Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, we live with deepening crises around the world, and America's leadership is being challenged like at no other juncture in our history. You can be sure Putin is watching. Ayatollah Khamenei is watching. Are they going to see a united and strong America that shows why we are admired and why we are exceptional?

This Congress is called to respond to the crises in Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and here at home on our border, and I hoped we would be debating a bill that rose to the seriousness of these crises without delay. However, this bill fails Israel, and this bill fails the 1,400 Israelis and 36 Americans who were slaughtered in their homes and on the streets in cold blood.

Those brutal massacres recalled the Holocaust. This is a holocaust, a different kind of massacre, that demanded that Israel act against Hamas with the support of the United States.

What the House Republicans have done is unprecedented and will mean any aid to Israel will be delayed.

First, it puts a poison partisan bill that removes funding to ensure the richest Americans and corporations pay taxes. It is supposedly paid for with cuts to the IRS of $14.3 billion, which the CBO says will nearly double the cost of this bill and add $12 billion to the deficit. It furthers the Republican goal of keeping billionaires and the big corporations from paying taxes.

Second, it is conditioning an emergency appropriation. We do not condition emergency appropriations.

Understand, this is the first time we have conditioned aid to Israel. Is Israel less important than other national emergencies? Is Israel just a budget line? Is it just more fodder for the partisan wars that polarize America?

It is outrageous that a major emergency funding bill in response to the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust is tied to offsets. Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East, is reeling from a terrorist attack and urgently needs our support.

This bill tells our allies that should they find themselves in an existential war for their democracy and their freedom, we will not put aside our partisan wars.

This bill abandons Ukraine. We will not abandon Israel, and we will not abandon Ukraine, but their fortunes are linked.

Ukraine's fight for democracy and sovereignty requires decisive action and absolute support from the free world. We must act like the leaders of the free world.

This bill tells America's border communities that they cannot count on us for security or support.

Let me go to another critical part of this bill. It provides only military aid. It provides no humanitarian aid for the innocent civilians caught in the middle of this war. Are you watching the unfolding of this war and have no humanity?

Let me remind the Speaker of his colleague's nominating speech. Congresswoman Stefanik recalled ``In God We Trust'' emblazoned over the Speaker's chair. The Speaker reiterated ``In God We Trust.'' The Speaker said to look to the Bible to know his thinking, and I, too, look at my Catholic faith.

In this critical bill, we remove all help for the civilians being killed in this war.

Hamas is responsible for spreading a humanitarian crisis as it builds its armaments deep inside civilian centers, but the bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp created unacceptable civilian losses.

We need a humanitarian pause, and that is why we need a serious bill that addresses all the national security crises facing our country and that reaches for support in both parties.

House Democrats are ready to work with House Republicans on legislation that supports our allies abroad, including Israel and Ukraine; protects our national security; provides humanitarian assistance; secures our border; and makes much-needed domestic investments. House Republicans so far refuse to join us at the negotiating table.

We need to prove, as we did in the years after World War II and throughout the Cold War, that we can protect, defend, and nurture global democracy as the preeminent form of governance at the same time we serve the American people.

Our allies and the American people have no more time to wait. We must now act to defend our allies, protect civilians, and serve the American people's urgent needs. This bill does none of the above, so I urge my colleagues to withhold their support.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Kaptur), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, to remind my dear friend from Arkansas that this bill, for the first time, would condition aid to Israel, which is something we have never done before.

Thank you Ranking Member DeLauro.

Mr. Speaker, the United States faces two immense national security crises at one time.

Russia's illegal and unjust invasion of Ukraine, and Israel's military response to the barbaric Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7th.

I commend President Biden for swiftly sending a comprehensive emergency appropriations request that addresses attacks on both democracies and addresses the crisis in Israel and Gaza.

I fully believe Israel deserves support for its security after children and families were hunted down and attacked in their own homes by Hamas terrorists. At the same time our country cannot ignore the suffering of children and their families in Gaza who are in immediate danger and desperately need humanitarian assistance and a safe place to be.

That is why it is so disappointing that a fringe, extreme minority in the Republican Majority has insisted on bringing this bill to the floor.

On numerous votes, more than 300 House members on both sides of the aisle are on record supporting Ukraine's fight for freedom, along with the Senate and the President.

The Republican bill ignores the urgent need to sustain support for our NATO allies and Ukraine, effectively abandoning their democracy and their ability to protect their people against Russian aggression. Putin himself claims ``if the aid stops tomorrow. [Ukraine] will live for only a week [until] they run out of ammo.''

This bill fails to include urgently needed humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians in Gaza who are in immediate harm's way.

The situation there currently for families and children is rapidly deteriorating because countless Palestinians lack access to food, safe shelter, medical supplies, and even potable water.

Humanitarian assistance must flow faster.

All hostages must be released.

And we must work with the United Nations and regional partners on a ceasefire that every involved party is held to.

We must work together to bring the conflict to an end before it escalates further.

Until then, declared safe areas must be truly safe for innocent civilians in Gaza fleeing violence.

