经过数月的努力，众议院通过了对乌克兰和以色列数百亿美元的援助
【中美创新时报2024 年 4 月 20 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）众议院在罕见的周六会议上迅速通过了一系列投票，批准向乌克兰、以色列和其他美国盟友提供 950 亿美元的对外援助，民主党和共和党在为美国重新支持乌克兰而进行了长达数月的艰苦斗争后联合起来，以击退俄国的侵略。美联社记者斯蒂芬·格罗夫斯（STEPHEN GROVES）和丽莎·马斯卡罗（LISA MASCARO）对此作了下述详细报道。
在压倒性的支持下，众议院批准了乌克兰部分，即一项价值 610 亿美元的援助计划，这显示出美国的强烈支持，因为立法者正在竞相向这个饱受战争蹂躏的盟友提供新一轮的美国支持。 一些议员欢呼雀跃，放弃了乌克兰的蓝黄国旗。
援助以色列和向加沙公民提供人道主义救济的 260 亿美元一揽子计划也很容易获得通过。援助计划的每个部分都面临着赞成或反对的投票。一项国家安全法案迅速获得批准，其中包括强制出售流行平台 TikTok 的条款，另一项支持印太盟友的法案也很快获得批准。
这一不同寻常的过程使得围绕这些法案形成独特的联盟，推动它们向前推进。整个方案将提交参议院，未来几天几乎可以保证通过。乔·拜登总统承诺立即签署。
“世界的目光注视着我们，历史将评判我们此时此地的所作所为，”众议院外交事务委员会主席、德克萨斯州共和党众议员迈克尔·麦考尔说。
周末的一幕引人注目地展示了国会在经历了数月的功能障碍和共和党人的僵局后采取的行动。共和党占多数，但在对外援助问题上存在严重分歧，特别是在乌克兰对抗俄罗斯入侵的援助问题上。众议院议长迈克·约翰逊冒着饭碗，依靠民主党的支持来确保军事和人道主义方案获得批准，并向美国盟友提供援助。
早上以一场严肃而严肃的辩论和不同寻常的使命感开始，共和党和民主党领导人联合敦促迅速通过，以确保美国支持其盟友并继续在世界舞台上保持领导地位。这座房子的参观画廊挤满了围观者。
众议院外交事务委员会的民主党领袖、纽约众议员格雷戈里·米克斯（Gregory Meeks）说：“有时，当你活在历史中，就像我们今天一样，你不会理解我们在众议院所做的投票行动的重要性，以及它将产生的影响。” “这是一个历史性的时刻。”
众议院的通过将清除拜登资金请求的最大障碍，拜登于10月首次提出资金请求，当时乌克兰的军事供应开始不足。共和党控制的众议院对美国对乌克兰的支持持怀疑态度，几个月来一直在为该怎么做而苦苦挣扎，首先要求任何援助都必须与美墨订单的政策变化挂钩，结果立即拒绝了两党参议院提出的同样的提议 。
对约翰逊来说，进入最后阶段是一次痛苦的提升，这考验了他的决心和共和党人的支持，现在有少数人但越来越多的人公开敦促他离开议长办公室。然而，国会领导人将此次投票视为历史的转折点，这是美国盟友在欧洲大陆、中东和印度太平洋地区遭受战争和威胁之际做出的紧急牺牲。
约翰逊本周表示：“唯一阻止恐怖分子和暴君的是美国强大的观念，即我们将坚强地站起来。” “这是我们要向世界传达的一个非常重要的信息。”
反对者，特别是约翰逊占多数的极右翼共和党人，认为美国应该把重点放在国内，解决国内边境安全和国家不断上升的债务负担，他们警告不要花更多的钱，这些钱主要流向美国国防制造商生产海外使用的武器。
尽管如此，近几个月来，从乌克兰总统泽连斯基到日本首相岸田文雄，世界各国领导人纷纷到访国会，几乎都在恳求议员批准这项援助。在全球范围内，这一延误让许多人质疑美国对其盟友的承诺。
拜登的首要外交政策优先事项之一也处于危险之中——阻止俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京在欧洲的前进。在与约翰逊进行秘密会谈后，总统本周迅速认可了约翰逊的计划，为民主党提供罕见的支持以扫清最终投票所需的程序障碍铺平了道路。
众议院民主党领袖、纽约州众议员哈基姆·杰弗里斯在辩论中表示，“我们有责任，不是作为民主党人或共和党人，而是作为美国人，在任何面临风险的地方捍卫民主。”
虽然对乌克兰的援助可能会在两党中赢得多数席位，但预计大量进步的民主党人将投票反对援助以色列的法案，因为他们要求结束对加沙的轰炸，这场轰炸已造成数千平民死亡。
与此同时，共和党总统候选人唐纳德·特朗普在这场斗争中显得举足轻重，他通过社交媒体声明和直接与立法者通话，从远处发表意见，以“美国优先”的口号让共和党倾向于更加孤立主义的政治的品牌立场。。
乌克兰的国防一度在国会获得两党的大力支持，但随着战争进入第三个年头，大多数共和党人反对进一步的援助。特朗普的盟友佐治亚州共和党众议员马乔里·泰勒·格林提出了一项将资金归零的修正案，但遭到拒绝。
特朗普的反对一度导致参议院两党关于边境安全的提案基本失败。上周，特朗普还在社交媒体上发帖质疑欧洲国家为何不向乌克兰提供更多资金，不过他没有让约翰逊受到批评，并表示乌克兰的生存很重要。
尽管如此，极端保守的众议院自由核心小组仍嘲笑该法案是“美国最后”的对外战争方案，并敦促立法者无视共和党的领导并反对它，因为该法案不包括边境安全措施。
最近几天，约翰逊对议长木槌的控制也变得更加脆弱，以格林为首的三名共和党人支持一项“腾空动议”，该动议可能导致就罢免议长进行投票。在极右翼人士的怂恿下，越来越多的立法者也加入了她的行列，其中包括敦促约翰逊自愿下台的肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·马西 (Thomas Massie) 和亚利桑那州共和党议员保罗·戈萨尔 (Paul Gosar)。
