The White House asks the US Congress for more than 100 billion for Ukraine, Israel and the border with Mexico | International

The United States has asked Congress this Friday for the approval of a fund of more than 105,000 million dollars (about 100,000 million euros), which will be allocated mainly to military aid to Ukraine and Israel, in addition to the protection of the border with Mexico. and other national security purposes.

The request, included in a letter to the acting president of the House of Representatives, Patrick McHenry, comes just hours after US President Joe Biden announced in a televised speech from the Oval Office that he would request an allocation of billions of dollars to cover “US national security needs” and support “critical partners.”

“The world is watching and the American people rightly expect their leaders to come together and deliver on those priorities,” said the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young, in the letter to McHenry.

If Congress approves this aid in the amounts requested by the Administration, a total of $61.4 billion will be allocated to assistance to Ukraine, so that the country invaded by Russia can try to recover its occupied territory. Around $14.3 billion will go to Israel for its war against the radical Palestinian militia Hamas. Another 9.15 billion will be used for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, Israel, the Gaza Strip and “other needs.”

Specifically, the funds for Ukraine will be used to purchase weapons and defense material, provide assistance to Ukrainians displaced by the war and pay for “fundamental services for the population and the sustenance of its economy,” among other things, according to a fact sheet published by the White House.

The departure for Israel will be dedicated to replenishing ammunition and other defense materials that the Pentagon has already been delivering to that country so that it can protect itself. The material also includes support for the Iron Dome anti-missile defense systems.

More than 50 billion of the requested funds will be invested in the US defense industry, which, according to the White House, will ensure that its Armed Forces have their needs covered. Without funds to compensate for the material that has been transferred to Ukraine and Israel, “our Department of Defense would not be in a position to replace this equipment, thus degrading the American response capacity.”

These funds will also be used to pay for security operations on the border with Mexico - it includes a budget for the deployment of 1,300 additional Border Patrol agents -, fight against fentanyl trafficking and offer services to migrants. Likewise, as explained by the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young, they will provide “resources to ensure that we can compete with China by offering developing countries proposals with better performance” and to “reinforce security and stability in the Indus -Peaceful".

When announcing that he would request this allocation, Biden had assured that it is “a sensible investment that will bring benefits to American security for generations, helping us maintain the security of American troops and build a safer, more peaceful and more prosperous world for our children and our grandchildren.”

“These conflicts may seem very distant, but the results of these fights for democracy against terrorism and tyranny are vital to the security of the American people,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in a statement. telephone conversation with journalists.

But the president's request may face major obstacles to approval. The House of Representatives, which must give approval along with the Senate, has been without a president for more than two weeks, which paralyzes its operations. The Republican Party, whose internal divisions forced the departure of the until then speakerKevin McCarthy, cannot agree on a replacement, and no progress is seen on the immediate horizon. This Thursday, conservative legislator Jim Jordan saw his candidacy rejected again, in his third round of voting.

The idea of ​​​​presenting budget requests for such different causes in a single request seeks to increase their chances of approval in the House of Representatives, under Republican control. A previous request for funds for Ukraine had failed in September due to opposition from the radical right wing of the Republicans in the House of Representatives. This group of congressmen considers that too much budget has already been dedicated to a war of which there is no end in sight and that money should be allocated to other priorities within the United States, including protecting the border against illegal immigration.

Support for military assistance for the invaded country is majority in Congress, but since Republicans have a very small majority in the House, these legislators maintain a disproportionate influence in that institution.

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