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Transcript/ScriptUS CONGRESS UKRAINE -- USAGM
HEADLINE: US Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Billions in Ukraine Aid
TEASER: Vote to provide humanitarian and military assistance likely by end of the week
PUBLISHED AT: Tuesday, 03/08/2022 at 10:24 pm
BYLINE: Katherine Gypson
PRODUCERS: Katherine Gypson
CONTRIBUTING:
DATELINE: Washington
VIDEOGRAPHER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: Holly Franko, Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, AP, ABC
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 3:11
VID APPROVED BY: wpm
TYPE: TVPKG
UPDATE: ))
NOTE: McConnell said today the aid would total $14 billion. Schiff said $12 billion a little earlier in the day. There’s no final number yet for the aid so I have purposely kept it vague in the narration.
((TV/web intro: ))
[[U.S. lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to send as much as $14 billion in humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine. The bipartisan effort to confront Russia’s unprovoked invasion of the independent Eastern European nation follows congressional support for U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement he will ban Russian energy imports into the U.S. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson has more from Capitol Hill.]]
((NARRATOR))
Billions of dollars in humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine — well above the White House request — now close to being finalized by U.S. lawmakers, after weeks of negotiations. A package that is likely just the beginning of U.S. assistance …
((Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrat))
"I think the world has to respond and help these refugees, and we're taking up a package that I think will just be the beginning, frankly, as my understanding is, it'll be a $12 billion package that will provide economic, military and humanitarian support, but there will be more to come."
((NARRATOR))
Ukraine’s war effort got a boost Tuesday with the announcement Poland would send Ukraine MiG-29 fighter jets, but U.S. lawmakers are concerned bureaucratic delays are holding up other military assistance.
((Sen. Ben Cardin, Democrat))
“There is strong agreement to supply Ukraine with the defensive lethal weapons they need. And we've done that. Our allies have done that. Countries have done that — we have been pretty effective in getting that type of equipment to the Ukrainians. So I'm a little bit baffled as to why it's taking so long in regards to aircraft getting into Ukraine. President Zelenskyy has made it clear he needs it.”
((NARRATOR))
A top State Department official told lawmakers Putin’s decision to invade has subjected his people to harsh sanctions, wiping out 30 years of progress in a matter of days.
((Victoria Nuland, US State Department))
“As Putin tries to reduce Ukraine to rubble, he is also turning Russia into a prison. Credit cards and ATMs have stopped working, capital controls are biting deeply, imported food, technology and other goods are drying up. And the last of Russia's free press has been strangled, all while the government hemorrhages money that belongs to the Russian people to fund its war effort and to prop up the ruble.”
((NARRATOR))
And while the decision to ban Russian energy imports will have its own impact on Americans, U.S. lawmakers from both parties welcomed Biden’s announcement.
((Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Democrat))
"Americans are willing to make sacrifices to support the kind of Ukrainian resistance — brave, fierce, bold defense of democracy — that very much resonates with Americans because of our own history. But also important are steps we can take to reduce the spiral upward of gasoline prices.”
((NARRATOR))
But U.S. lawmakers also continue to emphasize that American support does not extend to direct military involvement.
((Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader))
“I don't think any NATO country, certainly not ours, is prepared to directly engage with the Russians over Ukraine.”
((NARRATOR))
The U.S. Congress is expected to pass a government spending bill containing that aid money for Ukraine by the end of this week.
((Katherine Gypson, VOA News, Washington))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)Washington D.C.
Embargo DateMarch 8, 2022 23:56 EST
BylineKatherine Gypson
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
