On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a comprehensive legislative package worth $95 billion, which includes a bill to divest or ban TikTok, as well as legislation to provide assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region including Taiwan. The House has now submitted this package to the Senate for their vote.
The House passed the “21st Century Peace through Strength Act” with a vote of 360 to 58. The act includes sanctions on ports and refineries that receive and process Iranian oil, further restricting the export of U.S.-origin goods and technology to Iran, sanctioning individuals involved in violating the UN missile embargo on Iran, as well as those involved in supplying or selling Iranian missiles and drones. It also authorizes the freezing of Russian assets in the U.S. and their transfer to Ukraine and gives ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, nine months to sell TikTok.
Should progress be made on the sale as determined by the U.S. President, the 9-month deadline can be extended by 90 days, allowing ByteDance up to a year to complete the divestiture. If ByteDance fails to divest TikTok within the deadline, the app will be banned from being listed on U.S. app stores.
TikTok criticized the House for passing the bill to ban or divest TikTok and expressed extreme dissatisfaction with bundling the TikTok bill with U.S. foreign aid legislation.
Furthermore, on Saturday, the House passed the “Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental bill” with a vote of 385 to 34. This bill provides $8.1 billion to counter Chinese actions in the Indo-Pacific region, including $3.3 billion for developing submarine infrastructure, $2 billion in foreign military financing for Taiwan and other key allies, and $1.9 billion to supplement defense articles and services for Taiwan and regional partners.
Subsequently, the House passed the “Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act” with a vote of 311 to 112, providing approximately $61 billion to help Ukraine resist Russia.
Ukrainian President Zelensky expressed gratitude on social media platform X for the assistance approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The House also passed the “Israel Security Supplemental bill” with a vote of 366 to 58, providing $2.64 billion in aid to Israel. The bill also allows for additional flexibility in transferring defense articles stored by the U.S. in other countries to Israel.
Israel expressed appreciation for the aid package passed by the U.S. House and expressed hope that the plan would quickly gain approval in the U.S. Senate with “strong bipartisan support.”
In a statement, U.S. President Biden remarked that the foreign aid bills passed by the House deliver a “clear message” of U.S. leadership.
“Today, members from both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and sent a clear message about America’s leadership on the world stage. At this critical juncture, they have united, answered the call of history, and passed the much-needed national security legislation I have been diligently advocating for over the past few months.”
The President urged the Senate to quickly pass this comprehensive package.
“I urge the Senate to swiftly send this package to my desk so I can sign it into law, and we can promptly deliver weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs.”