April 23 (UPI) — Senate lawmakers Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that will now head to President Joe Biden‘s desk, after being stalled by Republicans in the House.
The bill passed 79-18 in the Senate on Tuesday, and includes $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and Gaza humanitarian aid and $8 billion for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.
In a statement Tuesday night, Biden described the vote as the Senate joining the House in answering “history’s call at this critical inflection point.”
“Congress has passed my legislation to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership: we stand resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression,” he said.
The bill now heads to Biden more than six months after he initially called on Congress to send him legislation for emergency funding for Ukraine and after the effort was stonewalled by Republicans seeking to negotiate more border security funding and stricter immigration policies, despite little opposition to sending Ukraine more funding.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was quick Tuesday night to send out his thanks.
“This vote reinforces America’s role as a beacon of democracy and the leader of the free world,” he said in a statement on X.
To reporters following the vote, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the legislation one of the most important they have passed in “a very long time” to protect U.S. security and the security of Western democracy.
“It’s not every day you can say you made the world a better place, but the Senate can say that tonight,” he said.
Schumer said the vote sends the message to the world that the United States will not shrink from its responsibilities as a leader on the world stage.
“Tonight, we make [Russian President] Vladimir Putin regret the day he questioned American resolve,” he added.
Biden first urged Congress to pass a supplemental bill in August to fund Ukraine as its armory was running low on supplies. But after Hamas launched its bloody surprise attack on Israel in October, it was revised to include funding for the Middle East country and other allies.
That bill passed the Senate in February, but was met with staunch opposition in the House from far-right Republicans loyal to former President Donald Trump, who had voiced opposition to the bill.
Under mounting pressure and despite threats from members of his own party to oust him if he did so, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Ky., brought the legislation as three separate bills to the floor last week along with a fourth bill that included a TikTok ban in an effort to encourage support for the packages from the extreme right of his party.
Sen. minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday on the Senate floor that the United States must consider its “global responsibilities.”
“Today, the Senate sits for a test on behalf of the entire nation. It is a test of American resolve. Our readiness, and our willingness to lead. And the stakes of failure are abundantly clear,” he said. “Failure to help Ukraine stand against Russian aggression now means inviting escalation against our closest treaty allies and trading partners.”
In the Senate, the bill had been met by a much weaker opposition, with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah having tried to rally enough Republicans together to filibuster the legislation and prevent it from moving forward.
“The $95 billion bill doesn’t have to pass,” Lee said on X over the weekend. “It takes only 41 senators to stop it. There are 49 Republicans in the Senate — more than enough.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., called for amendments to remove offensive aid for what he called the “extremist” government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“As U.S. taxpayers, do we want to be complicit in Netanyahu’s unprecedented and savage military campaign against the Palestinian people?” he asked.
Sanders and Lee are among the 18 who voted “no” Tuesday.