Israel Security Assistance Support Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, today is the 223rd day since Hamas slaughtered more than 1,200 people, including 45 Americans. More than 250 people were taken hostage, and 132 are still held, including 8 Americans.
After October 7, President Biden immediately stepped in to help the Jewish state. He traveled to Israel 11 days after the attacks, the first President to do so in wartime. He dispatched two carrier strike groups and has sent hundreds of shipments of weapons to Israel.
When Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, the U.S. worked with our allies to defeat that attack. President Biden and Secretaries Blinken and Austin have repeatedly clarified that U.S. support for Israel is ironclad, and they continue to match those words with action, this week approving another $100 billion in arms sales to Israel.
While the administration is doing everything in its power to support our allies, Republicans in Congress play politics.
In the early weeks of the Gaza war, the majority tried to condition aid to Israel on Republican cuts to IRS funding. It took fully 6 months after October 7 for Republicans to finally put the emergency security funding on the floor. It passed overwhelmingly with 366 votes. The delay was clearly partisan.
Let me be clear: It is wrong to withhold even just one shipment of weapons to Israel in its fight as it fights an existential, multifront war. It is okay for friends to disagree, but we must not send mixed signals to Israel's enemy about U.S. support for the mission to end Hamas' reign of terror over Gaza, to eliminate the threat to Israel, and to bring the hostages home.
Sadly, Speaker Johnson's approach is different. He drafted a partisan bill with no path forward. It didn't even go through the Foreign Affairs Committee, where we could have fixed it.
I can't imagine anyone in this body believes that automatically zeroing out the budget for the Departments of State and Defense and the National Security Council in the case of delayed arms is a good idea. It is a terrible, dangerous idea, and it is the reason I must vote against this bill.
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