WASHINGTON – As the Senate wrapped up its work for the year, Sen. Michael Bennet took to the nearly empty chamber floor and made a late-night plea for Congress to redouble support for Ukraine: “Understand the stakes at this time.”
It’s the third time in recent months that Colorado Democrats have kept the Senate working late by holding up unrelated legislation in an effort to persuade lawmakers to approve tens of billions of dollars in arms and economic aid for Ukraine. During an emotional speech lasting almost an hour, he called on senators to see the nearly 2-year conflict as a clash of authoritarianism against democracy and asked them to consider what it means “to fight on that frozen front line and not know if we’re going to use the bullet .”
But Congress breaks for the holidays and is not expected to return for two weeks while ongoing aid for Ukraine runs out. The Biden administration plans to send another aid package before the new year, but says it will be the last unless Congress approves more money.
With support slipping in Congress even as conflict and turmoil 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 Republican Party’s front-runner, GOP lawmakers are increasingly skeptical of US involvement abroad, especially when it comes to aid to Ukraine.
The leaders of traditional allies Britain and France have pleaded with Western nations to continue their strong support, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is bracing and building resources for new efforts as the war heads into its third year.
“We live in a time when there are all kinds of forces that are subverting democracy, here and abroad,” Bennet said.
Senator Michael Bennet has pushed for more aid to Ukraine. AP
Strengthening Ukraine’s defenses used to be celebrated in the Capitol as one of the few remaining bipartisan causes. But now the fate of about $61 billion in funding is tied to complicated policy negotiations on Capitol Hill over border changes and immigration. And last year, lawmakers had to work diligently around the clock to pass laws that preserve the basic functions of the US government. A bill with such ambitious changes is nearly out of reach for a tightly divided Congress.
Still, congressional leaders are trying to rally members to tackle global challenges they say are among the most difficult in decades: Europe’s largest land invasion since World War II, the war between Israel and Hamas, unrest and an economic catastrophe that is driving historic levels of migration and China insists himself as a great power.
In the Senate, both Democratic and Republican leaders have delivered a $110 billion aid 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 support our allies in Ukraine.”
Members of both parties want to pass a $110 billion aid package. AP
In a year-end speech, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said: “From South Texas to Southeast Asia and from the Black Sea to the Red Sea, it is a challenging and historically consequential time to protect the interests of America, our allies and our own people. .”
The Republican leader, a key supporter of Ukraine aid, has been trying for months to build support within his party for Ukraine. But after a $6 billion military and civilian aid package for Ukraine collapsed in October, McConnell began telling top White House officials that any funding would have to be paired with border policy changes.
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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 border negotiations believe the administration acted too late, ultimately delaying the prospect of additional Ukrainian aid being approved until the new year.
Senate negotiators had to navigate both the explosive politics of border policy as well as one of America’s most complex areas of law.
“It’s a tightrope, but we’re still doing it,” said Senator Chris Murphy, the Democratic chief negotiator.
At one point during the negotiations, McConnell felt compelled to stress the urgency to administration officials and impose a deadline to reach a border agreement in time for the agreement to be enacted into law before the end of the year.
With negotiations still underway, McConnell called White House chief of staff Jeff Zients on Dec. 7 and said a deal must be reached within five days — a message the Kentucky Republican emphasized to President Joe Biden himself when the two men spoke later in the day. according to a person familiar with the discussion.
Just five days later, on December 12, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and senior White House aides came to the Capitol to participate directly in the negotiations. A White House official said the administration got involved when it did so because it felt the talks had moved beyond an unacceptable or unachievable step — and into a more productive phase.
A second White House official pointed out that previous legislative negotiations, such as the bipartisan infrastructure law that is now more than two years old, began similarly, with Republican and Democratic senators talking among themselves and the administration stepping in once it felt negotiations were ready. for White House involvement.
Still, “it would be nice to have it sooner,” Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the GOP’s chief negotiator, said last week.
Joe Biden said this would be Ukraine’s last aid package unless Congress approves more. AP
“We’ll have more progress, and we have the potential to be able to finish it this week if they get it early,” Lankford said. Both White House officials and people familiar with McConnell’s phone calls to Biden all 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 created some vexing issues for Democrats.
Progressive lawmakers, critical of Israel’s campaign into Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, have called for humanitarian conditions to be placed on money for Israel. And Latino Democrats in both the Senate and the House have also criticized restrictions on asylum claims.
Any package also faces deep uncertainty in the House, where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson holds tenuous control over the closely divided chamber. Before becoming speaker in October, Johnson had repeatedly voted against aid for Ukraine, but he surprised many by offering support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and saying he wanted to find a way to pass the aid.
But Trump’s allies in the House have repeatedly tried to block the US from sending more aid to Ukraine. And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of the former president, said it would be a mistake for Republicans even to push for border policy changes because it could “give the Biden administration some kind of winning policy on the campaign trail.”
As border and immigration talks drag on in the Senate, Johnson has considered pushing for sweeping measures from afar. On social media, he has called for “transformational change to secure the border,” and pointed to a hardline bill that passed the House on a party line vote.
As senators left Washington, they were still trying to convince Ukrainians that American aid was on the way. White House staff and Senate negotiators plan to work on the border legislation for the next two weeks in hopes that it will be ready for action when Congress returns.
Schumer told The Associated Press she was “hopeful,” but “I wouldn’t say confident yet.” He sought to put pressure on Republicans, saying they needed to be willing to compromise.
But Senator Roger Wicker, an Alabama Republican who is a supporter of Ukraine, expressed confidence that Congress would act. He was referring to the words of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, another European leader who eventually got solid support from the US to repel the invasion.
“Americans will always do the right thing,” Wicker said. “After they’ve exhausted every other alternative.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
