Summary
After originally being denied, over $95 billion was approved by the U.S Senate in a landslide vote, favored by Democrats. The bill now moves into Republican-controlled House of Representatives, which is expected to be a close vote. Many in the House are voicing their discomfort with the bill due to public, international, and internal sentiment.
On February 13, the United States Senate passed an over $95 billion foreign aid package divided between Ukraine, Israel and U.S allies in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes Taiwan. The bill proposing this package moves into the U.S House of Representatives.
The House of Representatives is currently Republican majority.
“The Republican-led House will not be jammed or forced into passing a foreign aid bill,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R). AP News also reports that the House is at odds between parties regarding aid.
However, the House of Representatives isn’t the only one at odds within itself. The Senate still has a faction of Republicans that staunchly support former president Donald Trump.
As a result, it took months to pass this foreign aid bill in the Senate. Most Republicans in Congress believe that the aid could be better used to address domestic issues.
Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) insist that the foreign aid bill would restate the U.S stance to “stand up to bullies.”
However, only two recipients of this aid are widely accepted as the bullied nation. One recipient has been considered the bullying nation.
Ukraine
About $60 billion of aid goes to Ukraine. This is over 2.2 trillion in Ukrainian currency.
Ukraine has been engaged in a conflict with Russia since February 2014. In late February of 2022, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, announced a full scale invasion of Ukraine. To this day, Russia never declared war on Ukraine.
Territory in the southern and surrounding areas of Ukraine have been annexed, restored and temporarily re-annexed. The most prominent territory has been Crimea.
Since the time the conflict came into international focus in 2022, U.S President Joe Biden has been firm in his support of Ukraine. The U.S has sent the most aid to Ukraine out of any country.
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the U.S has sent military, financial, and humanitarian aid since 2022.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote a post on X praising the U.S aid. “For us in Ukraine, continued US assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror,” Zelensky wrote.
Israel
Just over $14.1 billion will go to support Israel. In Israeli shekels, that equates to just under 51 billion ILS.
This money will primarily go to American companies pledging to send supplies and provide military services to Israel. The remainder of the money will go directly to the Israeli government.
Not many are happy about this decision. Despite support of Ukrainian aid, many Americans feel the opposite about supporting Israel.
Israel, centralized in 1948, is headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. He has allowed for a string of bombing and sniper attacks on the Palestinian populations. Much of the violence is “justified” on alleged and possibly exaggerated ties to extremist group Hamas. Men, women, and small children have been victimized and some have been brutalized by Israeli forces.
Palestinians have been forced south to avoid bombings. Migrants and reporters traveling with caravans have alleged that the bomb attacks follow them into resource-bare refugee camps. The newest area under threat is almost at the southernmost tip of the Gaza Strip: Raffah.
Egypt is warning Israel and supporters, like the U.S, not to support an attack on Raffah. It threatens a penalty of an Egyptian response to an attack.
Another country who has been in support of the Palestinian crises is Ireland. The nation has been in open support of the nation since 1980 in a joint declaration with the Prime Minister of Bahrain at the time.
Ireland has publicly critiqued both the U.S and Biden directly for involvement which supports Israel. Clare Daly, an Irish MEP, has had a video circulating social media calling the U.S president ‘Butcher Biden.’
Indo-Pacific Region
Nearly $5 billion in aid will go to allies in the Indo-Pacific region. The most notable recipient is Taiwan.
Aid going into this area is intended to be a proactive step by the U.S to prevent China expanding influence. The most prominent nation at risk of Chinese invasion is Taiwan.
According to the CFR, the People’s Republic of China views Taiwan as a “renegade province” and wants Taiwan to reunite with mainland China. However, Taiwan has its own democratically elected government.
Political leaders in the Taiwanese and PRC governments have opposing views regarding the island’s status and relations with the mainland.
The U.S, although not an official ally of the island, has stood firm on trying to keep the peace within the Taiwan Strait. Both Taipai and Beijing have been asked to maintain status quo.
Despite years of peacekeeping, President Joe Biden has multiple statements that the U.S. would come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacked. The White House has retracted the statements, confirmed the policy remains in place, but also confirmed that the final decision on action is up to the current president.
Reason for aid to countries like Taiwan are the higher ratio of trade the countries in the region have with China and unfavorably military numbers. Taiwan still saw a peak in exports to mainland China despite all efforts to lower exports. Attempts to diversify trade in the Indo-Pacific region prove difficult due to China’s high trade power in the area.
The British Broadcasting Corporation went so far to say that “China’s armed forces would dwarf those of Taiwan” if a confrontation were to erupt between the nations. China has over ten times the forces Taiwan has alone.
No official comment has been made by the U.S or countries expected to receive aid regarding this region.
The Remaining Aid
Over $16 billion of the foreign aid package is split into humanitarian assistance and “other” categories.
Reuters reports that $2.44 billion of this will go to the Pentagon’s operation efforts around the Red Sea. U.S forces in the area are engaged in combat attacks in Yemen against Houthi rebel shipments.
Additionally, in the same report, $9.15 billion in humanitarian aid is said to go into providing food, water, shelter, medical care and other unnamed services to remaining civilians in conflict zones around the world, like Gaza, the West Bank, and Ukraine.
The Associated Press reports roughly $400 million in the aid will go toward a grant program that helps nonprofits and places of worship make security enhancements and protect them from hate crimes. The bill is reported to include “language that would target sanctions on criminal organizations involved in the production of fentanyl.”
Fentanyl, an opioid that is medically used in pain management, has been sweeping through the nation along with other synthetic drugs. Fentanyl is the most prominent in its new candy-like appearance appealing to children. The spiking numbers of adults dying from fentanyl-related overdoses are also considered a new medical crises.
Further U.S Stances
Not only is the U.S providing support for nations like Ukraine and those at risk of Chinese invasion like Taiwan, but it is also supporting Israel in the United Nations. Similar to a past U.N Security Council, the U.S has put forward a promise to veto a humanitarian resolution by Algeria.
U.S Ambassador to the U.N Linda Thomas-Greenfield issued the statement rejecting the adoption of the resolution ahead of time.
Republicans in the House of Representatives are beginning to feel any aid to Israel is a waste of American money they could use in other matters. Most of these members, despite current legal action and controversy against Trump, are still following the “Trumpism” goal of increasing southern border control.
However, regardless of current U.S stances, this foreign aid bill has not been enacted. Additionally, the bill, which has yet to be released to the public, will likely face a long battle to passing or final veto.
