President Biden Signs National Security Supplemental Funding Package into Law
The Senate passed, and President Biden signed into law, the national security supplemental funding package (H.R. 815). The bill provides $67.3 billion for the Department of Defense to allocate funds related to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region.
H.R. 815 includes an additional $1 billion in humanitarian aid. In response to the passage of the bill, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power issued a statement saying, “these additional resources allow USAID to continue to maintain life-saving assistance for people in need in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti, Afghanistan, and beyond… USAID will continue to provide critical food and nutrition assistance in places like Gaza and Sudan, where famine looms, as well as life-saving medicines, water, protection, temporary shelter, and more."
Prior to the passage of the H.R. 815, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) joined a group of faith-based organizations in writing a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson urging Congress to add “life-saving humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza as well as humanitarian and refugee assistance for other areas facing wars and famine” to the bill.
According to the USAID, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance continues to rise, reaching nearly 300 million this year, an increase of more than 25 million people from 2022. NCC will continue to advocate for efforts to reduce suffering around the world and provide food, shelter, health care, water, and sanitation to those affected by disasters such as war.
Biden Administration Delays Proposed Rule to Ban Menthol Cigarettes
Today, the Biden Administration further delayed a proposed rule to ban menthol cigarettes to the dismay of several public health, anti-tobacco, and civil rights groups. The rule would ban the use of menthol as a specialty flavor in cigarettes, which could make smoking less appealing and save lives. Feedback received during the public comment period was almost evenly split between support and opposition to the rule.
In a statement released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Xavier Becerra said, “This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement. It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time.”
Smoking and secondhand smoke kills thousands of Americans each year. Black people account for the vast majority of menthol-related deaths — nearly half, at 41% — even though they make up less than 15% of the population. NCC will continue to monitor this issue.
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