Ukraine funding package moves closer to Senate passage

The Senate voted Friday night to move a $95.3 billion omnibus bill that would provide funding for Ukraine, Israel and other national security priorities closer to Senate passage. The bill does not include provisions that would block the flow of immigrants across the South, despite the vacillation of many Republican senators at the border.

Senators voted after a day of negotiations on amendments to the bill, which initially included a bipartisan border security deal that would amend refugee law and give President Biden greater powers to expel immigrants.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York removed border security provisions from the bill after all but four Republican senators voted to block the bill, which included immigration and border reform.

The Senate voted 64-19 to pass the bill Friday night. Fourteen Republicans joined Democrats and two independents to officially begin deliberations on the bill.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against advancing the bill.

It would provide $60 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, $14 billion in security assistance to Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine, and $4.8 billion to support allies in the Indo-Pacific. .

Schumer said Friday’s vote “moves forward the process of passing a national security emergency package on the Senate floor.”

He urged his Republican colleagues to work together to agree on amendments “so we can move this bill forward more quickly.”

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told lawmakers they have a “responsibility” to “provide the common defense and equip the next commander in chief with the means to demonstrate America’s power.” He reminded them of this and urged them to move forward with the enactment of the bill.

He pointed to how Senate Republicans amended President Biden’s funding request, noting that the bill would require the administration to identify specific objectives, requirements and metrics for aid to Ukraine. .

He also said the Senate package provides $9 billion more for U.S. defense needs than Biden requested and $4 billion less than the amount the White House wanted to provide direct budget support to Kiev. He pointed out that there is a shift in

Clearing Friday’s procedural hurdles would allow senators to amend the bill.

A group of Senate Republicans is trying to add border security provisions that they say would do more to keep the border safe than the bipartisan border reforms that Schumer removed from the package.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who voted against advancing the bill, said it failed to address what he called the “invasion” of millions of migrants at the southern border. insisted.

“Why not help the American invasion while helping the Ukrainian invasion?” he said.

He said the bipartisan border agreement, announced after months of negotiations, was initially part of a defense spending fix, but gave asylum officials too much power to legally bring people into the country, and that the final In other words, it will act as a magnet to attract more immigrants.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Thursday introduced an amendment to the bill that would attach the tough border security reforms contained in HR2, the House-passed border security law.

Requires the Department of Homeland Security to resume construction of the border wall, criminalize visa overstays, significantly tighten asylum standards, and require employers to E-Verify to ensure they are not hiring illegal workers. There is a need to mandate its use.

Some Republicans have balked at providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said it was “nearly inconceivable” that sending aid to Gaza would not benefit Hamas.

Mr Lee plans to propose an amendment to the bill to make it clear that funding should not go to UN agencies working in Gaza.

He said the bill would not provide funding to UNRWA, the U.N. agency that recently fired nine former employees involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, but that the Biden administration would direct funds to other U.N. relief agencies. He pointed out that this does not restrict people from turning their heads. enclave.

Sanders said he voted against advancing the bill because it would send $14 billion in military aid to what he called the “far-right government” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He noted that 27,000 Palestinians have died during the war in Gaza, two-thirds of them women and children, and expressed concern that Congress would like to send more military aid to Israel. “It’s unbelievable,” he said.