OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027

Floor Speech

By: Al Green
By: Al Green
Date: July 15, 2026
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to including funding for Israel's military in the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Program Appropriations Act. I respectfully request that funding for Israel's military be considered through a standalone bill, allowing Members to vote separately on question.

I first made this request in December 2025, when I opposed legislation linking funding for our military with funding for Israel's military. My position has not changed. Today, I again respectfully request that funding for the Department of State and related programs not be linked to funding for Israel's military.

Accordingly, I include in the Record the text of my December 10, 2025, letter to Speaker Mike Johnson. I now believe there should be a standalone vote on all funding to Israel:

Dear Speaker Johnson, I ask that funding for our military not be linked to funding Israel's military. I support our military. I do not approve of attaching my support for our military to Israel's military. We who support our military should be allowed to do so without having to fund Israel's military. Those who support Israel's military should be able to do so in a standalone bill. I cannot in good conscience vote to authorize sending our tax dollars to a military whose prime minister has been accused by the International Criminal Court of ``the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts;'' to a military that has killed more than 70,000 thousand Palestinian men, women, and especially children in Gaza.

If my request to detach funding our military from funding Israel's military in legislation is not granted, I will oppose the legislation. While I believe Israel should have a military, I will not vote to support funding Israel's military. I make this request on behalf of myself and no one else. On some issues it is better to stand alone than not stand at all.

SincereIy, Al Green, Member of Congress, Scion of the Enslaved Africans, Sacrificed to Make America Great, Progenitor of August and August 20th as Slavery Remembrance Month and Day.

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