The House overwhelmingly passed H.R. 7691 with a vote of 368 to 57. The measure was introduced earlier Tuesday by House Appropriations Committee Chair Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. The opposing votes all came from Republicans.
The Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act provides funding to help Ukraine defend itself, hold Russian leaders accountable and address rapidly growing food insecurity across the globe as a consequence of the conflict, DeLauro's office said in a statement. It will also provide critical refugee support services, per the bill.
The aid package now heads to the Senate.
DeLauro said in a statement Tuesday that Russia's invasion "has cost thousands of innocent lives, devastated cities across the region and fueled a humanitarian crisis, rising costs and food insecurity around the world."
Congress came together quickly to support Ukrainians in March, DeLauro noted.
"With Russia's continued assault, we must act with the same urgency to provide this additional emergency funding," she said. "We have a moral responsibility to deliver this support to help end the grievous loss of life, hold Putin and his cronies accountable and protect global democracy."
In particular, H.R. 7691 allocates $8.7 billion for equipment sent to Ukraine, $6 billion for security assistance and $3.9 billion for mission and intelligence support and hardship pay for troops deployed to the region. About $900 million will go toward refugee support like housing, English language classes, trauma and support services, and case management services.
More than $5 billion is designated for addressing food insecurity and rising food prices. The measure also sets aside $67 million for the U.S. Department of Justice to cover the costs of seizing and selling forfeited property from Russians, for example, the yachts of Russian oligarchs.
Biden on Monday called on Congress to quickly get an aid proposal to his desk, saying the need is "urgent" and "substantial."
"I have nearly exhausted the resources given to me by a bipartisan majority in Congress to support Ukraine's fighters," he said. "This aid has been critical to Ukraine's success on the battlefield. We cannot allow our shipments of assistance to stop while we await further Congressional action. We are approximately ten days from hitting this critical deadline."
The president had initially asked Congress to approve additional funding for COVID-19 treatments, vaccines and tests as part of the Ukrainian support bill, but he backed off after Congressional leaders told him it would draw out passage of the "urgently needed Ukrainian aid," according to the statement.
"We cannot afford delay in this vital war effort," Biden said. "Hence, I am prepared to accept that these two measures move separately, so that the Ukrainian aid bill can get to my desk right away."
Notably, Tuesday's measure doesn't include the Afghan Adjustment Act, a legislative proposal to create a statutory path to citizenship for Afghans. The process has been used in the past with Cuban nationals, Hungarians escaping Soviet rule and Liberians fleeing civil war, political instability and, more recently, an Ebola outbreak. Immigration advocates had urged Congress and Biden to make moves on the issue.
H.R. 7691 also omits the Biden administration's proposal to attract Russians with master's or doctorate degrees in STEM fields, an attempt to take advantage of a wave of highly educated Russians leaving their country.
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Defense's comptroller said the department would soon ask lawmakers for additional funding after depleting $3.5 billion set aside for Ukraine assistance. The DOD is close to exhausting money allocated by Congress to replace equipment sent by the department, Mike McCord, the Pentagon's chief financial officer, said at a hearing of the House Budget Committee.
Lawmakers had already added $1.5 billion for additional fuel costs on top of the department's initial request when it passed omnibus 2022 spending legislation in March. With inflation surging, McCord defended the 2.2% inflation assumption that had gone into the DOD's $773 billion budget request for fiscal year 2023, which is a 4% increase on the 2022 enacted budget.
–Additional reporting by Daniel Wilson and Mike LaSusa. Editing by Emily Kokoll.
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