WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden signed a hard-fought Bill into law on Wednesday that provides billions of dollars of new US aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia, notching a rare bipartisan victory for the President as he seeks reelection and ending months of wrangling with Republicans in Congress.
“It gives vital support to America ‘s partners so they can defend themselves from threats to their sovereignty,” Biden said, adding that the flow of weapons to Ukraine would start in the next few hours.
The Bill includes $61 billion in aid to Ukraine and $26 billion for Israel, as well as $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza and $8 billion to counter China’s military might.
The US Senate followed the House on Tuesday evening, passing a sweeping Bill that provides $61 billion in aid to the country, which has suffered setbacks in the war that supporters blame on the delay in getting the additional US funding.
“They’re a fighting force with the will and the skill to win,” Biden said of Ukraine’s military, as he blamed “MAGA Republicans” loyal to Trump for blocking aid, referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan.
Biden also signed a separate Bill tied to the aid legislation that bans TikTok in the United States if its owner, the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, fails to divest the popular short video app over the next nine months to a year.
The social media platform is particularly popular with left-leaning young Americans, a group crucial to Biden’s victory in November.