Shafaq News / The House on Tuesday approved nearly $40 billion in additional aid for Ukraine as the country battles Russia’s brutal invasion, now in its third month.

The package of military, economic and humanitarian support, which is $7 billion more than the $33 billion President Biden requested, was approved on a bipartisan vote of 368-to-57, with the Senate expected to follow suit this week.

All House Democrats present Tuesday night voted in favor of the measure. They were joined by 149 House Republicans. Fifty-seven House Republicans voted “no.”

Congress provided $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine this year, meaning that if the latest package is passed, lawmakers will have approved a total of more than $50 billion in aid.

In remarks on the House floor Tuesday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) repeatedly denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “coward,” described the aid package as “an act of mercy” and cast the war in Ukraine as one on which the future of global democracy hinges.

“We should all be very proud that we had the opportunity when Putin decided — whatever it is he decided — to be brutal and cruel and a coward, that we were there to help,” Pelosi said. “It’s about democracy versus a dictatorship. Democracy must prevail. The Ukrainian people are fighting the fight for their democracy and, in doing so, for ours as well.”

According to a summary provided by the House Appropriations Committee, the package includes nearly $15 billion in military equipment, training, intelligence support and salaries for Ukraine’s national security forces; nearly $14 billion in programs administered by the State Department, such as humanitarian support for Ukrainian refugees and the planned return of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv; and $5 billion devoted to addressing the issue of global food insecurity.

(The Washington Post)