President Joe Biden advised Congress on Monday to rapidly authorize a multibillion-dollar help plan for Ukraine prior to attempting to pass a brand-new round of Covid-19 financing, alerting that U.S. help for that nation’s fighters has actually almost been tired.
Biden’s brand-new position marked a turnaround from his persistence last month that the military help and the pandemic financing be bundled together. Decoupling the 2 costs considerably increases the opportunities Congress will pass the $33 billion in asked for Ukraine financing, while dimming expect the $10 billion in Covid relief funds Biden stated are essential to provide upgraded vaccines and shots for the fall.
“Previously, I had recommended that Congress take overdue action on much-needed funding for COVID treatments, vaccines and tests, as part of the Ukraine Supplemental bill,” Biden stated in a declaration launched by the White House.
U.S. President Joe Biden provides remarks throughout a Rose Garden occasion at the White House in Washington, May 9, 2022.
Kevin Lamarque|Reuters
“However, I have been informed by Congressional leaders in both parties that such an addition would slow down action on the urgently needed Ukrainian aid — a view expressed strongly by several Congressional Republicans,” Biden stated.
“We cannot afford delay in this vital war effort,” he stated. “Hence, I am prepared to accept that these two measures move separately, so that the Ukrainian aid bill can get to my desk right away.”
Biden on April 28 had actually asked Congress to designate $33 billion meant to cover humanitarian and military help to Ukraine throughSeptember Under Biden’s proposition, almost two-thirds of that amount would approach security and military help for Ukraine as it wards off getting into Russian forces.
In his declaration Monday, Biden stated the extra financing is both essential and immediate, with cash for deliveries to Ukraine set to go out in 10 days’ time. “I have nearly exhausted the resources given to me by a bipartisan majority in Congress to support Ukraine’s fighters,” he stated.
“This aid has been critical to Ukraine’s success on the battlefield. We cannot allow our shipments of assistance to stop while we await further Congressional action,” Biden stated.
His declaration acknowledged that while there seems bipartisan assistance for the help plan, there is no such agreement for more Covid financing. Republicans had actually opposed Democrats’ efforts to match the cash for Ukraine with the extra pandemic relief financing.
“So I call on Congress to pass the Ukrainian Supplemental funding bill immediately, and get it to my desk in the next few days. And then, I urge Congress to move promptly on the COVID funding bill,” Biden stated.
He worried that more congressional action is needed to resolve the pandemic.
“Without timely COVID funding, more Americans will die needlessly,” he stated. “In the fall, if we are hit by new variants, it will be too late to get the tools needed for protection — critical treatments that will be available in Europe, but not the United States.”
