Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ranking Member DeLauro for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, our Nation faces two immense national security challenges, and Congress must address them both: Russia's illegal and unjust invasion of Ukraine, which threatens their territorial integrity and the security of Europe; and Israel's response to the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, which has spiraled into a regional conflict between the United States and Iranian proxies.

Tragically, three U.S. servicemembers have lost their lives in this conflict.

Our Nation and the world need decisive action from Congress. The Hamas attacks of October 7 were barbaric, and Israel does have the right to defend itself.

I have long supported missile defense priorities like Iron Dome in the Defense Appropriations bill, but this is not the way to get more aid to Israel.

The Senate and the White House do not support this action. This bill was introduced to get ahead of the Senate's bipartisan security supplemental which does address all of our national security priorities. The Republican House bill plays politics with our national security, and that is wrong. It is a nonstarter for those of us who seriously want to address these crises in a comprehensive manner.

Here is how we do that: We do provide the assistance to Israel, but it is equally as important to get more lifesaving humanitarian aid into Gaza because if we don't, then the situation for civilians will continue to deteriorate; starvation will grow, disease will spread, and Palestinian civilians, most of them children, will continue to suffer, and many will die.

Because of this, Israel's security situation will worsen if we don't do the humanitarian aid.

We need to support our national priorities around the world. Our servicemembers are working nonstop to defend commercial shipping routes and deter broader regional conflicts with Iran. They deserve our support.

We must provide additional security assistance to Ukraine. The situation there is desperate, Mr. Speaker. Ukrainian civilians will continue to be murdered, and their military faces a serious shortage of ammunition. We must remedy that.

Congress cannot afford to ignore any of these challenges because America cannot afford to ignore them.

We must lead. The Republican majority, in my opinion, is failing to do just that. If we fail here, the national security consequences we will face abroad are that we will leave both Israel and U.S. troops in the Middle East in a more dangerous position when it comes to Iranian activities; we will condemn more Palestinian civilians in Gaza to die; and we will doom the Ukrainian people to face a dark future with their democratic aspirations crushed by Putin's boot.

We will leave our European allies, who have just approved a 50- billion-euro package for Ukraine, to face a resurgent Russian military on their borders.

The majority has left us no choice but to vote ``no.''

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