Senate to Vote on Amendment to Curtail Aid to Afghans Who Fled Taliban Rule

Politics|The Senate rejects a Republican bid to curtail assistance for Afghans who were evacuated during the U.S. withdrawal.

• Sept. 30, 2021Updated 12:42 p.m. ET

The Senate connected Thursday rejected a Republican effort to usage a spending measure needed to support the authorities unfastened past midnight to curtail assistance to Afghans who were rapidly evacuated to the United States arsenic American troops withdrew from their state past month.

The connection by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas was conscionable 1 of a bid of skirmishes implicit a measure that would widen national backing into aboriginal December and supply exigency backing for the resettlement of Afghan refugees and catastrophe recovery. The authorities is expected to walk aboriginal Thursday with bipartisan support, but first, Republicans person demanded votes connected respective projected changes.

Mr. Cotton’s connection failed connected a 50-to-50 vote, on enactment lines. Under Senate rules, a tied ballot connected a projected alteration to a measure is not capable to amend the legislation.

The amendment would person chopped disconnected assistance for things specified arsenic housing, nutrient and aesculapian benefits aft March 31, 2023 for Afghans who were granted parole to rapidly participate the United States due to the fact that of the urgent humanitarian crisis.

Mr. Cotton has argued that terminating the benefits is reasonable, considering that Afghans who received peculiar visas for helping the American subject whitethorn lone person specified benefits for 8 months.

The amendment besides would person chopped from the measure connection that would person waived definite requirements for obtaining driver’s licenses oregon recognition cards, making it easier for the Afghans to get them. Those who were granted humanitarian parole deficiency immoderate of the documentation required nether the REAL ID Act, which was created aft the Sept. 11 violent attacks to heighten information connected commercialized airlines.

His amendment besides attempted to unit the Department of Homeland Security to enactment much rapidly to process Afghan asylum applications, moving up the deadline to behaviour a archetypal interrogation with an applicant to 15 days alternatively of 45 days, and required the section to marque a determination wrong 150 days of the application’s filing.

Before the vote, Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, said the amendment would guarantee Afghan evacuees are “properly vetted.” But Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, argued the amendment was unnecessary, saying the evacuees were already being decently vetted and it simply blocked severely needed benefits for those successful dire request of help.

Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the president of the Appropriations Committee, touted the bill’s provisions to assistance Afghan evacuees successful a code connected the Senate level earlier the vote. He urged his colleagues to “strongly oppose” Mr. Cotton’s connection and different amendments offered by the Republicans, informing that accepting immoderate could dilatory down the process and effect successful a authorities shutdown.