In the vote, 210 Democrats and 101 Republicans voted for the aid. 112 Republicans, the majority, vetoed the aid package. In the party that elected Donald Trump as the US presidential candidate, some members of Congress are also seriously opposed to continued aid to Ukraine.
The Senate, the upper house of Congress, will take up the bill passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday and hold a preliminary vote on the same day. At some point next week, the package is expected to pass with a final vote and go to President Joe Biden's desk for signature.
In Saturday's extraordinary session, which delayed the House of Representatives from going into recess, voting began ahead of schedule. After the Ukraine aid was approved, the hall erupted in applause and the chairman of the session, Marc Molinaro, asked that no Ukrainian flags be waved inside.
In a powerful speech before the vote, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said, "I hope our colleagues today will choose democracy and understanding over authoritarianism and evil. Because I fear that if you choose the Putin way, you will have blood on your hands, the blood of children and the blood of mothers raped in front of them..."
Before the package was passed, Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky emphasized that his country was running low on ammunition and said that without help, "Ukraine will lose this war."
After the bill passed the House of Representatives, Zelensky thanked all supporters and said the new aid would "prevent the spread of war" and "save thousands of lives."
The bill to provide additional funding to Israel, on the other hand, easily passed the House of Representatives, with 365 votes in favor to 57 against (36 Democrats, 21 Republicans).