议长办公室一直在努力争取对该法案以及拉脱维亚共和党约翰逊的支持。
该计划包括民主党支持或至少愿意接受的几项共和党优先事项。其中包括允许美国扣押俄罗斯央行冻结资产以重建乌克兰的提议；对伊朗、俄罗斯、中国以及贩运芬太尼的犯罪组织实施制裁；并立法要求流行视频应用程序 TikTok 的中国所有者在一年内出售其股份，否则将在美国面临禁令。
尽管如此，全力推动国会通过这些法案不仅反映了政治，也反映了乌克兰的现实。了解机密简报的国家安全委员会高层议员最近几周对局势越来越严重担忧。俄罗斯越来越多地使用卫星制导滑翔炸弹（允许飞机从安全距离投下炸弹）来打击陷入部队和弹药短缺的乌克兰军队。
题图：4 月 18 日，乌克兰前线城镇奥里希夫，一名当地妇女在一座被俄罗斯空袭摧毁的建筑前骑自行车。 ANDRIY ANDRIYENKO/美联社
附原英文报道：
The House passes billions in aid for Ukraine and Israel after months of struggle
By STEPHEN GROVES and LISA MASCARO The Associated Press,Updated April 20, 2024
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House pushed swiftly through a series of votes in a rare Saturday session to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, Democrats and Republicans joining together after a grueling monthslong fight over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.
With overwhelming support, the House approved the Ukraine portion, a $61 billion aid package, in a strong showing of American backing as lawmakers race to deliver a fresh round of U.S. support to the war-torn ally. Some lawmakers cheered, waiving blue-and-yellow flags of Ukraine.
The $26 billion package aiding Israel and providing humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza also easily cleared. Each segment of the aid package faced an up-or-down vote. A national security bill that includes a provision forcing sale of the popular platform TikTok was quickly approved, as was another supporting Indo-Pacific allies.
The unusual process is allowing unique coalitions to form around the bills, pushing them forward. The whole package will go to the Senate, where passage in the coming days is nearly assured. President Joe Biden has promised to sign it immediately.
“The eyes of the world are upon us, and history will judge what we do here and now,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The weekend scene presented a striking display of congressional action after months of dysfunction and stalemate fueled by Republicans, who hold the majority but are deeply split over foreign aid, particularly for Ukraine as it fights Russia’s invasion. Speaker Mike Johnson, putting his job on the line, is relying on Democratic support to ensure the military and humanitarian package is approved, and help flows to the U.S. allies.
