House prepares to vote on $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package, with $13.6 billion in Ukraine aid

Washington – The House is approaching the vote on Wednesday on a $ 1.5 trillion bus spending bill to keep the federal government open and provide $ 13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine and Eastern European countries, as well as $ 15.6 billion to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislation, which has 2,741 pages, is the culmination of months of bicameral and bipartisan negotiations between major Democratic and Republican appropriators. Details of the package, which funds federal agencies for the remainder of the fiscal year, were released early Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s deadline for Congress to pass legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown.

To alleviate a possible time crisis in the Senate, the House is also ready to vote on a short-term ongoing resolution that will keep government agencies running until March 15 if the bus spending bill does not reach the President Biden’s desk before the end of the term. week.

The legislation includes $ 730 billion in non-defense spending, up 6.7 percent from fiscal year 2021, which Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, head of the Senate Accreditation Committee, said is “l ‘largest increase in four years’. It also provides $ 782 billion in defense spending, 5.6% more than last year.

Senator Richard Shelby, the top Republican in the appropriations panel, said during the course of negotiations on the deal that he “insisted on dollar-for-dollar parity for defense and non-defense increases.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer praised the bipartisan deal, saying in a statement that it will help fund Mr. Biden’s key national priorities.

“This bipartisan agreement will help us address many of the major challenges we face at home and abroad: from COVID-19 to the vicious and immoral attack on Ukraine, the need to reduce costs for working American families, “they said.

White House interim budget director Shalanda Young urged Congress to send the legislation to Mr. Biden to sign it “without delay.”

“The bipartisan funding bill is proof that both sides can come together to offer the American people and move forward on critical national priorities,” it said in a statement. “It will bring historic levels of assistance to the Ukrainian people, a bold new initiative to drive unprecedented progress in the treatment of cancer and other diseases, and more support to keep our communities safe.”

Assistance from Ukraine

$ 13.6 billion in support of Ukraine is more than $ 10 billion in the White House requested in Congress last week to help Ukraine and European allies after the invasion of Russia.

More than $ 6.5 billion in additional emergency assistance will go to the Department of Defense, while $ 3.9 billion will go to the State Department for humanitarian assistance. The U.S. Agency for International Development will also receive about $ 2.8 billion to provide assistance to vulnerable populations in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, while the Departments of Justice and Trade will receive smaller sums.

Russia’s attacks on Ukraine have provoked fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, with more than 2 million people fleeing Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the United Nations. The humanitarian crisis and the ongoing war, which was launched by Russia two weeks ago, sparked bipartisan calls for the US to strengthen its support for Ukraine.

COVID-19 Relief

The White House also asked Congress to add $ 22.5 billion in new spending to respond to COVID-19, though Senate Republicans questioned the need for more money to alleviate the pandemic.

The $ 15.6 billion (less than the White House request) provided to help manage the pandemic will help procure treatments and vaccines and help the global fight against VOCID-19.

More than $ 10 billion is for the Emergency Fund for Public Health and Social Services, with most of the money going to insure oral antivirals, monoclonal antibodies and vaccines, and the rest for the development of vaccinations to protect against future variants.

Approximately $ 4.4 billion of the $ 15.6 billion provided by lawmakers is for global health to support an initiative to increase vaccines worldwide and focus on therapeutic and medical countermeasures to combat COVID-19.

Other provisions

The broad spending package reaffirms the Violence Against Women Act, which expired in late 2018, and increases the maximum Skin Scholarship by $ 400.

The bill includes $ 1 billion for Mr. Biden’s new cancer research initiative, known as the Agency for Advanced Health Research Projects, or ARPA-H, and offers $ 3.9 billion in state and local law enforcement grants, an increase of $ 506.4 million over fiscal year 2021..

Of the $ 112.2 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, $ 97.5 billion is for veterans’ health care, including mental health care, women’s health, and homeless care. .

The bill also orders the Capitol Architect to place an “honorary plaque” on the west front of the Capitol in honor of law enforcement officers who responded to the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Capitol buildings.