Ukraine Aid Dropped From Funding Bill  10/01 09:09

   Congressional supporters of Ukraine say they won't give up after a bill to 
keep the federal government open excluded President Joe Biden's request to 
provide more security assistance to the war-torn nation.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional supporters of Ukraine say they won't give 
up after a bill to keep the federal government open excluded President Joe 
Biden's request to provide more security assistance to the war-torn nation.

   Still, many lawmakers acknowledge that winning approval for Ukraine 
assistance in Congress is growing more difficult as the war between Russia and 
Ukraine grinds on. Republican resistance to the aid has been gaining momentum 
in the halls of Congress.

   Voting in the House this past week pointed to the potential trouble ahead. 
Nearly half of House Republicans voted to strip $300 million from a defense 
spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons. The money later 
was approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their 
growing numbers.

   Then, on Saturday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., omitted 
additional Ukraine aid from a measure to keep the government running until Nov. 
17. In doing so, he closed the door on a Senate package that would have 
funneled $6 billion to Ukraine, roughly a third of what has been requested by 
the White House. Both the House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the stopgap 
measure, with members of both parties abandoning the increased aid for Ukraine 
in favor of avoiding a costly government shutdown.

   The latest actions in Congress signal a gradual shift in the unwavering 
support that the United States has so far pledged Ukraine in its fight against 
Russia, and it is one of the clearest examples yet of the Republican Party's 
movement toward a more isolationist stance. The exclusion of Ukraine funding 
came little more than a week after lawmakers met in the Capitol with Ukrainian 
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who sought to assure lawmakers that his military 
was winning the war, but stressed that additional aid would be crucial for 
continuing the fight.

   After that visit, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said that 
one sentence summed up Zelenskyy's message in his meeting with the Senate: "'If 
we don't get the aid, we will lose the war," Schumer said.

   Yet, McCarthy, pressured by his right flank, has gone from saying "no blank 
checks" for Ukraine, with the focus being on accountability, to describing the 
Senate's approach as putting "Ukraine in front of America." He declined to say 
after the vote on government funding whether he would bring aid for Ukraine up 
for a House vote in the coming weeks.

   "If there is a moment in time we need to have a discussion about that, we 
will have a discussion completely about that, but I think the administration 
has to make the case for what is victory," McCarthy said.

   Biden said in a statement after Congress averted a shutdown that "we cannot 
under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted." 
He called on McCarthy to "keep his commitment to the people of Ukraine" and 
push through "the support needed to help Ukraine at this critical moment."

   In the Senate, both Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of 
Kentucky pledged to move quickly to try and pass the full White House request. 
But it was clear that goal will be increasingly difficult as more rank-and-file 
GOP senators have questioned the aid or demanded that it be attached to 
immigration policy that would help secure the southern border -- echoing 
similar demands in the House.

   Florida Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican who voted for the spending bill after 
the Ukraine aid was stripped out, said that Congress needs to have "a 
conversation with the American public." He said he was optimistic after seeing 
the money taken out of the bill.

   "In my state, people want to be helpful to Ukraine, but they also want to be 
helpful to Americans," Scott said. "And so they want to really understand how 
this money has been spent."

   Democrats said they were disappointed by the lack of Ukraine funding, but 
expressed determination that they would get the aid to the war-torn country.

   "We will not stop fighting for more economic and security assistance for 
Ukraine," Schumer said after the bill passed. "Majorities in both parties 
support Ukraine aid, and doing more is vital for America's security and for 
democracy around the world."

   Leading up to Saturday's vote, Pentagon officials expressed alarm at the 
prospect of no extra funding for Ukraine. In a letter to congressional leaders 
dated Friday, Michael McCord, under secretary of defense, wrote that the 
department has exhausted nearly all the available security assistance.

   "Without additional funding now, we would have to delay or curtail 
assistance to meet Ukraine's urgent requirements, including for air defense and 
ammunition that are critical and urgent now as Russia prepares to conduct a 
winter offensive and continues its bombardment of Ukrainian cities," McCord 
said.

   Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the vote that U.S. assistance was 
vital as Ukrainians "fight to defend their own country against the forces of 
tyranny. America must live up to its word."

   Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services 
Committee, said he would like to send a clear message to the world about U.S. 
support for Ukraine by passing legislation, but believes the Pentagon has 
"enough draw-down money" to last through December. He said he believes McCarthy 
still supports funding for Ukraine.

   "I think the speaker has always had a good position on Ukraine. I think he's 
dealing with a caucus that's got fractures that he has to deal with and none of 
them can be ignored when you've got a four-seat majority and 15 nuts in the 
conference," Rogers said, referring to far-right lawmakers who have staunchly 
opposed funding for Ukraine.

   Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee, said he heard McCarthy tell Zelenskyy during his visit that "we will 
give them what they need."

   "Unfortunately, the message that speaker and the former president is sending 
is that they can't be relied upon," Meeks said, adding a reference to former 
President Donald Trump, who has called on Congress to withhold additional 
Ukraine funding until the FBI, IRS and Justice Department "hand over every 
scrap of evidence" on the Biden family's business dealings.

   The U.S. has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russia's 
invasion, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward 
replenishment of U.S. military equipment that was sent to the frontlines. In 
August, Biden called on Congress to provide for an additional $24 billion.

   Saturday's move by the House to act first on government funding left the 
Senate with a stark choice: either go along with a bill that fails to help 
Ukraine, or allow what could have been an extended government shutdown to occur.

   Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., expressed frustration at the outcome.

   "Every day that goes by that we don't get the additional money is a day 
Russia gets closer to being capable of winning this war," Murphy said.

   Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee, said Ukraine should not be deterred, and that aid can be approved by 
other means.

   "Neither our friends nor our enemies should look at this as being some 
change in the United States' commitment to Ukraine," Risch said.