The Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill Tuesday night and now sends the legislation to the president’s desk.
The package approved by a 79-18 vote brings together $60 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and Gaza and about $4 billion for the Indo-Pacific, and a measure that could lead to a ban on TikTok in United States.
“Doing this is one of the Senate’s biggest accomplishments in years, maybe decades,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said hours before the bill’s final passage.
But TikTok’s 170 million American fans are watching with grave concern how the legislation could lead to the outlawing of their favorite video-sharing platform.
A fourth component of the legislation includes several measures, such as requiring TikTok to divest its Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, an effort to obtain seized Russian assets, and a lend-lease program for military aid to Ukraine.
The House already passed a bill to force ByteDance to divest from TikTok, but the new omnibus legislation would give TikTok a year instead of six months to separate from China, or else it would be banned in the US.
But TikTok fans are watching with grave concern how the legislation could lead to the outlawing of their favorite video-sharing platform.
Package gives billions to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and could potentially ban TikTok
TikTok has suggested that the legislation amounts to an “outright ban in the United States,” hinting that ByteDance is not interested in selling.
“It is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian aid to once again stymie a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy annually,” a TikTok spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Saturday.
Attaching the measure to foreign aid forced the Senate to vote on it after Schumer delayed introducing it.
The so-called “sidecar” bill also includes a provision involving the REPO Act, meaning it would seize Russian assets that have so far only been frozen and repurpose them for Ukraine, and another involving the Lend-Lease Act, which demand Ukraine return US military assets that are not destroyed in the war.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., raised concerns about a provision in the package that would force Chinese-owned ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban in the United States.
“The censors who abound in Congress will likely vote to ban TikTok or force a change of ownership,” he wrote in an op-ed for Reason this week. “It would violate the First Amendment rights of the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok to express themselves.”
The bill passed the House on Saturday in four separate votes before being introduced to the Senate. President Mike Johnson risked his career to get Ukraine aid to the Senate: three Republicans have signed a motion to impeach him over Ukraine aid.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, who is trying to move the GOP away from its isolationist leanings, welcomed the bill’s passage and blamed anti-Ukraine sentiment on Tucker Carlson “who, in my opinion, ended up where it should have been all along.” that he is interviewing Vladimir Putin,” he said.
McConnell said Carlson’s “huge hearing” convinced “many rank-and-file Republicans” that helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia is not important.
President Biden praised the Senate’s passage of the legislation and said he would sign it so Ukraine could receive the aid “this week.”
“I will sign this bill into law and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin shipping weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week.”
‘The need is urgent: for Ukraine, which faces relentless bombing from Russia; for Israel, which has just faced unprecedented attacks from Iran; for refugees and those affected by conflict and natural disasters around the world, including Gaza, Sudan and Haiti; and for our partners seeking security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.’
Ukraine’s bill includes $23 billion to replenish U.S. reserves that have been depleted for the fight in Russia.
Ukrainian soldiers carry shells to fire on Russian positions on the front line; Now they will receive a multimillion-dollar injection for their efforts thanks to Congress.
Some $11 billion would go toward U.S. military operations in the region and $14 billion would go toward the acquisition of advanced weapons systems.
Another $26 million would go toward oversight and accountability of equipment delivered to Ukraine.
Two separate funds of economic assistance worth $7.85 billion and $1.58 billion would also be offered to Ukraine under a loan structure.
‘Make no mistake: the delay in providing Ukraine with weapons to defend itself has tested the prospects of defeating Russian aggression. Hemming and hawing have compounded the challenges we face,” McConnell said before the vote.
The bill includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza. This photo shows aid packages dropped over the northern Gaza Strip on April 23.
“I will not mince words when members of my own party make light of the responsibilities of American leadership.”
Israel’s security bill will offer $4 billion to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system and billions more for weapons, artillery and ammunition systems, as well as an additional $2.4 billion for U.S. operations in the region.
Nine billion dollars of that bill goes toward humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.
Senator Bernie Sanders spoke foul after his amendment to eliminate offensive aid to Israel was removed from the bill.
‘Hamas started this war, that’s true. But this stopped being about defending Israel a long time ago,” he said in the Senate.
“I am very disappointed, but not surprised, that my amendment to end offensive military aid to Netanyahu’s war machine, which has killed and injured more than 100,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom are women, will not be considered. and kids”.
Some 35,000 Palestinians have died in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, after 1,200 Israelis died on October 7.
A column of smoke rises after the Israeli bombardment north of Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 23, 2024.
Johnson noted that much of the bill will not go directly to any country, but will instead serve to replenish depleted U.S. stockpiles for Ukraine and Israel.
The United States was heavily involved in defending Israel against Iran’s 300 missile attacks last week.
Meanwhile, intelligence officials have been warning members of Ukraine’s Congress about the urgent need for American help. CIA Director Bill Burns warned last week that Ukraine “could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, urged voters before the bill advanced: ‘We don’t have to pass this bill. Tell your senators to vote ‘No!’ #KillTheBill.’
Lee has introduced an amendment to ensure that Ukraine’s “loan” provisions must be repaid (they are forgivable in the House version).
The foreign aid package has exposed a gap within the Republican Party almost as wide as the one between the two parties. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., lashed out at Ohio Republican Sen. JD Vance for his stance against aid to Ukraine over the weekend.
Vance had written in a New York Times op-ed that Ukraine could not win the fight against Russia even with help from the United States.
‘Ukraine’s challenge is not the Republican Party; It’s mathematics. Ukraine needs more soldiers than it can deploy. And it needs more material than the United States can provide,” Vance wrote.
“That’s garbage,” Graham responded on Fox News on Sunday.
‘Wow… I just got back, I was there two weeks ago. They changed their recruiting laws. They have all the manpower they need. They need the weapons,” he continued. ‘It’s one thing to talk about Ukraine here; Another thing is to leave.
Paul also talked about Democrats waving “corrupt” Ukrainian flags in the House of Representatives as they voted on the package.
‘Ukrainian flags fly in the chamber of the US House of Representatives as they vote to send more of their hard-earned money to a corrupt foreign regime. And just like that they shout ‘UKRAINE! UKRAINE!’ as we happily work to secure Ukraine’s borders, not our own.’