Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
Floor Speech
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I will be quick, but hopefully pointed.
If the Republicans had not put a poison pill on this bill, it would pass on suspension with over 400 votes, but they did not do that.
Mr. Speaker, we must provide Israel with the resources it needs to protect itself and the Israelis, a mission that I absolutely support, and we must do it now.
However, I rise in strong opposition to this legislation, the dangerous precedent it sets, and the unsettling message it sends. At any point, the majority could and should have put a bill on the floor providing crucial aid to Israel and Ukraine.
The Israel bill alone would get over 400 votes, and support for Ukraine has consistently gotten 300 votes. The new Speaker chose neither.
Instead, he has constructed a political gotcha bill. The majority tries to score political points at the expense of Jewish lives and the competence of both our allies and enemies in our resolve and reliability. They undermine the critical aid for Israel with their misguided attacks on the IRS, delaying this vital funding for our ally while adding $12.5 billion to the deficit.
That is the exact opposite of what the offset claims to be its objective. How ironic. How perverse. The only thing this bill offsets is America's reputation and the world's greatest defender of democracy. It signals to Putin, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, and other despotic regimes around the world that America may no longer be willing to pay the price of freedom. Such doubt is dangerous. It signals to our allies that our support is contingent, not on our shared values, but on partisan issues unrelated to this bill.
Vote ``no'' for Israel, and for precedent.
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Mr. HOYER. Will the gentleman yield for a colloquy?
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Scalise and I have been partners in being very, very strong supporters of Israel and making sure Israel has the funds it needs to be successful, sovereign, secure, and safe. We remain in that position.
The reason I asked the gentleman to yield is I don't know what is going to happen to this legislation. I do know that the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee has said this legislation we are considering is dead upon arrival in the Senate. I don't know whether that is the case.
I am no longer the leader, but I will tell my friend, the leader of the Republican Party, that if you would bring a bill to the floor tomorrow that has this $14.3 billion--I would like it to have Ukraine, but if it doesn't have Ukraine in it, I would like it to have humanitarian relief, but if it doesn't have humanitarian relief--I believe it would pass on suspension overwhelmingly with votes from your side and votes from this side. I would ask the gentleman to consider that alternative.
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Mr. HOYER. Will the gentleman yield for a colloquy?
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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is very generous.
The irony, as I pointed out, Mr. Speaker, is that in the pay-for that they have used, CBO scores that as a $12.5 billion increase in the debt, not a decrease. The reason for that is, it cuts $28 billion, essentially, that we would otherwise collect and that we spend $14 billion of that, so there is a net $12 billion plus remaining to add to the deficit.
I understand and I agree with the gentleman that the debt is important. We need to deal with it. I agree with his observation that our defense officials see that as a clear and present danger to our country. We need to deal with it. I suggest respectfully to the gentleman that the offset does not accomplish that objective.
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