The American leader noted that this issue causes disagreements in WashingtonWASHINGTON, November 29.
/tass/. The provision of further financial assistance to Ukraine has become a divisive issue in Washington, but the US administration intends to work with the US Congress to continue appropriations in the interests of Kiev. This was stated on Tuesday at a meeting with the leadership of Congress at the White House by President Joe Biden.
"We will work together - I hope we will work together - to provide funding for the government's activities, [including on such lines as] covid and the war in Ukraine. All these are controversial, but important issues," the head of the Washington administration said.
The meeting was devoted to the legislative priorities of the American government until the end of this year. At the beginning of 2023, the Congress of the next convocation will begin its work, the majority in the House of Representatives of which will be in the opposition represented by the Republican Party. We are talking about the lower house of Congress. In the Congress of the current convocation, the Democrats, whose ranks include Biden, retain control over both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Some Republicans, on the eve of the midterm elections in the United States on November 8 and after them, repeatedly warned of their intention to seek closer consideration of the expediency of further providing the authorities in Kiev with multibillion-dollar American financial assistance. Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican faction in the House of Representatives, spoke from such positions, among others. In the next Congress, he is expected to take the post of Speaker of the House of Representatives.
At the same time, Biden stressed at the meeting that he considers as a key problem not the achievement of consensus on assistance to Ukraine, but the prevention of a strike in the United States by workers of the railway transport system. "I asked four key congressional leaders to come and talk about what we will be doing in terms of legislative activity before Christmas. There is a lot to be done, including the settlement of the situation around the [possible] strike of railway workers. <...> I believe that Congress should act to prevent it. The task is difficult, but I think we should achieve it. There is a risk for [the entire] economy [of the United States]," the president said.
Threat of a strike
Earlier, one of the largest unions of American railroad workers, SMART, voted against a preliminary agreement with industry companies concluded in September with the mediation of the Biden administration. According to the Association of American Railroads, the economic consequences of the strike will be far-reaching and devastating for many Americans, since the industry is more than 1 million jobs, and the downtime of trains can lead to daily losses of $2 billion.
If the dispute cannot be resolved, the first strike in almost three decades could engulf American rail transport. Trade unions demand better working conditions, higher wages. In their opinion, working conditions on railway lines do not adequately take into account the interests of workers. Currently, 7 out of 12 railway workers' unions have approved the agreements, but the largest associations have spoken out against it.
As The Washington Post noted, the strike may begin on December 5, it will, among other things, jeopardize the supply of coal and the supply of drinking water to the country, as well as stop passenger transportation and shipment of goods on the eve of the holidays.
