Samantha Power, USAID chief, urges Congress to address "desperate need" for Ukraine aid

Washington — Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), called on Congress to swiftly approve President Biden's request for an additional $33 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, warning parts of the country have a "desperate need" for the aid.

In an interview with "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Power said prior supplemental funding packages from Congress are being used to meet humanitarian needs in Ukraine, where the conflict with Russia could push millions of people into poverty and create a global food crisis.

"There are vast swaths of Ukraine that have been newly liberated by Ukrainian forces, where there is desperate need, everything from demining to trauma kits to food assistance, since markets are not back up and running," Power told "Face the Nation." "And so that assistance is flowing. And it's also flowing to third countries that are feeling these huge cascading effects of Putin's war, like the spiraling food prices, like the lower supplies of fertilizer, wheat, grain."