US Senate passes $95 billion foreign aid bill

The U.S. Senate passed a foreign aid bill that includes $61 billion in assistance to Ukraine on April 23, sending it to U.S. President Joe Biden's desk for his signature.

Having been approved by the House of Representatives last week, the legislation also includes $34 billion in military aid to Israel and Taiwan. Another provision of the bill gives China's ByteDance one year to divest from TikTok or face the app getting banned in the United States.

The foreign aid bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support: 79 votes in favor, 18 opposed.

The White House previously said that President Biden will sign the aid package into law as soon as it clears Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell hailed his fellow Republicans throwing their support behind greater U.S. involvement in the world, saying that the party had "turned the corner on the isolationist movement."

"I think the demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin," McConnell said in response to why House Republicans delayed the vote for more than six months.

"He had an enormous audience, which convinced a lot of rank-and-file Republicans that maybe this is a mistake."

Read also: US Senate to vote on Ukraine aid on Tuesday

"A lot of people inside and outside the Congress wanted this package to fail," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said.

"To our friends in Ukraine, to our allies in NATO, to our allies in Israel, and to civilians around the world in need of help — help is on the way."

On April 20, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to allocate $61 billion to Ukraine through Bill No. 8035, orchestrated by the team of House Speaker Mike Johnson. The bill received support from 311 congressmen, with 112 voting against, and one abstention.

On April 21, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner said that the United States could send a new aid package to Ukraine by the end of the week.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine