House OKs military lend-lease bill to speed aid to Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House gave final passage Thursday to legislation that would streamline a World War II-era military lend-lease program to more quickly provide Ukraine and other Eastern European countries with American equipment to fight the Russian invasion.
The measure, which passed by a 417-10 vote, now goes to the White House for
President Joe Biden to sign into law.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks of New York said with unified support from the Congress, “Ukraine will win.”
The bill is the latest from Congress, which is steadily churning out resolutions and resources to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and help the country and its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fight back.
The bipartisan bill was first introduced in January as part of the U.S. posture of deterrence to warn off Putin’s aggression toward Ukraine.
The measure would update the 1941 legislation that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law to help allies fight Nazi Germany. Roosevelt ushered the Lend-Lease Act through Congress, responding to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s appeal for aid, even as America initially remained neutral in the war.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the war is a battle between democracy and autocracy, and echoed Roosevelt’s call on Americans to provide the fuel to keep light of democracy burning.
“Our task today remains the same,” said Pelosi, D-Calif. “The Ukrainian people are making the fight for all of us.”
Lawmakers in both parties have argued the U.S. is not moving swiftly enough to help the Ukrainians. Democratic and GOP lawmakers have traveled to the region to see the devastation, meet with their counterparts in Ukraine and offer help with resettling the flood of more than 5 million refugees.
The measure updates the 1941 law specifically for the Ukrainian conflict, lifting some reimbursement requirements and allowing military equipment to be loaned or leased for more than five years.