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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his kind words and the words of my good friend, Ranking Member Engel. This is truly an unexpected, humbling honor. I thank both of their teams for their leadership in bringing this bill to the floor, and I thank all Members and supporters of Israel. There are so many of us in this Chamber. We have been through a lot together and the U.S.-Israel relationship is stronger because every single one of us works hard at it.
Mr. Speaker, a special thank you to my dear friend and Florida colleague, Ted Deutch, the great ranking member of our subcommittee, with whom I have had the honor of working so closely on these issues over the past 6 years. He is the author of this newly named bill and the one with that idea.
As so many know, Mr. Speaker, it has been an absolute joy for me to have been a part of this distinguished body for almost 30 years, as the chairman points out, to advocate for my constituents and to serve on our esteemed House Committee on Foreign Affairs to promote American ideals like freedom, democracy, and human rights, and to help strengthen the bonds we have with allies around the world.
No relationship, Mr. Speaker, is more important than the one that we have with the democratic Jewish State of Israel. Israel is an indispensable, strategic partner, not just for its protection of U.S. interests, but because of our shared beliefs and our shared values.
I have had the incredible honor and privilege to travel to Israel, both with the chairman, the ranking member, and Mr. Deutch. We have seen firsthand that these shared values and these shared beliefs are seen every day in Israel, after centuries of suffering, and it has allowed the Jewish people to beat all the odds and to develop a country that has become a thriving global leader.
It only gets more impressive when you consider the neighborhood where Israel is--one that has never been more dangerous and more threatening to them than it is today. The threats just keep getting tougher for Israel.
For all of these reasons, I am so proud to have authored, along with the ranking member, Mr. Deutch, this bill, because we have worked together on this and we advocated for the bill before us today.
The bill authorizes, as has been explained, additional security assistance for Israel at a minimum of $3.3 billion, the level agreed to in the memorandum of understanding, for the next 10 years.
With this bill, Mr. Speaker, we both have the comfort of knowing that our support for Israel will be ironclad, but it also provides us with the flexibility to modify that support should the threats to Israel increase. If additional support is needed, it would be given.
From drones and emerging threats to cybersecurity to space to development cooperation in other countries, this bill also includes a host of other provisions to expand our collaboration in other areas. Collaboration is an important word because, as the chair and ranking member have pointed out, this bill has been a positive, collaborative effort by many Members in a bipartisan manner.
The U.S.-Israel partnership has never been stronger than it is today. It is my sincere honor to have played a very small part in that. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this bill, in spite of its name.
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