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 The legislation including the IMF reforms, loan guarantees for
Ukraine, sanctions against Russians and Ukrainians and economic aid
for the new Kiev government was passed by the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee on Wednesday.
But it failed to advance in the Senate on Thursday, after
Republicans objected to the inclusion of the IMF measure.
The Senate's failure to consider the bill on Thursday meant it will
be up for a vote only after Congress returns on March 24 from a
recess that begins on Friday. Senate approval is expected, but the
measure cannot become law without passing the Republican-led House
of Representatives, where it faces a difficult fight.
Lawmakers who back the bill blasted opponents in angry speeches on
Thursday evening.
Republican Arizona Senator John McCain said he was "embarrassed" by
members of his own party. He said passing the legislation would have
sent an important message of support to Ukraine as Russian forces
massed on its border.
"You can call yourself Republicans. That's fine, because that's your
voter registration," McCain said, hours before leaving Washington
with a congressional delegation to Ukraine.
"Don't call yourself Reagan Republicans. Ronald Reagan would never,
would never let this kind of aggression go unresponded to by the
American people," McCain said.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner had urged the Senate to pass a
House version of the bill, which backs $1 billion in loan guarantees
but does not include the other provisions of the Senate measure,
particularly the IMF funding.
"The IMF money has nothing to do with Ukraine," Boehner said at his
weekly news conference earlier on Thursday.
The Obama administration has strongly pushed the IMF reforms, but
some Republicans complain that they would cost too much and reduce
American influence at the international organization.
"LOONEY"
California Representative Howard "Buck" McKeon, the chairman of the
House Armed Services Committee, said he would strongly oppose the
package in the House, and referred to some money being reallocated
from U.S. Army programs to pay for it.
"Senator (Robert) Menendez's bill to fund reforms at the IMF on the
backs of our troops is just looney and I will strongly oppose it if
it comes to the House," McKeon said in a statement.
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Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
dismissed calls to pass only the loan guarantee. In his own
emotional speech following McCain's, he said a bill like the House
measure, without sanctions, would not punish Moscow.
"If you want to be doing something about Russia, you can't do it
with the House bill, you can only be doing it with the Senate bill,"
Menendez said.
The Obama administration has been pushing Congress for a year to
approve a shift of $63 billion from an IMF crisis fund to its
general accounts to make good on a commitment from 2010 and maintain
U.S. influence at the lender.
Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel have all pressed for the shift at
congressional hearings this week.
The Ukraine aid bill was also at risk of getting bogged down in a
raging partisan battle over campaign finance reform.
Top Senate Democrats accused Republicans of holding the Ukraine bill
hostage to help the billionaires Charles and David Koch, brothers
who bankroll independent groups that back conservative political
causes.
Some House Republicans have suggested that they would back the IMF
measure if the Obama administration ends plans to reform the way
such groups engage in political activity.
"This is hard for me to comprehend how with a clear conscience they
can say, 'Ukrainians, we probably can't help you because we are
trying to protect the Koch brothers,'" Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid told reporters, in comments dismissed by Republicans.
"And not only that," Reid added, "they are saying to the American
people that protecting the Koch brothers is more important than
protecting our country."
(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro, David Lawder and Phil
Stewart; editing by G Crosse and Cynthia Osterman)
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