WASHINGTON – As the Senate concluded its work for the year, Senator Michael Bennet took the floor in the nearly empty chamber and late into the night called on Congress to redouble support for Ukraine: “Understand what is at stake in this moment”.
It was the third time in recent months that the Colorado Democrat kept the Senate working late by delaying unrelated legislation in an attempt to cajole lawmakers into approving tens of billions of dollars in weapons and economic aid for Ukraine. During an emotional nearly hour-long speech, he asked senators to view the nearly two-year conflict as a defining clash of authoritarianism versus democracy and implored them to consider what it means “to be fighting on that frozen front line and “I don’t know.” if we are going to get the ammunition.”
However, Congress paused for vacation and is not expected to return for another two weeks, while continued aid to Ukraine has nearly dried up. The Biden administration plans to send one more aid package before the new year, but says it will be the last unless Congress approves more money.
With support waning in Congress even as conflict and unrest shake global security, the United States is once again struggling to assert its role in the world. Under the influence of Donald Trump, the former president who is now the GOP front-runner, Republican lawmakers have taken an increasingly skeptical stance toward U.S. involvement abroad, particularly when it comes to aid to Ukraine.
Leaders of traditional allies Britain and France have implored Western nations to continue their strong support, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is emboldened and stockpiling resources for a new effort as the war heads into its third year.
“We live in a time when there are all kinds of forces that are destroying democracy, here and abroad,” Bennet said.
Senator Michael Bennet has been pushing for more aid to be sent to Ukraine. AP
Bolstering the defense of Ukraine used to be celebrated on Capitol Hill as one of the few remaining bipartisan causes. But now the fate of some $61 billion in funding is tied to delicate political negotiations on Capitol Hill over border and immigration changes. And over the past year, lawmakers have had to make painstaking and sustained efforts to pass even legislation that maintains the basic functions of the American government. Bills with ambitious changes have been almost completely out of reach of a closely divided Congress.
Still, congressional leaders are trying to rally members to address global challenges they say are among the toughest in decades: the largest ground invasion of a European nation since World War II, a war between Israel and Hamas, unrest and economic calamities reaching historic levels. of migration and China asserting itself as a superpower.
In the Senate, both Democratic and Republican leaders have presented the $110 billion relief package, which attempts to address all of those issues, as a potential turning point for democracy around the world. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters last week that “history will look back if we don’t stand with our ally in Ukraine.”
Members of both parties want to pass a $110 billion aid package. AP
In a year-end address, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said: “From South Texas to Southeast Asia and from the Black Sea to the Red Sea, it is a historically challenging and momentous time to protect American interests. of the United States, our allies and our own people. .”
The Republican leader, a key supporter of aid to Ukraine, has been trying for months to drum up support for Ukraine in his party. But after a $6 billion military and civilian aid package for Ukraine collapsed in October, McConnell began telling senior White House officials that any funding would have to be accompanied by changes to border policy.
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The White House deliberately stayed out of the negotiations until senior officials felt the time was right to do so. But senior Republicans involved in the border talks believe the administration intervened too late, ultimately delaying prospects for additional aid to Ukraine being approved until the new year.
Senate negotiators have had to navigate both the explosive politics of border policy and one of the most complex areas of American law.
“This is a tightrope, but we’re still on it,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiator.
At one point during the negotiations, McConnell felt compelled to emphasize the urgency to administration officials and impose a deadline to reach a border deal in time for the agreement to be drafted into legislative provisions before the end of the year.
With negotiations still limping along, McConnell called White House chief of staff Jeff Zients on Dec. 7 and said a deal should be reached within five days, a message the Kentucky Republican emphasized to himself. President Joe Biden when the two men spoke later. day, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
It would not be until five days later, on December 12, that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and senior White House advisors arrived at the Capitol to participate directly in the negotiations. A White House official said the administration became involved when he did because he felt the talks had moved beyond the realm of unacceptable or unachievable measures and into a more productive phase.
A second White House official emphasized that previous legislative negotiations, such as the bipartisan infrastructure bill that is now more than two years old, began in a similar way: Republican and Democratic senators spoke on their own and the administration intervened once it felt that the talks were ready. for the participation of the White House.
Still, “it would be nice to have had them sooner,” Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the GOP’s chief negotiator, said last week.
Joe Biden said this will be the last aid package to Ukraine unless Congress approves more. AP
“We would have made a lot more progress and would have had the potential to be able to get it done this week if they had done it sooner,” Lankford said. The two White House officials and the person familiar with McConnell’s phone call to Biden spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private and ongoing negotiations.
The White House’s strategy of including Republican priorities such as aid to Israel and border security in the package has also raised several thorny issues for Democrats.
Progressive lawmakers, critics of Israel’s campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, have called for humanitarian conditions to be placed on the money for Israel. And Latino Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives have also criticized the restrictions on asylum applications.
Any package also faces deep uncertainty in the House, where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has tenuous control of the closely divided chamber. Before becoming president in October, Johnson had repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine, but surprised many by offering his support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and saying that he wants to find a way to approve the aid.
But Trump’s allies in the House have repeatedly tried to stop the United States from sending more aid to Ukraine. And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of the former president, said it was a mistake for Republicans to even insist on changes to border policy because it could “give the Biden administration some kind of political victory on the campaign trail.”
As talks on borders and immigration progress in the Senate, Johnson has intervened from afar to push for sweeping measures. On social media, he has called for “transformative change to secure the border” and pointed to a hardline bill that passed the House on a party-line vote.
As the senators left Washington, they still tried to assure Ukrainians that American aid was on the way. White House staff and Senate negotiators planned to work on drafting border legislation over the next two weeks in hopes it will be ready to take action when Congress returns.
Schumer told The Associated Press that he was “hopeful” but “wouldn’t go so far as to say confident yet.” He tried to pressure Republicans, saying they had to be willing to compromise.
However, Sen. Roger Wicker, an Alabama Republican who supports Ukraine, expressed confidence that Congress would act. He alluded to the words of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, another European leader who ultimately won strong support from the United States to repel an invasion.
“Americans will always do the right thing,” Wicker said. “After having exhausted all other alternatives.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn