Biden signs foreign aid bill, says weapons to be sent to allies within hours

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a $95.3 billion emergency spending bill that will send military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Pacific partners, capping a dramatic week that culminated with a rare bipartisan outcome.

“When our allies are stronger, we are stronger,” Biden said. “I’m making sure the shipments start right away — literally within two hours. … As I’ve argued for months, this is directly in America’s national security interests.”

Specifically, the U.S. commander in chief said air defense and rocket systems, as well as armored vehicles made in America, would be in the first tranche of combat equipment sent under the bipartisan supplemental package.

Biden signed the measure, which he requested last fall, after it passed the Senate Tuesday night in a 79-18 vote. It passed the House Saturday as four different measures, with a floor rule bringing them together as one package, as designed by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. and blessed by Biden.

As Biden took a victory lap in the White House’s Indian Treaty Room during an event that was quickly arranged, Republicans were still smarting from divisions the measure caused in their ranks.

Unlike an earlier version of the measure the Senate passed in February, the revised package won support from a majority of Senate Republicans. A slim majority of House Republicans, however, still opposed the final package.

Biden said the measure had a more “difficult path than it should have” to get to his desk, but he applauded lawmakers because “we came together and got it done.”

“Now we need to move fast,” he said about turning the monies supplied by the emergency spending measure into combat shipments. “And we are.”

The president also warned that China, Iran, North Korea and other countries are providing Russian forces with new weapons. “Meanwhile, Putin’s friends have kept him well-supplied. With all that support, Russia has stepped up its airstrikes,” he warned.

Biden also touted the military aid the measure will send to Israel, and humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians inside the war-torn Gaza strip.

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