The United States will provide $4.83 billion to support key regional partners in the Indo-Pacific region, where tensions are rising between Taiwan and China, as well as Ukrainians displaced by Russian aggression and others fleeing persecution. The United States plans to provide $2.33 billion to refugees.
“The priorities in this bill are too important to ignore and too important to let politics get in the way,” Schumer said in a statement.
“The United States and our allies face multiple, complex, and in some cases systematic challenges from adversaries seeking to subvert democracy and expand authoritarian influence around the world.”
Biden urges early passage
The bill's key overseas security provisions are broadly consistent with what President Joe Biden requested from Congress in October when he asked for additional funding for aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
The request stalled after House Republicans argued it was related to changes in immigration policy.
“I urge Congress to come together and quickly pass this bipartisan agreement,” Biden said, praising the immigration measures included in the bill.
Sen. Schumer said the agreement would provide more front-line personnel and asylum workers and provide “faster and fairer” immigration decisions.
“Prepare for action”
The top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell, supports negotiations, saying a better deal for Republicans would not be possible under a Republican White House.
“The Senate must carefully consider the opportunity before us and be prepared to act,” McConnell said in a statement.
Sen. Schumer said in a press conference that he had never worked so closely with his longtime Senate colleague McConnell on legislation.
“Many times I thought the negotiations were dead,” Schumer said.
Other congressional Republicans had previously pushed for legislative action, but Biden has said many of the immigration changes the president wants can be made through executive action.
Immigration is the second-biggest concern for Americans, and a top issue for Republicans in particular, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday. The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended approximately 2 million immigrants at the border in fiscal year 2023.
Trump, the leading Republican candidate to challenge Biden in the November election, has been strongly opposed to immigration. House Republicans are also working to impeach Biden's top border official, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Reuters