For the security of both Israeli and Palestinian families--the violence must stop.

Finally, this bill ignores the longstanding bipartisan precedent of providing emergency appropriations without an offset.

This so-called pay-for cuts funds from IRS tax enforcement that will only enable more tax evasion by rich tax cheats costing taxpayers money.

President Biden has alread said he will veto this ill-conceived bill.

We are wasting precious time on a bill that's dead on arrival.

Therefore, I stand in strong opposition and urge my colleagues to oppose this bill that fails to meet the moment.

We cannot let a handful of extremist MAGA Republicans dictate our foreign policy.

I yield back.

McCollum), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Defense.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Wasserman Schultz), the ranking member of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs Subcommittee.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in pain. As Florida's first Jewish Congresswoman, the debate we are having today is deeply personal. I have never felt this magnitude of agony, shock, and anger burning in the hearts of the entire Jewish community. For me, for many of us, this goes beyond our belief in the survival of the Jewish state and rises far above politics as usual.

Today should be a moment of unity for this Chamber, a time where partisan games and showmanship are put aside. The House should be voting on a simple bill to provide urgent security assistance to Israel in her battle against Hamas terrorists. This same terrorist organization that perpetrated intentional genocidal violence on Israeli civilians on October 7, who just yesterday vowed to repeat that massacre over and over again.

That is why this House should send a clean bill to the Senate. Instead, Speaker Johnson is willingly jeopardizing Israel's security by making support for Israeli existence contingent on issues totally unrelated to its security. He has taken an unprecedented step and one with potentially fatal consequences.

I have seen statements from colleagues across the aisle since October 7, ones proclaiming an ironclad commitment to Israel. I have heard their promises over the years to never condition aid to Israel. You know you have looked pro-Israel leaders in the eye and promised that you would never do that. Think about it. But here we are.

We cannot send a message to our strongest ally in the Middle East, especially in this dire hour of need that the U.S. will only support Israel if we can score political points against Democrats. We cannot hold Israel security captive as she reels with over 230 of its citizens still being held hostage. That is why last night I offered an amendment that would have eliminated this offset, which isn't an offset.

It would have eliminated the false choice Republicans are forcing upon us by tying Israeli security assistance to unrelated policy debates. Yet to my dismay, but not surprise, my colleagues across the aisle rejected my amendment, preventing it from even being voted on on the floor today. When given the chance to fix their mistake, Republicans rejected it, once more opting for political gamesmanship.

Our sole Democratic ally in the Middle East deserves better. Don't try to say you have Israel's best interest at heart if you are willing to jeopardize Israel's security in this way. The Israeli people deserve better.

``Am Yisrael Chai,'' ``The people of Israel live.''

Mr. SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to direct their remarks to the Chair.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Lois Frankel), a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am standing here as a Member of Congress because my grandfather, Abe, was able to flee Europe as the Nazis took over.

Then on October 7, it happened again. Hamas' barbaric attack on Israel was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Make no mistake, Hamas are terrorists out to kill all Jews and destroy Israel, and other enemies in the region are on the same mission.

Reaffirming Israel's right to exist, Golda Meir said: ``Jews have nowhere else to go.''

Mr. Speaker, the United States has a moral duty and national security urgency to aid Israel in defending herself. We must send an unmistakable message to the world that we stand with Israel. I hope that as this process moves forward, we will all come together to do just that.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, if the gentleman cared about what is happening to women, children, and babies, there would be humanitarian assistance in this package.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, on September 29, the gentleman who just spoke voted for a billion-dollar cut to Israel.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from New Jersey, on September 29, voted for a billion-dollar cut in aid to Israel.

Mr. GOLDMAN of New York. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I stand before you and this body as the only Member who was in Israel on October 7, hiding in a stairwell with my wife and three young kids to avoid rockets sent our way by a brutal terrorist regime. Twenty-seven days later, there are 240 hostages that remain in Gaza. My children are still traumatized, but their trauma does not compare to the trauma every single Israeli feels after the most barbaric and horrific terrorist attack targeting Jews since the Holocaust.

So to my Republican colleagues, please spare me the lectures about what is best for Israel.

Mr. Speaker, you will not find a Member of Congress who is more supportive of Israel than I am. That is why I am so personally disappointed that the House Republicans have chosen to divide us by playing political games with aid for Israel when what Israel needs desperately right now is our unified and unconditional support.

Mr. Speaker, 412 Members of this body voted last week to condemn Hamas and support Israel, but today for the first time ever, Republicans have put conditions on emergency aid to Israel in a purely political ploy designed to divide us. This is a terrible precedent for the future of Israel.

I look forward to supporting the full amount of Israel aid that is in this bill when it comes back from the Senate as soon as possible and without conditions.

Support for Israel may be a political game for my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, but this is personal for us Jews, and it is existential for the one Jewish nation in the world that is a safe haven against the rising tide of anti-Semitism across the globe.

This is a shameful effort to use Israel and the Jewish people as a political weapon.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source