New budget request submitted to US Senate: Ukraine, Israel and border

On Tuesday, December 5, the Democratic majority in the United States Senate presented a package of national security measures worth about $111 billion. The document provides for financial assistance to Ukraine and Israel, as well as a set of measures to protect the southern border with Mexico.

This was reported by The Hill.

The 167-page bill provides for more than $15 billion in support of Ukraine, in particular for the needs of "military training, intelligence sharing" and "increased presence in the European Command area of responsibility".

In addition, the document also provides for the allocation of $10.6 billion to help Israel, of which $4 billion is planned to be spent on missile defense and $1.2 billion to accelerate the development of the Iron Beam missile defense system.

The summary of the package also mentions $43.6 billion to increase Israel's arms and ammunition production capacity, as well as to invest in the US submarine industrial base and increase its stockpile.

In a statement accompanying the bill's release in the Senate, Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray, a Republican, called it " imperative we extend our support for Ukraine at this pivotal moment and make clear to Putin and other dictators that they cannot simply wait out the United States".

“It’s past time for Senators to stop tying partisan and extreme immigration proposals to a broadly bipartisan supplemental,” she said while adding the package also “turbocharges efforts across government to stop the flow of fentanyl and crack down on transnational criminal organizations trafficking it”. 

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 06/12/2023