The US Senate has approved a long-delayed $95 billion package with broad bipartisan support to send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The final vote was 79-18. Fifteen Republicans voted against the bill along with three Democrats. Forty-eight Democrats and 31 Republicans voted for the bill. President Joe Biden signed today to transform the package into law. Its approval represents a significant victory for the president of the United States. Just before the final passage, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer began his brief speech with “finally, finally, finally.” “Tonight, may Vladimir Putin rue the day he questioned American resolve,” he said. The package combines four bills that the House voted on separately on Saturday, providing nearly $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, more than $26 billion for Israel and more than $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific. The first three bills are very similar to the package passed by the Senate earlier this year, which House Speaker Mike Johnson originally declined to bring to the House floor. The fourth bill increases sanctions on Russian goods and contains terms that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States. Chinese parent company ByteDance gives about nine months to sell TikTok, or the app will be banned from American app stores.
