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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 11 august 2023

Biden asks Congress for more than $13B to support Ukraine and

$12B for disaster fund

Continued from Front said in a statement there Support among the Ameri- er $10 billion to counter Rus- keep tabs on it once it is
was strong bipartisan sup- can public for providing sian and Chinese influence there, depending on the
White House budget direc- port in the U.S. Senate. Ukraine weaponry and di- elsewhere by bolstering the sensitivity of each weapons
tor Shalanda Young, in a let- “The latest request from the rect economic assistance World Bank and providing system.
ter to House Speaker Kevin Biden administration shows has softened with time. An aid to resist Russian-aligned Ukraine is pushing through
McCarthy, urged swift ac- America’s continued com- AP-NORC poll conducted Wagner forces in Africa. with its ongoing counterof-
tion to follow through on mitment to helping Ameri- in January 2023 around Domestically, there’s an fensive, in an effort to dis-
the U.S. “commitment to cans here at home and our the one-year mark of the additional $60 million to lodge the Kremlin’s forces
the Ukrainian peoples’ de- friends abroad,” he said. conflict, found that 48% address increased wildfires from territory they’ve occu-
fense of their homeland "We hope to join with our favored the U.S. providing that have erupted nation- pied since a full-scale inva-
and to democracy around Republican colleagues this weapons to Ukraine, down wide. And the request in- sion in February 2022. The
the world” as well as other fall to avert an unnecessary from the 60% of U.S. adults cludes $2.2 billion for South- counteroffensive has come
needs. government shutdown and who were in favor sending ern border management up against heavily mined
The request was crafted fund this critical emergen- Ukraine weapons in May and $766 million to curb terrain and reinforced de-
with an eye to picking up cy supplemental request.” 2022. While Democrats the flow of deadly fenta- fensive fortifications.
support from Republicans, President Joe Biden and have generally been more nyl. There is also $100 million The U.S. has approved four
as well as Democrats, par- his senior national security supportive than Republi- earmarked for the Depart- rounds of aid to Ukraine in
ticularly with increased team have repeatedly said cans of offering weapon- ment of Labor to ramp up response to Russia’s inva-
domestic funding around the United States will help ry, their support dropped investigations of suspected sion, totaling about $113
border issues — a top prior- Ukraine “as long as it takes” slightly from 71% to 63% in child labor violations. billion, with some of that
ity for the GOP, which has to oust Russia from its bor- the same period. Repub- To ease passage, Congress money going toward re-
been highly critical of the ders. Privately, administra- licans’ support dropped would likely try to attach plenishment of U.S. military
Biden administration’s ap- tion officials have warned more, from 53% to 39%. the package to a must- equipment that was sent
proach to halting the flow Ukrainian officials that there Dozens of Republicans in pass measure for broader to the frontlines. Congress
of migrants crossing from is a limit to the patience of the House and some GOP government funding in the approved the latest round
Mexico. a narrowly divided Con- senators have expressed U.S. that’s needed by Oct. of aid in December, total-
Still, the price tag of $40 bil- gress — and American reservations, and even vot- 1 to prevent any shutdown ing roughly $45 billion for
lion may be too much for public — for the costs of a ed against, spending more in federal offices. Ukraine and NATO allies.
Republicans who are fight- war with no clear end. federal dollars for the war Members of Congress have While the package was
ing to slash, not raise, feder- “For people who might be effort. Many of those Re- repeatedly pressed De- designed to last through
al outlays. As a supplemen- concerned the costs are publicans are aligning with fense Department leaders the end of the fiscal year
tal request, the package getting too high, we’d ask Trump’s objections to the on how closely the U.S. is in September, much de-
the White House is sending them what the costs — not U.S. involvement overseas. tracking its aid to Ukraine pends upon events on the
to Congress falls outside just in treasure but in blood, That means any final vote to ensure that it is not sub- ground.
the budget caps both par- perhaps even American on Ukraine aid will likely ject to fraud or ending up “We remain confident that
ties agreed to as part of blood — could be if Putin need to rely on a hefty in the wrong hands. The we’ll be able to continue to
the debt ceiling showdown subjugates Ukraine,” White coalition led by Democrats Pentagon has said it has a support Ukraine for as long
earlier this year. House national security from Biden’s party to en- “robust program” to track as it takes,” said Pentagon
Senate Majority Leader spokesman John Kirby said sure approval. the aid as it crosses the press secretary Brig. Gen.
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., this week. The funding includes anoth- border into Ukraine and to Pat Ryder.q

US suicides hit an all-time high last year

Thursday. The Centers for is complicated, and that all gun suicide rate rose last
Disease Control and Pre- recent increases might be year to an all-time high.
vention, which posted the driven by a range of fac- For the first time, the gun
numbers, has not yet cal- tors, including higher rates suicide rate among Black
culated a suicide rate for of depression and lim- teens surpassed the rate
the year, but available ited availability of mental among white teens, the re-
data suggests suicides are health services. searchers found.
more common in the U.S. But a main driver is the U.S. suicides steadily rose
than at any time since the growing availability of from the early 2000s un-
dawn of World War II. guns, said Jill Harkavy-Fried- til 2018, when the na-
“There's something wrong. man, senior vice president tional rate hit its highest
The number should not be of research at the Ameri- level since 1941. That year
going up,” said Christina can Foundation for Suicide saw about 48,300 suicide
Wilbur, a 45-year-old Flori- Prevention. deaths — or 14.2 for every
da woman whose son shot Suicide attempts involv- 100,000 Americans.
In this Nov. 20, 2015 file photo, a man walks along a trail during himself to death last year. ing guns end in death far The rate fell slightly in 2019.
sunset near Manhattan, Kan. In 2022, about 49,500 people took “My son should not have more often than those with It dropped again in 2020,
their own lives in the U.S., the highest number ever, according died,” she said. "I know it's other means, and gun sales during the first year of
to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention complicated, I really do. have boomed — placing the COVID-19 pandemic.
released on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. But we have to be able to firearms in more and more Some experts tied that to
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
do something. Something homes. a phenomenon seen in
By Mike Stobbe own lives last year in the that we're not doing. Be- A recent Johns Hopkins Uni- the early stages of wars
Associated Press U.S., the highest number cause whatever we're do- versity analysis used prelimi- and natural disasters, when
NEW YORK (AP) — About ever, according to new ing right now is not helping." nary 2022 data to calcu- people pull together and
49,500 people took their government data posted Experts caution that suicide late that the nation’s over- support each other.q