicles into Ukraine to help Kyiv’s fighters in a war with Moscow that has largely stalemated on the eastern Ukraine battlefront.
He said the U.S. would ship munitions from its own stockpiles, then replace those with new munitions manufactured in the United States.
“In other words, we’re helping Ukraine while at the same time, investing in our own industrial base, strengthening our own national security, supporting jobs in nearly 40 states all across America,” Biden said.
He called congressional passage of the aid bill, approved after months of debate, “a historical moment,” showing the U.S. would stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We stand up against dictators,” Biden declared. “We bow to no one, certainly not Vladimir Putin.”
The Senate late Tuesday completed passage of the new aid bill. The 79-18 vote came after months of delays, chiefly in the House of Representatives, where the legislation stalled in a dispute over sending aid abroad while failing to act on tighter security to curb migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The House ultimately approved the measure by a vote of 311-112 on Saturday. But the measure in the final version does not address the U.S. border migration concerns.
Ukraine’s battle against a Russian invasion is the major focus of the package, with $61 billion going toward that fight.
The bill also includes $26 billion for Israel at a time when it is battling Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, and $8 billion for countering China’s actions threatening Taiwan and other allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
(VOA)
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