U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech asking Congress for a budget for additional aid to Ukraine in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on the 28th. Washington | AP Yonhap News
On the 28th (local time), US President Joe Biden asked Congress for a budget of $33 billion (about 425.5 trillion won) to expand additional aid to Ukraine, which is resisting a Russian invasion. President Biden announced that he would work with South Korea and other countries to expand energy supply for Europe, which is threatened with cessation of Russia’s natural gas supply. The U.S. Congress amended the “Weapons Lending Act” enacted during World War II for the first time in 81 years to provide Ukraine with weapons more quickly.
“The cost of this fight is not cheap, but it will be more expensive if you give in to attack,” Biden said in a speech at the White House announcing plans for additional aid to Ukraine. President Biden said Ukrainians are paying the price with their lives every day and urged Congress to expedite the $33 billion budget for extra support for Ukraine. The budget for additional aid includes $20 billion in military aid (about 25.47 trillion won), including $8.5 billion in economic support (about 10.824.7 billion won), and $3 billion in humanitarian and food aid (about 3.82 trillion won).
A senior U.S. government official said at a press briefing that the U.S. had allocated about $14 billion to Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, but it was almost exhausted. President Biden said he had “very nearly exhausted the ‘permissions’ allocated to Ukraine aid in a budget passed by Congress last month bipartisan,” Biden said.
President Biden has also asked for legislation giving the administration the power to freeze and expedite the seizure of the wealth of Russia’s emerging conglomerates who, as a group close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, have amassed enormous wealth under the auspices of the regime. Specifically, it was proposed to revise the RICO Act (RICO), which was originally enacted to combat the mafia and subsequently applied to the punishment of corrupt crimes by criminal groups and corporations.
Regarding Europe’s energy crisis, President Biden said, “We are working with South Korea, Japan, Qatar and other countries to help our European allies who are being threatened by Russia using natural gas.” We are discussing ways to sell gas to Europe, including Poland,” he said.
Hours after President Biden’s speech, the House of Representatives passed the WWII-enacted amendments to the Lending Act with 417 votes in favor and 10 against. The Arms Lending Act was enacted in 1941 to expedite the provision of arms to Britain, which had been invaded by Nazi Germany. At a time when public opinion in the United States was negative about involvement in World War II that broke out in Europe, President Franklin Roosevelt was able to significantly streamline the administrative process for providing arms to allies through the Act. It was a form of providing weapons to allies, such as Britain, and then receiving a payment later.
The law was passed unanimously in the Senate on the 8th, and by an overwhelming vote in the House of Representatives on the same day. If President Biden signs the law, Ukraine can get the weapons it wants from the US, and then pay for it later. The New York Times evaluated that the swift revision of a law enacted during World War II was evidence that the will to urgently support Ukraine was spreading bipartisan, Democrats and Republicans alike.
