United States Washington:

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on Saturday on a major aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as a possible ban on TikTok.

Here’s a breakdown of the $95 billion package, which is made up of four bills and some odd amendments lawmakers are trying to tack on.

Ukraine

Most of the money in the program – nearly $61 billion – is earmarked for Ukraine’s war against Russian aggression. President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pleading for the money for months, warning that “Ukraine will lose this war if Congress does not help Ukraine.”

Washington is Kyiv’s main military backer, but Congress has not passed a major aid package for its ally since December 2022 due to partisan bickering.

The bill introduced Wednesday would provide nearly $14 billion to train, equip and fund Ukraine’s military needs.

Ukraine will also receive $10 billion in “forgivable loans” for vital economic and budgetary support, including the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Former President Donald Trump floated the idea of ​​loans rather than grants, arguing the U.S. should stop handing out money without getting anything in return. A “forgivable loan” may be forgiven or deferred in part or in full, under certain conditions.

A large portion of the money will also be used to replenish U.S. military inventories.

The bill also authorizes the U.S. president to seize and sell Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction, an idea also supported by other G7 countries.

Israel

Israel, a historic ally of the United States, will receive $13 billion in military aid to combat Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

The funds will be used specifically to strengthen Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.

More than $9 billion will be used to address “the urgent humanitarian assistance needs of Gaza and other vulnerable populations around the world.”

However, the measure would prohibit the United States from providing any direct funding to the crisis-hit United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Israel accuses some agency employees in Gaza of being involved in Hamas’s shocking attack on southern Israel on October 7, sparking the war.

Taiwan, Douyin

The bill would provide about $8 billion to counter China by investing in submarine infrastructure and increasing competition with Chinese projects in developing countries.

The bill also provides billions of dollars in arms funding to Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China.

It also includes a provision that would force TikTok to spin off from its Chinese parent ByteDance or face a nationwide ban in the United States.

Western officials have sounded alarm over TikTok’s popularity among young people, claiming it is subservient to Beijing and a conduit for spreading propaganda, a claim both the company and Beijing deny.

troll amendment

The massive plan is the result of a delicate compromise between Democrats and Republicans but faces fierce opposition from the far right of the Republican Party.

In protest, its members proposed a series of outlandish clauses that caused some stir but had no chance of being adopted.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has introduced an amendment to the foreign aid bill that would require members of Congress who vote for aid to Ukraine to join the country’s military.

“If you want to fund endless foreign wars, you have to fight them,” Green, a hardline Trump supporter, said on the social media platform X.

In response, Democrat Jared Moskowitz introduced his own amendment to rename Greene’s office in Congress the “Neville Chamberlain Room” — a reference to the British prime minister who pursued appeasement of Nazi Germany. This policy ultimately failed to avert World War II. .

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)