Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
The Senate has followed the House's lead and voted to pass a $40 billion emergency supplemental bill to aid Ukraine amid a Russian military invasion, sending the measure to President Biden's desk for his signature.
The Senate voted today to pass the package 86-11. The House last week passed the bill, which contains about $20 billion in defense-related spending -- $7 billion more than the White House initially sought.
The supplemental funding brings the total U.S. investment in Ukrainian military and humanitarian aid to around $54 billion in the past two months.
The bill would provide $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the Defense Department to purchase weapons and other military services for Ukraine directly from defense contractors. The bill would also direct $8.7 billion -- Biden had requested $5.4 billion -- to replenish U.S. weapons sent to Ukraine through presidential “drawdown authority.”
Additionally, the bill would provide $3.9 billion for “European Command Operations,” which covers mission and intelligence support, hardship pay for troops deployed to the region as well as equipment including a Patriot battery.
The bill also seeks to increase the cap on assistance that can be provided to U.S. allies from $450 million to $950 million.
Another $600 million would be provided to DOD to accelerate missile production and expand domestic sources of critical minerals.
The bill also authorizes $500 million to procure critical munitions to increase DOD’s stocks and $50 million to develop programs for possible future export.
Additionally, the DOD inspector general would be required to report on the execution of the funds and “measures taken to require enhanced end-use monitoring of equipment provided to Ukraine.”
The remainder of the funds in the emergency supplemental package are slated for humanitarian aid, including nearly $14 billion for the State Department and nearly $4.4 billion for the U.S. Agency for International Development.