Biden praises Congress for foreign aid bill and says he will sign it immediately

Joe Biden praised congressional leaders and lawmakers for what he called an effort “to answer history’s call at this critical inflection point” after the US Senate voted resoundingly in a bipartisan majority on Tuesday to approve $95bn in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The Senate passed the bill in a sweeping 79 to 18 vote, after similarly lopsided approval in the House last weekend. The president, who had pushed Congress for months to deliver the foreign aid measure, said he would sign it into law on Wednesday and immediately begin the process of sending badly needed weapons to Ukraine as early as this week.

“Congress has passed my legislation to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership: we stand resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression,” he said.

“Today the Senate sends a unified message to the entire world: America will always defend democracy in its hour of need,” said the Democratic senator Chuck Schumer in a floor speech on Tuesday afternoon.

“Make no mistake, America will deliver on its promise to act like a leader on the world stage, to hold the line against autocratic thugs like Vladimir Putin,” he continued. “We are showing Putin that betting against America is always, always a grave mistake.”

The vote capped a grueling journey on Capitol Hill, plagued by delays and setbacks, until last week, when the House approved four bills to rush funding to three American allies while approving a conservative proposal that could lead to a nationwide ban of the social media platform TikTok. The measures were combined into one large package that the Senate approved on Tuesday.

The legislation includes $60.8bn to replenish Ukraine’s