Jim Hartman
On April 24, President Joe Biden signed a long-delayed $95.3 billion foreign-aid package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The legislation would also seize frozen Russian assets and force the sale of the Chinese-controlled social media app TikTok.
The House passed four bills on April 20 with more than 300 votes supporting each, involving shifting bipartisan coalitions. The Senate approved them as a package on April 23 in a 79-to-18 vote.
At the center of the legislation is U.S. self-defense. The bills will expand U.S. weapons production, from 155mm artillery shells to Patriot missiles.
The legislation has about $60 billion for Ukraine most of which would flow to the U.S. defense industry for additional weapons such as ammunition and rocket launchers.
About $23 billion of the Ukrainian portion will replenish U.S. weapon stocks with better equipment than what America has given the Ukrainians. Included is also $11 billion marked for U.S. troops in Europe for ship and aircraft maintenance work and more.
The GOP House changed roughly $9.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine into forgivable loans rather than grants, an idea from former President Donald Trump.
It requires the Biden administration to produce a document detailing their strategy in Ukraine within 45 days.
The $60 billion in new aid to Ukraine comes in addition to the more than $100 billion in assistance given Kyiv since the Russians invaded two years ago.
The measure also contains $26 billion for Israel, which includes direct aid, money for replenishing U.S. stockpiles and supporting U.S. operations in the region. It provides $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza.
The legislation allocates about $8 billion to support Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific. The Pacific bill provides $3.3 billion to increase the U.S. pace on producing attack submarines. That’s crucial to deter China in the region and selling subs to our Australian allies.
Support for our partners in the Indo-Pacific won overwhelming House approval by a 385-34 vote, proof of bipartisan consensus on the Chinese Communist Party threat.
The House passed the Israel aid bill 366-58. Thirty-seven pro-Palestinian progressive House Democrats and 21 House Republicans voted against aid to Israel.
Three Senate Democratic caucus members opposed weapons for Israel. Sens. Jeff Merkley, Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders cited concerns about Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
House Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line and showed leadership on aid to Ukraine, which passed the House 311-112. All the votes against Ukraine aid came from Republicans.
Johnson made a more effective case than has been made by President Biden in explaining what’s at stake in Ukraine.
The 101 House Republicans who voted to support Ukraine are bolstering a weak commander-in-chief. Biden appears to want Ukraine to survive but not to defeat Vladimir Putin.
With 112 House Republicans voting against Ukraine aid, Johnson had to defy an isolationist impulse on the right.
Fourteen far-right Republicans voted against all four House bills. Their votes mean these members don’t believe the U.S. should support allies threatened by authoritarians on the march.
Like the “America First” Republicans in the 1930s who ignored Hitler and Japan, these Republicans apparently think America can keep terrorists and tyrants at bay in blissful isolation.
If history is repeated and they prevail, Americans would eventually have to fight.
Biden’s history of slow-walking requests for arms may have doomed Ukraine, critics worry. The U.S. and NATO are now shipping to Kyiv many of the weapon’s systems that the Ukrainians have requested since 2022.
This includes battle tanks (the M1A1 Abrams), long range precision artillery (HIMARS), and fighter jets (the F-16). Biden feared the war’s escalation and Putin’s nuclear threats.
Congress proved there’s large majority bipartisan support for a strong America and for helping allies – Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan – who want to help themselves.
E-mail Jim Hartman at lawdocman1@aol.com.