Motion to Discharge

Floor Speech

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Mr. PAUL. In fact, I have offered a proposal to fund the Iron Dome with $1 billion that should be paid for, though. We are facing a $30 trillion debt. We borrow $2 million a minute. Inflation is rising. They are wanting to pile more debt upon our country. So, if we are going to help our ally Israel, I think we need to be strong to do it, we need to be not piling on debt without consequences, and this should be paid for.

There is a very easy pay-for that I have proposed. There is $6 billion left in a reconstruction fund for the Afghan national government. Well, the Afghan national government no longer exists. In the haste to leave, the Biden administration has let the Taliban overrun the country.

So I asked the other day, in committee, of Secretary Blinken: This $6 billion, are you planning on giving it to the Taliban?

And he said: Well, it depends on whether they fulfill their commitments.

To me, that sounds like a pretty big ``if,'' but if the Biden administration says that they fulfill their commitment and expectations, the understanding is the Biden administration is going to give $6 billion to the Taliban.

So, not only do they let them take $80 billion of equipment, not only did we leave in complete disarray, Democrats now want to say: Oh, we have got to keep this money because we have to give it to the Taliban.

That is obscene.

We should immediately rescind all of that money. If you want to give money to Afghanistan, let's vote on it again. But you gave the money to the previous government, and now you want to give the money to the Taliban, which has overrun the country. It is a disgrace. The Taliban shouldn't get a penny. And we should pay for things, even for things that we are trying to give to allies.

So I have a proposal before the desk. My proposal says to fully fund the $1 billion for the Iron Dome project. Fully fund it. We have already given billions for it. We are willing to give $1 billion more, but we are going to pay for it by not giving money to the Taliban. So it is a pretty easy sort of list. We asked every Senator on the Republican side if they objected to this, and not one Republican objected to this. So the reason the Iron Dome is being held up is because the Democrats are objecting to its being paid for.

I am here today to support the Iron Dome. I am giving a proposal that would give them their $1 billion right now. It could happen today. All I ask is that it be paid for with money that has already been appropriated and that is, in all likelihood, going to be given to the Taliban if we don't take it away now. I think it is a very reasonable proposal.

I am disappointed that the Democrats are objecting to Iron Dome today. It is a disappointment that they are against paying for it with a fund that is already out there, and that they so much love the idea of giving the money to the Taliban that they are going to insist on blocking Iron Dome funding because they are insistent on ``No, no, we can't get rid of the $6 billion because, if the Taliban behaves, we are going to give it to them.''

Look, I don't care if the Taliban behaves. I wouldn't give them a penny. There are other ways of trying to have a diplomatic relationship other than giving money to people. People think that somehow, if the Taliban behaves, we have got to give them money? I think that is a crazy notion.

So, without question, I will object.

I ask the Senator to modify his request so that, instead of his proposal and as in legislative session, the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 140, H.R. 5323; further, that the only amendment in order be my substitute amendment, which is at the desk. I further ask that there be 2 hours of debate, equally divided between the two leaders, and that upon the use or yielding back of that time, the Paul substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to; that the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time, and that the Senate vote on passage of the bill, as amended, with no intervening action or debate.

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Mr. PAUL. I think it is important that we do support our allies. I am in support of the Iron Dome funding, but I think, at the very least, it should be paid for. We have offered them various permutations of this--either the entire $6 billion from the Afghan reconstruction fund or $1 billion. We have offered them other alternatives to look at other funding in government that already exists to see if we could pay for this.

So the real reluctance is on the Democrats' part to pay for aid, and the thing is that we can't just blindly keep giving money away without repercussions. We are $30 trillion in debt.

So I am disappointed today that the Democrats will block the Iron Dome funding as paid for, and I do object to the underlying proposition.

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Mr. PAUL. Women will no longer be participating in the government.

It is really just unconscionable that Democrats insist that money be there to give to the Taliban.

Any person who believes and truly believes that the Taliban is a menace to women's rights and to women in a civilized world should join me in saying: We should make sure that no money ever goes to the Taliban.

When Secretary Blinken was asked about this, he said that if there is cooperation and if they meet expectations, the $6 billion--and some say up to $10 billion--available for the previous government will be given to the Taliban, who violently overthrew this government.

We are asking something very simple. We could fund Iron Dome today. Make sure that everybody who listens to this understands. This is being blocked by Democrats who don't want to pay for it.

We have a proposal that would have proposed $1 billion today for Iron Dome, but it would have been paid for by taking money out of an account that has been allocated and that Secretary Blinken has indicated he will give to the Taliban if they behave.

So I think it is a real problem, and it is a problem of this body that the cavalier nature of just letting our country pile on $30 trillion of debt. You ask how we got here. We got here $1 billion at a time.

So rarely do we have an episode or a time where we can object. You know, I would object to a trillion if it were on the floor. I would object to $50 billion on the floor.

But the billion dollars ought to be paid for. And there are so many pay-fors. But this is why government grows by leaps and bounds and becomes more and more wasteful over time.

So I do object.

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