The bill has passed. Oh, one voting present. This is the moment the House Of Representatives approved a 60 billion package of military aid for ukraine. It was a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation in the binary world of american politics, with democratsjoining moderate republicans to see off opposition from the hard right. Us officials have indicated that deliveries of munitions and air Defence Systems are ready to go as soon as there is approval in the senate. Joining me live from washington is our correspondent helena humphrey. Shes on capitol hill following the vote. It is six months since President Biden first sought approval for this aid package, there has been a bitter row over it over it ever since, what got it over the line today . figs what got it over the line today . Sis you what got it over the line today . Is you say, this is long awaited, high stakes, and what this finally got this over the line was that rare display of bipartisanship which we sell. What you will see w
During the debate, lawmakers in support of the legislation urged their colleagues to swiftly approve the aid, saying time is running out for the ukrainians. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi was one of those to address the house. Vladimir putin has instructed his troops to use rape, kidnapping and murder in front of Family Members as a weapon of war to demoralise the people of ukraine. I hope that our colleagues will choose democracy and decency rather than autocracy and evil. Because i fear that if you choose the putin route, you will have blood on your hands. Blood of the children, blood of their mothers, raped in front of their parents, raped in front of their children. I vote on this and all of the other bills before us today. The only us lawmaker born in ukraine, victoria spartz, a republican representative, who has been known for her staunch support of donald trump, has actually proposed an amendment that reduces military aid for ukraine. She called the package a blank cheque, a narrat
To the yes. The bill has passed. This is the moment the House Of Representatives approved a 60 Billion Dollar package of military aid for ukraine. It was a rare moment of bipartisan cooperation in the binary world of american politics, with democratsjoining moderate republicans to see off opposition from the hard right. Us officials have indicated that deliveries of munitions and air Defence Systems are ready to go as soon as there is approval in the senate. Our correspondent in kyiv, james waterhouse, has been telling us the funding has been welcomed by the Ukrainian President , volodymyr zelensky. Yes, hesjust said, im grateful to the United States House Of Representatives, both parties and personally speaker mikejohnson, for the decision. He says that keeps history on the right track. He talks about democracy and freedom always having global significance and will never fail as long as america helps to protect it. And a slight reagan quote where he says, just peace and security can o
pandemic. it s the most significant change for middle class people, for poor people, people trying to get into the middle class, in decades, in a very long time. and it has amazing things in it. this is a critical moment. this is a moment where we have to make sure that the american people know what s in this plan. they understand what s in this plan. and by the way, this bill is 90 some percent coronavirus centric. this is similar to the bill that we wrote in may, the heroes act, some of which was implemented in december, much of it now. so in a moment i m going to talk to democratic congresswoman jackie speier about covid and what is next for her party. while democrats are focusing on covid relief, the republican party has hoped to find the issue they hope will blunt that, immigration. kevin mccarthy about to lead a fact finding mission to the border as republicans step up the rhetoric on the issue. is the biden open border policies that are inviting even more ill