‘Act or Ukraine will fall’
Schu’s dire warn in Sen. aid talks
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that negotiators “are working furiously to approve another round of Ukraine aid” and border security enhancements, but some provisions are “still outstanding.”
“One thing is certain: We’re going to keep going to get this done,” Schumer (D-NY) said in a floor speech. “If we don’t act, Ukraine will fall . . . And everyday Americans will feel the impact, not years but months away.”
The $106 billion national-security supplemental funding proposed in October by President Biden would also include funds for US security in the Indo-Pacific region, military assistance for Israel, and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip.
$61 billion for Ukraine
It includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel, $13.6 billion to enhance border enforcement and $10 billion in humanitarian assistance.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in December that his nanot tion would be in dire need of aid until February, contradicting statements from the White House that funds would dry up by the end of 2023.
The Pentagon allocated another $250 million to help Kyiv restock artillery rounds, anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons Dec. 27, but Schumer stressed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “gloating” about further aid being stalled as Moscow restocks its own munitions with help from North Korea.
Leaders united
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has stood united with Schumer (inset) in calling for funding Ukraine’s war effort, despite opposition from right-wing Republicans who want to secure the border first.
“This has never been about charity,” McConnell told his colleagues Wednesday morning. “This is about cold, hard American interests.”
Conservatives have expressed skepticism about the bill, worrying that leadership will jam them with a rush to vote before debating what could be the largest legislative overhaul of immigration policy since 1986.
At a Wednesday press conference, six GOP senators called on their colleagues to help them block the legislation and criticized their leadership for leaving them out of the negotiations.
“Without consulting the conference, [McConnell] took away most of our leversaying age by that we would not even ask to tie Ukraine funding to actually securing the border,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said.