Causes.com
| 4.24.24
Biden Signs Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan Aid, and TikTok Bill
Do you support the bill?
What’s the story?
- President Joe Biden signed a bill that approved aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, which could lead to a ban on TikTok.
- The aid package created congressional gridlock in earlier months from ongoing resistance from Republicans. Shortly after signing the bill, Biden claimed it was a “good day for world peace” and said:
“[The bill is] going to make America safer. It’s going to make the world safer. It’s a difficult path. It should have been easier and it should have gotten there sooner. But in the end, we did what America always does. We rose to the moment, came together, and we got it done.”
Military aid
- The military aid package is worth $95 billion, providing resources to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. In his remarks at the White House, Biden said:
“When our allies are stronger, we are stronger.”
- Biden is facing heavy criticism for continuing to arm Israel as it proceeds in its war against Hamas, which has left more than 35,000 Palestinians dead in its wake. At the White House, he said:
“My commitment to Israel, I want to make clear again, is ironclad.”
- Biden noted that the bill includes $9 billion for humanitarian assistance worldwide, $1 billion of which is dedicated to Gaza.
- The bulk of the aid package is for Ukraine, totaling $60.8 billion to assist the nation push back against Russian forces. The Pentagon announced that over 20 types of weapons and military equipment will be sent to Ukraine, including artillery shells and air defense missiles—two weapons that Ukraine says it urgently needs.
TikTok bill
- The newly signed bill requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app’s U.S. operations. If the Beijing-based company fails to do so, the app will be banned nationwide, blocking app stores and web hosts from distributing it.
- The company faces a 270-day deadline to sell the app, which will fall around the time the next president is inaugurated. If ByteDance seems close to a deal, the president can authorize a 90-day extension.
- U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that China is seeing and utilizing TikTok’s user data. Director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, said that ByteDance is “controlled by the Chinese government,” warning that Beijing authorities could influence the American public by manipulating the algorithm on the app.
- TikTok has denied the allegation time and time again. Last year, TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew said during a congressional hearing:
“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.”
- TikTok declared that it will fight the bill in the courts, calling it a breach of free speech. Michael Beckerman, head of TikTok’s public policy for the Americas, wrote:
“We’ll continue to fight, as this legislation is a clear violation of the first amendment rights of the 170 million Americans on TikTok.”
Do you support the bill?
-Jamie Epstein
(Photo credit: Flickr/The White House)
The Latest
-
The Long Arc: Taking Action in Times of Change“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” Martin Luther King Jr. Today in read more... Advocacy -
Thousands Displaced as Climate Change Fuels Wildfire Catastrophe in Los AngelesIt's been a week of unprecedented destruction in Los Angeles. So far the Palisades, Eaton and other fires have burned 35,000 read more... Environment -
Puberty, Privacy, and PolicyOn December 11, the Montana Supreme Court temporarily blocked SB99 , a law that sought to ban gender-affirming care for read more... Families -
Women Are Shaping This Election — Why Is the Media Missing It?As we reflect on the media coverage of this election season, it’s clear that mainstream outlets have zeroed in on the usual read more... Elections
Climate & Consumption
Health & Hunger
Politics & Policy
Safety & Security
Like most Bipartisan Legislation it is not perfect and took way too long to do due to all the foot dragging, but it is much needed and better than doing nothing.
I would prefer to see Israel aid targetsed to defense only (supplying Iron Dome, David's Sling and Arrow systems) to defend Israel against Iran and its proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, etc) drones and missiles. If Israel wants to bomb other countries (Iran, Lebanon, Syria) or Palestinian civilians and infrastructure (Gaza, West Bank) let Israel fund it and Israel manufacture it. Leave the U.S. out of committing war crimes.
The US already tightly targets Ukraine aid, the distance weapons can be fired, and can't be used on Russia land, only in Ukraine, or Russian held portions of Ukraine to avoid escalation.
Why can't the U.S. do the same with Israel as it does Ukraine?
Biden Signs Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan Aid, and TikTok Bill
Do you support the bill?
Not really, but saying "I like this and dislike that" is not useful.
In any case, we can still might and should be able hold back on some of the military aid to Israel given Netanyahu's unacceptable behavior.
