Senate Passes Bipartisan Spending Bill With Key Priorities Secured By Durbin
Omnibus includes aid for Ukraine; reauthorization of VAWA; funds for Illinois; and more
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today released the following statement after the Senate passed the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus appropriations bill.
“The omnibus spending package is a testament to the incredible progress we have made in the last year and makes significant investments for Illinois. It provides more than $13 billion to the people of Ukraine fighting tooth and nail to defend their freedom. It also includes a provision I championed – the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. By reauthorizing VAWA, we are sending a message to every survivor in America that they are not alone. Now that the package has passed the Senate, I look forward to the President signing it into law as soon as possible.”
The $1.5 trillion package provides $13.6 billion in humanitarian, military, and economic support for Ukraine. Within that amount, $6 billion is provided in State and USAID humanitarian assistance; $100 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Peace aid for Ukraine; $6.5 billion in Defense spending; and $19 million for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to support targeted sanctions measures.
The omnibus will also re-authorize and modernize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a Durbin priority. The omnibus package includes a bipartisan bill that Durbin introduced last month with Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Joni Ernst (R-IA) to strengthen and modernize VAWA—which has provided a lifeline to survivors of sexual and domestic violence for nearly 30 years.
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