The test vote reflected overwhelming bipartisan support for the long-stalled $95.3 billion aid package, which President Biden has urged lawmakers to pass quickly so he can sign it into law.
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The bill includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine; $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
The Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to move toward a final vote on the long-stalled $95.3 billion package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, taking a crucial step toward approving the measure and sending it to President Biden for his signature.
The critical test vote reflected the wide bipartisan support for the measure, which passed the House on Saturday by lopsided margins after a tortured journey on Capitol Hill, where it was nearly derailed by right-wing resistance. The Senate’s action, on a vote of 80 to 19, teed up a vote on final passage as early as Tuesday evening, which would clear the measure for the president. Mr. Biden has urged lawmakers to move quickly so he can sign it into law.
“Today the Senate sends a unified message to the entire world: America will always defend democracy in its hour of need,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said on Tuesday. “We tell our allies, ‘We will stand with you.’ We tell our adversaries, ‘Don’t mess with us.’ We tell the world, ‘We will do everything to defend democracy and our way of life.’”
“A lot of people inside and outside the Congress wanted this package to fail,” Mr. Schumer continued. “But today those in Congress who stand on the side of democracy are winning the day. To our friends in Ukraine, to our allies in NATO, to our allies in Israel and to civilians around the world in need of help, help is on the way.”
The House passed the package on Saturday in four pieces: a measure for each of the three U.S. allies and another meant to sweeten the deal for conservatives that includes a provision that could result in a nationwide ban of TikTok. It sent the legislation to the Senate as a single package that will require only one up-or-down vote to pass.
Facing vehement opposition from his right flank to aiding Ukraine, Speaker Mike Johnson structured the legislation that way in the House to capture different coalitions of support without allowing opposition to any one element to defeat the whole thing. The majority of House Republicans opposed the aid for Kyiv.
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Source: nytimes.com
