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WASHINGTON, April 20 (KUNA) -- The US House of Representatives passed bills to provide USD 95 billion assistance for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific region on Saturday.
The bills provide nearly USD 61 billion for Ukraine, more than USD 26 billion for Israel and more than USD eight billion for Indo-Pacific security, CNN reported.
A fourth bill in the package addressed other House GOP priorities, including sanctions on Iran and a measure that could lead to a TikTok ban.
The legislation will be combined into a single amendment as it moves on to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said lawmakers will begin voting on it Tuesday.
After months of resisting putting a foreign aid bill on the House floor, GOP Speaker Mike Johnson joined with Democrats to advance the measure to Saturday's vote, according to the CNN report.
The bipartisan move drew the ire of some hardline members in the Republican Party, who are supporting an effort to oust him. Johnson's job is safe for now, as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she won't yet move forward with a motion to vacate.
Welcoming the move, President Joe Biden said, "Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage."
"At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history's call, passing urgently-needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure," he said in a press release.
"This package will deliver critical support to Israel and Ukraine; provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, and other locations impacted by conflicts and natural disasters around the world; and bolster security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.
"It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia.
"I want to thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House who voted to put our national security first," Biden said, urging the Senate "to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs." (end)
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