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White House proposes stopgap bill with disaster aid as Congress hashes out trillions in spending

  • September 07, 2021

Whether to raise or suspend the debt ceiling is a separate issue that lawmakers are dealing with at the same time. If lawmakers are not able to raise or suspend the ceiling, seen as an unlikely outcome, the U.S. government would default for the first time ever.

As part of the stopgap bill, the White House also asked Congress to appropriate some $14 billion to address the natural disasters that occurred prior to Hurricane Ida. An administration official said Ida will significantly increase the need for further disaster response funding, by at least $10 billion.

“The Administration is committed to delivering the funding necessary to help impacted states and tribes recover from recent extreme weather events and natural disasters,” the official said. “This includes disasters from the last eighteen months — such as Hurricanes Laura and Delta — for which there are remaining unmet needs, as well as more recent and immediate needs such as those stemming from ongoing wildfires and Hurricane Ida.”

Last, the Biden administration asked Congress for $6.4 billion to assist with the relocation, security and humanitarian efforts of vulnerable Afghans recently evacuated out of the war-weary country.

“The majority of the funds are for Department of Defense and State to support processing sites overseas and in the United States as well as government transportation for our allies and partners between processing sites,” explained a Biden administration official.

“The request also includes support for continuous security screenings and humanitarian assistance through State and USAID and it includes targeted funds for HHS and State to provide Afghans in the U.S. with public health screenings and vaccinations, along with full resettlement resources and a path to enable them to build successful new lives here,” the official added.

Following President Joe Biden’s decision to fully withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Aug. 31, a move that was later mimicked by NATO, the Taliban carried out a succession of shocking battlefield gains.

Despite being vastly outnumbered by the Afghan military, which has long been assisted by U.S. and NATO coalition forces, the Taliban seized the presidential palace in Kabul on Aug. 15.

Over the course of 17 days leading up to Aug. 31, the United States alongside coalition partners rushed to airlift more than 116,000 people out of Afghanistan on cargo aircraft.

Meanwhile, governments around the world opened their borders to at-risk Afghan nationals arriving on evacuation flights.

“Today’s funding request will support the U.S. government’s overseas operations and plans for as many as 65,000 vulnerable Afghans to arrive in the United States by the end of the month,” a Biden administration official said.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/07/white-house-proposes-stopgap-spending-bill-with-disaster-aid.html

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