Congress’ Massive Spending Bill Sets Aside Another $45 Billion for Ukraine
Congress appropriated an additional $45 billion in emergency assistance to help Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion in its yearly spending bill released early Tuesday.
The bill is Congress’ largest assistance package for Ukraine to date, following a $40 billion package signed into law in May, a $12 billion supplement in September and $800 million authorized in Congress’ defense spending budget, bringing the total anticipated support for Ukraine in 2022 to nearly $100 billion. It exceeds President Joe Biden’s $37 billion request for military, economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine despite some Republican opposition to offering a “blank check” to Ukraine.
“Finalizing the omnibus is critical, absolutely critical for supporting our friends in Ukraine,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said, according to The Associated Press.
Congress appropriated $858 billion in defense funding, in line with the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act that passed the Senate last week.
It includes $9 billion in direct military assistance under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and $11.9 billion to finance future drawdowns of U.S. weapons stocks and replacements with new equipment through September 2024, the bill shows. Other funds go toward upgrading U.S. troop presence in Europe, expanding research and development programs and increasing procurement thresholds. (Read more from “Congress’ Massive Spending Bill Sets Aside Another $45 Billion for Ukraine” HERE)
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