The Senate passed a bill with Ukraine aid. Biden urges the House to do the same

NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly talks with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut about the prospect of U.S. military aid for Ukraine.

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

The U.S. Senate pulled an all-nighter last night and, just after 5 o’clock this morning, finally passed a foreign aid package that would send billions to Ukraine. A few hours later at the White House, President Biden urged the House to do the same.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: This bipartisan bill sends a clear message to Ukrainians and to our partners and to our allies around the world. America can be trusted. America can be relied upon. And America stands up for freedom. We stand strong for our allies. We never bow down to anyone and certainly not to Vladimir Putin.

KELLY: Well, leading work on this bill for months is our next guest, Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy. Senator Murphy, welcome.

CHRIS MURPHY: Thanks for having me.

KELLY: In the end, 22 Republicans voted with most Democrats to pass this bill. What was the key in getting those Republicans to vote yes?

MURPHY: Well, ultimately, I think they understand that the state of the world is at stake. I just don’t think it’s hyperbolic to talk about the stakes being nothing less than potentially World War III because if Vladimir Putin owns Ukraine, there is a real possibility he will move on to a NATO country that would drag the United States into a direct confrontation with Russia. And China would also start to move faster in their plans to take over smaller neighboring nations, potentially drawing the United States into a direct conflict with China.

So in the end, Republicans in the Senate, just enough of them, saw those stakes as being serious enough to drop their prior objections and support this funding. The question is whether the speaker of the House will bring this for a vote. I think it has the votes in the House. I’m sure it has the votes in the House to pass if he brings…