The morning opened with a somber and serious debate and unusual sense of purpose, Republican and Democratic leaders united to urge swift passage that would ensure the United States supports its allies and remains a leader on the world stage. The House’s visitor galleries crowded with onlookers.
“Sometimes when you are living history, as we are today, you don’t understand the significance of the actions of the votes that we make on this House floor, of the effect that it will have down the road,” said New York Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “This is a historic moment.”
Passage through the House would clear away the biggest hurdle to Biden’s funding request, first made in October as Ukraine’s military supplies began to run low. The GOP-controlled House, skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine, struggled for months over what to do, first demanding that any assistance be tied to policy changes at the U.S.-Mexico order, only to immediately reject a bipartisan Senate offer along those very lines.
Reaching an endgame has been an excruciating lift for Johnson that has tested both his resolve and his support among Republicans, with a small but growing number now openly urging his removal from the speaker’s office. Yet congressional leaders cast the votes as a turning point in history — an urgent sacrifice as U.S. allies are beleaguered by wars and threats from continental Europe to the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific.
“The only thing that has kept terrorists and tyrants at bay is the perception of a strong America, that we would stand strong,” Johnson said this week. “This is a very important message that we are going to send the world.”
Opponents, particularly the hard-right Republicans from Johnson’s majority, argued that the U.S. should focus on the home front, addressing domestic border security and the nation’s rising debt load, and they warned against spending more money, which largely flows to American defense manufacturers, to produce weaponry used overseas.
Still, Congress has seen a stream of world leaders visit in recent months, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, all but pleading with lawmakers to approve the aid. Globally, the delay left many questioning America’s commitment to its allies.
At stake has also been one of Biden’s top foreign policy priorities — halting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advance in Europe. After engaging in quiet talks with Johnson, the president quickly endorsed Johnson’s plan this week, paving the way for Democrats to give their rare support to clear the procedural hurdles needed for a final vote.
“We have a responsibility, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans to defend democracy wherever it is at risk,” the House Democratic leader, New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, said during the debate.
While aid for Ukraine will likely win a majority in both parties, a significant number of progressive Democrats are expected to vote against the bill aiding Israel as they demand an end to the bombardment of Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians.
At the same time, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has loomed large over the fight, weighing in from afar via social media statements and direct phone calls with lawmakers as he tilts the GOP to a more isolationist stance with his “America First” brand of politics.
Ukraine’s defense once enjoyed robust, bipartisan support in Congress, but as the war enters its third year, a bulk of Republicans oppose further aid. Trump ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., offered an amendment to zero out the money, but it was rejected.
At one point, Trump’s opposition essentially doomed the bipartisan Senate proposal on border security. This past week, Trump also issued a social media post that questioned why European nations were not giving more money to Ukraine, though he spared Johnson from criticism and said Ukraine’s survival was important.
Still, the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus has derided the legislation as the “America Last” foreign wars package and urged lawmakers to defy Republican leadership and oppose it because the bills do not include border security measures.
Johnson’s hold on the speaker’s gavel has also grown more tenuous in recent days as three Republicans, led by Greene, supported a “motion to vacate” that can lead to a vote on removing the speaker. Egged on by far-right personalities, she is also being joined by a growing number of lawmakers including Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who is urging Johnson to voluntarily step aside, and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
The speaker’s office has been working furiously to drum up support for the bill, as well as for Johnson, R-La.
The package includes several Republican priorities that Democrats endorse, or at least are willing to accept. Those include proposals that allow the U.S. to seize frozen Russian central bank assets to rebuild Ukraine; impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl; and legislation to require the China-based owner of the popular video app TikTok to sell its stake within a year or face a ban in the United States.
Still, the all-out push to get the bills through Congress is a reflection not only of politics, but realities on the ground in Ukraine. Top lawmakers on national security committees, who are privy to classified briefings, have grown gravely concerned about the situation in recent weeks. Russia has increasingly used satellite-guided gliding bombs — which allow planes to drop them from a safe distance — to pummel Ukrainian forces beset by a shortage of troops and ammunition.
