U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel set to pass. But bills differ in one key area
Global News
The U.S. House of Representatives is finally moving ahead with aid for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, but the bills include notable differences when it comes to oversight.
The final form of how U.S. aid will finally begin flowing to Ukraine and Israel is taking shape this week after months of delay — and it may end up including additional oversight for only one of those countries.
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Saturday on a series of bills that will approve billions of dollars of new military, financial and humanitarian aid to support Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and the Indo-Pacific region, the last of which includes money to help Taiwan defend itself from a potential Chinese military takeover.
The Senate will then have to approve its version of the legislation before U.S. President Joe Biden can sign it into law.
The bills largely mirror, with some modifications, a US$95-billion foreign aid package passed by the Senate in February, which was split into separate bills in the House. Both versions of the Ukraine legislation would unlock US$60 billion in aid, while also requiring the Biden administration to regularly update Congress on how that money is being spent, as well as provide a report on America’s long-term strategy for helping Ukraine in its battle against Russia’s invasion.
No such provisions are in place for the US$26.38 billion that would be sent to Israel, a discrepancy that foreign policy and military experts agree is a political calculation based on long-standing precedent.
“The U.S. has a long history of arm sales to Israel (so they can say) we have a level of trust with them that Ukraine … doesn’t have,” said Richard Shimooka, a senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute who focuses on defence policy.
“There’s a perception among some Republicans of Ukraine as a corrupt country, which was certainly once true when it was tied to the Soviet Union and remains an issue, but has been fed and fueled by Russian disinformation as a reason to not send more aid.”
U.S. aid to Ukraine, which has totalled US$113.4 billion approved by Congress to date, has been subject to strict scrutiny ever since Russia invaded the country over two years ago.
