Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of en bloc Amendment No. 1 which includes my amendments number 16 to the State and Foreign Operations division and number 123 to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs division of the bill.

The first of these would provide an additional $1.5 million for counterterrorisrn financing. Our nation is facing unprecedented international challenges including an out-of-control pandemic, a global economic slowdown due to the coronavirus, and stepped up efforts by authoritarian governments to undermine democratic institutions both here and around the world.

Unfortunately, these new trials do not diminish the importance of other critical longstanding challenges we have been tackling, including the threat of extremist groups and their terrorist tactics. Indeed, some groups have been trying to take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to bolster their agendas and attract more recruits.

As Chairman of the Oversight National Security Subcommittee and Co- Chair of the Task Force on Terrorism and Proliferation Financing, I have seen how money is a lifeline for these groups. Cutting off financing is key to thwarting their efforts, and the best way to do that is by working with our allies. This additional funding will allow us to work even more closely with even more nations to starve these extremists of the capital they need to disseminate their agenda and carry out terror attacks.

My second amendment, number 123, would provide an additional $1.5 million for veterans' suicide prevention through the PREVENTS initiative. We are still seeing a suicide rate among our veterans that is unacceptably and tragically high at one-and-a-half times that of civilians. with women veterans twice as likely to die by suicide as their civilian counterparts.

I chaired a National Security Subcommittee hearing last May examining veteran and active-duty military suicides, as well as efforts by the Department of Defense ( DOD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to combat this problem. The testimony highlighted the need for comprehensive solutions that span the DOD and the VA, with a focus on high quality healthcare, provider training and education, and access to services and resources.

Both the DOD and VA have made significant efforts to provide more services and outreach to prevent suicides among our servicemembers and veterans, but there is always much more that can be done. This additional funding will support public-private partnerships designed to provide greater access to the vital help that can save the lives of our brave men and women after they leave the military.

I would like to thank Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking member Granger for including these amendments in this en bloc.

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of en bloc Amendment No. 2 which includes my amendment number 17 to the State and Foreign Operations division to provide an additional $5 million for U.S. demining activities.

Mr. Speaker, antipersonnel landmines continue to injure and kill thousands of men. women. and children every year. These devices arc indiscriminate and can explode years or even decades after wars are ended and peace agreements are signed. All it takes is for a car to pass or a person to walk over the wrong place at the wrong time to devastate a life and a family.

Thankfully, there are a number of humanitarian organizations that arc working tirelessly to find and safely remove these explosives. Unfortunately, despite their valiant efforts, there still remain many more antipersonnel landmines to be found and neutralized. I have had the opportunity to examine the impact of landmines in places like Lebanon, Somalia and Egypt, and believe that the United States has a moral obligation to do all it can to support demining efforts, and that is why I sought this increase.

I was proud to work with the Appropriations Committee in 2006 to get an increase of $10 million to the State Department's Humanitarian Demining account and am grateful that it has accepted my amendment for an increase of $5 million to this year's appropriations bill. This additional funding will save countless more lives and spare thousands from having to live with devastating injuries.

I would like to thank Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking member Granger for including this amendment in the en bloc.

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