AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday said "there's a Holocaust going on" in Ukraine while Congress pushes to send billions of dollars in aid to the country as it fights against Russia's invasion.
Democrats and Republicans are finalizing a deal on a sweeping piece of legislation that would keep the US government funded through September 30, contain billions of dollars in assistance to Ukraine, and also include $15 billion for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic response, Schumer said.
The New York Democrat said the plan is to allocate "more than $12 billion" to Ukraine. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday cited a $14 billion figure. The bill's text has not been released yet.
"A large chunk of it is humanitarian relief," Schumer said. "The Ukrainians lack food, they lack clothing, they lack shelter, electricity, medicines — we must get them these things. There's a Holocaust going on. When you see that people are lined up on buses to just leave a conflict zone, and Putin's artillery shells those buses, that is just below humanity, below dignity."
The money will also be used to deliver more arms to Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian invasion, Schumer added. More than 2 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the invasion, according to the United Nations. At least 406 civilians in Ukraine have been killed as of Sunday, the UN said in a statement.
"The events in Ukraine have necessitated action, and we need to get this done and get it done very fast," Schumer said. "The proposal that we've made on Ukraine is strong."
President Joe Biden on Tuesday also announced a ban on Russian energy imports to the US.
"That means Russian oil will no longer be acceptable at US ports and the American people will deal another powerful blow to Putin's war machine," Biden said.
Biden administration officials were initially hesitant about the ban, expressing concerns about potential rising global prices. But the president made the move following pressure from both Democratic and Republican congressional lawmakers to take further action against Russia as it encroaches on Ukraine.
