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Bills
| 5.18.22

Should the U.S. Provide an Additional $40 Billion to Ukraine to Support its Defense & Help Refugees? (H.R. 7691)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

Bill Status

  • The House passed this bill with a 368-57 vote on May 10, 2022.
  • The Senate passed this bill with a 86-11 vote on May 19, 2022.

What is H.R. 7691?

This bill — the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 — would provide over $40 billion in emergency funding to support the Ukrainian people amid Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion.

Defense funding provided under this bill would include:

  • $11 billion in additional authority to draw down defense articles and services and provide increased flexibility to provide excess equipment and direct procurement to Ukraine and other regional allies.
  • $9.05 billion to replenish U.S. stocks of equipment sent to Ukraine using drawdown authority.
  • $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to provide training, equipment, weapons, logistics support, supplies and services, salaries and stipends, sustainment, and intelligence support to the military and security forces of Ukraine.
  • $3.9 billion for European Command Operations to provide mission support, intelligence support, hardship pay for U.S. troops deployed to the region, and equipment including a Patriot air defense missile battery.
  • $600 million to use the Defense Production Act to mitigate industrial base constraints for faster missile production and expanded domestic capacity of strategic and critical minerals.
  • $500 million to procure critical munitions to increase the stocks of the Dept. of Defense and $50 million to develop program protection strategies for systems identified for possible future export.
  • An inspector general would be required to report on activities to execute funds in the bill and the Dept. of Defense to report on measures taken to require enhanced end-use monitoring of equipment provided to Ukraine.

The State Dept. would receive $13.926 billion under this bill, including:

  • $8.766 billion for the Economic Support Fund to respond to emergent needs in Ukraine, provide needed budget support to assist with Ukraine’s continuity of government, and counter human trafficking. This would include $760 million to prevent and respond to global food insecurity.
  • $4 billion for the Foreign Military Financing Program to provide additional support for Ukraine and countries affected by Russia’s invasion, including NATO Eastern flank countries and other regional partners.
  • $400 million for International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement for Ukraine to support law enforcement and the rule of law, including the investigation and documentation of war crimes and human rights atrocities and programs to combat human trafficking.
  • $350 million for Migration and Refugee Assistance to provide humanitarian support for refugee outflows from Ukraine.
  • $190 million for diplomatic programs to support the reopening of Embassy Kyiv as well as supporting other embassies in the region.
  • $110 million for embassy security, construction, and maintenance to make needed infrastructure and security repairs for Embassy Kyiv.
  • $100 million for nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, demining, and related programs to protect against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents and expand demining activities.

Other agencies and programs that would receive funding under this bill include:

  • The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would receive $4.365 billion, including $4.35 billion for emergency food assistance to people around the world, and $17 million for operating expenses to support operations that had to move out of Ukraine and may return to Kyiv.
  • The Administration for Children and Families would receive $900 million to provide refugee support services, such as housing, English language classes, trauma and support services, community support (including school impact grants), and case management for arrivals and refugees from Ukraine.
  • $600 million in multilateral assistance would be provided, including $500 to support the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s efforts to help Ukraine with its economic and energy needs, plus $150 million for the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program to help countries, including Ukraine, weather impacts from rising food prices.
  • The Dept. of Justice (DOJ) would receive $67 million to help cover the costs of seizing, retaining, and selling forfeited property (such as the yachts of Russian oligarchs) that has been seized following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would receive $54 million to provide medical support, screening, and related public health activities for arrivals and refugees from Ukraine.
  • The Treasury Dept. would receive $52 million for special agents and associated support to trace Russian financial activities including digital asset tracing, attribution of concealed efforts, and identifying true beneficial ownership, in addition to combating the exploitation of Ukraine’s financial system.

Argument in favor

This bipartisan bill would provide $40 billion in funding for vital humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine that it needs to support its citizens amid the turmoil caused by Russia’s invasion and to stay in the fight against the Russian military. The outcome of Russia’s war on Ukraine will have major repercussions for America and the free world, so we need to continue to stand with the Ukrainians in their hour of need.

Argument opposed 

The U.S. has already sent several billion dollars to Ukraine prior to Russia’s invasion and in the months since then, so Americans and Europeans should find other ways to back Ukraine. There are more pressing domestic priorities that would benefit from $40 billion in funding. It would also be very difficult to have sufficient oversight over where $40 billion in funding would go once it’s provided to Ukraine.

