Congressional Republicans are preparing to introduce legislation creating a "lend-lease" military aid program for Taiwan to ward off increased belligerence from China, Fox News
.
The bill, which is the brainchild of House GOP Rep. Michelle Steel and Sen. Marsha Blackburn, is modeled after an early 1940s program that allowed the U.S. government to bolster European Allies without having to directly enter World War II itself.
The bill would authorize the president to lend or lease weapons and military equipment to the Taiwan. In exchange, the country's government is required to repay the cost of "restoring or replacing" the borrowed weapons over a 12-year time frame.
The bill does stipulate that the White House can opt to renegotiate the repayment sum if it deems the money would take away from the national security of both Taiwan and the U.S.
The bill is already garnering bipartisan support within Congress.