Ukraine's Ambassador to USA: We hope amendments that reduce or eliminate aid to Ukraine to be rejected
Ambassador of Ukraine to the United States Oksana Markarova has explained the essence of the amendments to the Ukraine aid bill, which will be considered in the House of Representatives on Saturday, April 20, and expressed the hope that amendments that reduce or eliminate aid to Ukraine will be rejected.
"The House of Representatives approved resolution H.Res. 1160, which establishes the voting procedure for the U.S. international aid package, which includes Ukraine. The decision was supported by 316 congressmen (including 151 Republicans, 165 Democrats), 94 congressmen voted against (55 Republicans, 39 Democrats)," she said on Facebook on Friday following the House vote.
Markarova explained that, according to the procedure, there will be four votes for each individual bill of the package (Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific states, additional measures). Debates will take place on each of the bills, during which a number of amendments will be considered.
"On the bill HR.8035, which concerns aid to Ukraine, four amendments will be submitted for debate: Sponsor V. Spartz (R), aimed at striking a number of aid sections; Sponsor M. Greene (R), aimed at reducing every dollar amount in the bill to zero; Sponsor K. Hern (R), aimed at establishing a ban on the use of Economic Support Fund account to pay pensions and government salaries; Sponsor K. Cammack (R), aimed at eliminating all non-military funding from the bill," she said.
"We hope that amendments that reduce or eliminate aid to Ukraine will be rejected," Markarova said.
In addition, according to her, "the procedure provides that if the package successfully passes through the House of Representatives, it will be submitted to the Senate for consideration as amendments to the Senate bill on U.S. international aid HR.815, which was adopted on 02/13/2024. This should simplify procedure for approving the package in the Senate."
A vote on the package of bills in the House of Representatives is expected on Saturday, April 20.