The TikTok ban has been kicked down the road for 9 months to a year. I expect to see TikTok going to court which likely means either the ban will be thrown out or held off even longer. I have already seen some of the first amendment arguments TikTok might be considering.
I am grateful that Ukraine and Taiwan will get aid.
I wish there was a MAYBE answer because I support Ukraine, but giving more money to Isreal, on top of the billions we've already supplied to them over the decades when they won't even call a cease-fire on our advisement, is a waste. In conclusion, there are things I support about this bill and things I don't
USA needs to create its own version of Tik Tok. We need to keep our information out of the hands of the Chinese government.
This is a matter of national security.
I mostly support the bill, but I would not provide aid to Israel until they stop their scorched earth policy in Gaza. I really don't have much of an opinion re. the Tic Tok ban, but since the bill allows them to continue to operate if they sell off the China connection, it seems reasonable.
I sure wish we invested in our society, schools, healthcare and housing as much as we fund war.
my consent for this, or any war remains unmanufactured.
and as far as banning tictok, or the forced sale of it to an American company- I don't evern know were to start...first, it has nothing to do with national security, thats obvious. its about censorship, the control of information.
I never imagined I could work from home, especially with two young kids. But my best friend, who earns over $10,000 a month, convinced me to give it a try. Now, I’m earning over $40 per hour from the comfort of my home, and I get to be there for my kids every day. This opportunity has limitless potential, and I’m so glad I made the leap....
https://www.cashdaily9.com
All these new money deals, between other Countries, and the Biden administration, needs relooked at, immediately!!!
My only complaint was the delay in getting this done for Ukraine! The Republicans seam to go out of their way to help the Russians by delaying this needed aid.
How many Ukraine soldiers lost their lives or were severely injured by not having the aid to defend themselves from the Russians!
What about the boarder😡
Every SANE person in the country supports aid to Ukraine, and feeding the Gaza Palestinians who are NOT Hamas terrorists! As for TikTok, who wants to be spied upon and tracked by the Chinese Communicst Party? I am not convinced that there was no better way to solve that problem, but I AM convinced that no more than two congressmen (if that) would understand teh technology enough to guess. Now if only we could block such spying by Microsoft, Google, Facebook, that bird ting Musk ended up with, and the little fruit machine company!
I SUPPORT MY TAX MONEY being used to AID Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. THIS AID is Desperately Needed In these Places to PREVENT WAR & Terrorism from spreading here. Thank you fir Supporting this and FUTURE AID to these countries!
35,000 Palestinians are already dead. ONE life lost is already too much!
and what the bill is doing to ByteDance is ABSOLUTELY WRONG.
The ban on TikTok has nothing to do with China and we know it. The news is all they want us to watch. Israel needs to stop bombing children and innocent people who can't leave their walled in city.
This bill is another disgusting attempt by AIPAC-funded, warmongering U.S. politicians to control our First Amendment freedom of speech and assembly. They know that the youth isn't buying the lies they peddle through the mainstream media, and so they're trying to take away the biggest platform we have to communicate, organize, and share what's really happening in Palestine and at universities across they country. This was never about national security and it's not about the supposed "anti-semitism" they claim to care about. They continue to fund a genocide in Gaza so they can maintain a proxy in the middle east through Israel, and they want to continue posturing against China because they see them as an economic threat to their hegemony. The youth will continue to stand against this spineless and corrupt excuse of a government; we will not stand idly by while they continue to wreak havoc upon the world.
5 male Supreme Court Justice, just like Roe V Wade, are for Trump immunity. You know the justice can be impeached as well or if he wins the immunity and wins the White House he can have the Supreme Court assassinated and his rivals. Be careful what you wish for, you could be nexts!
Only dictators and will the Supreme Court bless them?
With our nation ~$34T in debt, an ongoing southern border crisis, and homelessness, drug abuse, and mental health problems rampant across all our major cities, this is a completely indefensible use of taxpayer dollars.
95 billion. More than we spend on the US Marine Corps. way to go Joe!
Aid for Ukraine...yes!
I wouldn't give Netanyahu a dime for his war crimes.
So if the Supreme Court rules in Trump's favor on immunity as president and after. Biden should call up seal team 6 and have the republicans on the Supreme Court and his republican rivals assassinated, the women in the U.S. would thank him for that, most likely Melania!
We need to not let Putin and Trump authoritarian politics influence our country