Impact 

Federal agencies, including the Dept. of Defense and State Dept.; and Ukraine.

Cost 

The CBO estimates that enacting this bill would cost $40.810 billion.

Additional Info

In-Depth: House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) introduced this bill to provide an additional $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine. After it passed the House on a bipartisan 368-57 vote, DeLauro said:

“For nearly three months now, Putin’s greed, growing aggression, and unyielding pursuit of power have led to a grievous loss of life and humanitarian devastation. The cruelty against innocent civilians at the hands of Putin and his cronies is devastating. Given the magnitude of the terror campaign being waged against the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian democracy, we are morally obligated to ensure Ukraine has the security and economic aid they need. I am proud to have joined my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass a bill that does just that. This bill will protect democracy, limit Russian aggression, and strengthen our own national security, while, most importantly, supporting Ukraine and its people.”

Over the course of Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s borders and since it launched its invasion, the U.S. has provided several billion dollars in aid to Ukraine and created a Lend-Lease program to provide military equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces. At the end of April, President Joe Biden requested an additional $33 billion in funding for Ukraine which Congress later decided to increase to $40 billion. Biden said at the time:

“The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggressions is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen. We either back the Ukrainian people as they defend their country or we stand by as the Russians continue their atrocities and aggression in Ukraine.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) visited Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, the weekend before this bill received a vote in the Senate to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and express support for the country’s struggle against Russia. McConnell spoke about the trip on the Senate floor and emphasized the need to continue to support Ukraine:


“America is not the only free country that has Ukraine’s back. President Zelensky was moved by certain European countries who have given Ukraine -- in his words -- ‘everything they had.’ Of course, other European countries can and should do more to help Ukraine. And the Administration should lead an effort to ensure broad, sustained international support for Ukraine. America’s support to Ukraine has highlighted the limits to our stockpiles of certain munitions and shortcomings in our defense production capacity. A number of European countries have dipped even deeper into their weapons inventories. They will need to refill also. As our European friends wake up from their ‘holiday from history’ and increase defense spending, I hope the U.S. will be a reliable supplier of advanced weaponry to our NATO allies. A textbook win-win. Our delegation reiterated to President Zelensky the bipartisan consensus which the Senate demonstrated with last night’s vote: The United States of America has Ukraine’s back and will stand with our friends until they win. Ukraine is not asking anybody else to fight their fight. They’re only asking for help getting the resources and tools they need to defend themselves. And we and our friends and partners across the free world will stand behind Ukraine until they achieve victory as they define it. The outcome of this fight has major ramifications for the West and the Ukrainians should not be left to stand alone.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has expressed opposition to this bill, arguing that an inspector general should be appointed to oversee how funds are spent in Ukraine under the bill and that spending more money to help Ukraine defend itself will undermine U.S. national security. He wrote an op-ed explaining his opposition to the bill in The Federalist, which read in part:

“When the Ukraine Supplement Appropriations Act of 2022 was introduced in the Senate, I offered an amendment requiring a known, effective, and independent inspector general to oversee how funds were spent. If the Senate were to adopt a measure borrowing $40 billion to support a foreign nation, then the American people at least deserve to know that their hard-earned dollars were put to good use. If there is one thing that we should learn from the war in Afghanistan, it is that the chaos of war provides excellent cover for those seeking to defraud American taxpayers. If the Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022 is adopted, the United States will have sent $60 billion to Ukraine since 2014. This amount is nearly ten times the $6.4 billion we spend on cancer research every year. Prioritizing the interest of other nations over our own will not end well. The present assault on monetary discipline is untenable, and unless we end this fiscal insanity, a day of reckoning awaits us. Not only are we flirting with financial ruin, but we also risk inadvertently entering a war with another major power. President Biden’s call for regime change in Russia, coupled with Congress’s willingness to provide seemingly limitless aid to Ukraine, has made our final objective unclear.”

This legislation passed the House on a bipartisan 368-57 vote. All Democrats and a majority of Republicans voted in favor. The Senate advanced it on a similarly bipartisan vote of 88-11.

Tell your senators how to vote on this bill!


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Austin Fraley via DVIDSHUB / Public Domain)