US President Joe Biden signed the long-delayed $95 billion foreign aid bill. From Ukraine to Taiwan, here’s what it includes.
The United States Senate passed the long-delayed Foreign Aid bill on Tuesday, days after it got approved by the House of Representatives. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden signed the bill into law, addressing the nation on live TV.
Biden called the bill an “ investment ” not just for US allies in key geopolitical hotspots, but also for the United States’ own security. Politicians from both sides said the approval of this bill, albeit delayed, proves isolationism is not the majority consensus in the United States.
The Senate passed the bill with 79 votes against 18. When another draft of this bill was proposed to the Senate in February, most Republican members voted against it.
In the House, the bill passed on Saturday by a vast majority. House Speaker Mike Johnson split the bill into different chunks, each one to be voted separately. Specifically, the $95 billion proposal was divided into $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and Gaza, and $8 billion for US allies in the Indo-Pacific.
The Ukraine portion of the bill was the most controversial, though it received complete Democratic approval. The right wing of the Republican party, the one closest to presidential candidate Donald Trump, fiercely opposed the bill demanding measures for stricter border control be included.
The draft presented to the Senate in February included said measures but was rejected by Republicans anyway.
What does the bill include
Military aid to Ukraine should get to the frontline within days and weeks of the bill’s approval. Roughly one-third of the $61 billion Ukraine aid is reserved for replenishment of the Pentagon’s ammunition stockpile.
The Pentagon spent the last 6 months bringing the last available supplies as close to Ukraine as possible, with some already stored in Europe. It then waited for Congress’s approval to send them to the frontline.
The $26 billion for Israel includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and other critical areas in the world, including Sudan and Haiti. The remaining portion will support Israel’s air defenses, replenishing its Iron Dome defense system. A large chunk will also go to support Israel’s intelligence.
The $8 billion share reserved for Indo-Pacific allies will mostly go to reinforce Taiwan’s defenses. Taiwan is a key US ally in the region and is constantly under threat of a direct invasion from China.
Specifically, $3.3 billion will go to the reinforcement of submarine infrastructure in the region. The remaining $4.7 billion will be split between a loan to Taiwan to purchase military equipment and rebuild defenses of regional US partners.
Finally, the bill includes a provision for the sale of TikTok’s US assets within 9 months. Failure to do so will result in a nationwide ban on ByteDance’s social media platform.
