On May 20th, President Biden signed into law an emergency supplemental funding package providing $40.1 billion in military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The new funding adds to the more than $13 billion in U.S. assistance approved this past March.
While the bill was approved with broad, bipartisan support in Congress, it was held up for several weeks due to a dispute over including another round of domestic COVID-related funding in the package. Ultimately, the COVID funding was not included in the bill. There was an additional delay in the Senate as Senator Rand Paul engaged in an unsuccessful attempt to force inclusion of a provision to create a special inspector general to oversee the funding.
Once the bill cleared the Senate, a White House aide was dispatched to hand-carry a hard copy of the bill to South Korea so that President Biden, in the midst of a five-day trip to Asia, could sign it immediately.
The bill provides $20 billion in military and security assistance and $8 billion in general economic support. More than $5 billion is directed to address global food shortages that could result from the collapse of Ukrainian agriculture. More than $1 billion in humanitarian support will go to address the needs of the more than six million Ukrainian refugees who have fled since the Russian invasion. It also provides $400 million to support law enforcement and the rule of law, including the investigation and documentation of war crimes and human rights atrocities, as well as programs to combat human trafficking.
The ABA is engaged in several initiatives related to the situation in Ukraine. ABA President Reginald Turner issued a statement in March condemning the Russian invasion and approved the establishment of the Ukraine Response Project to coordinate Association initiatives providing assistance to Ukrainians in the U.S. and abroad. The ABA Rule of Law Initiative is working through its existing networks on the ground in Ukraine to support individuals and local civil society organizations to contribute to evidence collection of atrocity and war crimes. The ABA supported the granting of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukraine, to ensure that Ukrainian nationals in the United States as of the time of the invasion would not be forced to return during the conflict. The ABA Commission on Immigration is partnering with other organizations on a project to provide legal assistance to those Ukrainians and others who are applying for TPS protections.
ABA members and others who would like to offer assistance to these efforts should visit the Ukraine Response Project website to find additional information.