Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
Floor Speech
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1160, I call up the bill (H.R. 8034) making emergency supplemental appropriations to respond to the situation in Israel and for related expenses for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer H.R. 8034, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024.
This bill provides $26.38 billion to fortify America's support of Israeli allies and defend our troops in the region.
It is part of a larger package of three security supplemental appropriations acts before us for Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo- Pacific. All three are essential to deter our adversaries.
There are moments when our actions are optional, a convenience but not a necessity, a choice. This is not one of those moments.
The world is in chaos. Americans have been killed, and our allies and partners are dying on the front lines every day.
Ukraine is entering its third year of a war to repel Russia's invasion while forced to conserve their munitions and choose which areas to defend. Israel is avenging its innocent civilians who were murdered, raped, brutalized, and taken hostage by Hamas while defending its country from a barrage of Iranian missiles. Indo-Pacific nations face China daily with strength and resolve, knowing they are likely next.
The United States is not on the sidelines in these conflicts. Our servicemembers are under daily attack in the Red Sea, standing watch along NATO's eastern flank and being routinely challenged in the Indo- Pacific. Mr. Speaker, five American flag-draped coffins have returned home in the past 6 months.
When we go to war, we go to war with what we have. There is no time to forge new alliances, no ability to reconstruct abandoned production lines, and no hidden reserve of fully trained and ready troops.
This is the situation our allies and partners in Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and other Indo-Pacific nations face today. It is a situation we ourselves may face sooner than we think.
Xi, Putin, Khamenei, and terrorist leaders will not back down unless met with a strong and resolute America, standing shoulder to shoulder with our constellation of allies and partners. These bills provide the funding necessary to defeat and deter our enemies.
While the bills carry the names of other countries, there is one Nation that I care about above all others. That is ours. These conflicts have exposed the fragility of our defense industrial base and the dire need to invest in factories, shipyards, and assembly lines that manufacture the instruments of our national defense.
In recognition of this fact, over $59 billion across these bills go into our defense industrial base, including $3.3 billion to supercharge our submarine industrial base; $29.5 billion to replenish our stocks of U.S. defense systems and services provided to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan; and $1.13 billion to expand procurement and development of artillery and critical munitions.
Each conflict has its unique needs addressed in these bills, including: $5.2 billion to replenish Israel's Iron Dome and David's Sling and procure Iron Beam missile defense systems; $542 million for unfunded priorities expressly requested by the USINDOPACOM commander; and $13.8 billion directly to procure U.S. capabilities for Ukraine.
Our servicemen and servicewomen across the globe are being tasked to operate at a wartime tempo to track, respond, and engage emerging threats. These bills provide the resources necessary to support their operations with $11.3 billion for current U.S. operations in Europe and $2.4 billion for our forces in the Middle East who are under daily attack.
Mr. Speaker, we have been complacent far too long as our allies and partners and our own servicemembers have been under attack. This Congress has a solemn obligation to our military to provide them with the resources they need to deter and win our Nation's wars.
Douglas MacArthur once said: ``The history of the failure of war can almost be summed up in two words: too late.''
When conflict occurs, we will fight with what we have and who is with us.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on these bills to ensure our military readiness and reinvigorate the American defense industry.
I encourage them to vote ``yes'' to reinforce our Israeli, Ukrainian, Taiwanese, and Indo-Pacific allies and partners.
I encourage them to vote ``yes'' so that future generations may write of what we did here today: They weren't too late.
Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8034, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024.
This bill will ensure that Israel has the means to defeat its enemies and defend its people. This legislation also sends a signal to Iran and its proxies that the United States stands with its allies and partners in the Middle East and will remain a strong presence in the region.
I also urge support for the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024. Ukraine is fighting for its life every day against Vladimir Putin. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, Putin is seeking to extend his control over Central and Eastern Europe, including nations that are now NATO allies. He does not recognize national sovereignty or borders. Putin is deepening his ties with Iran.
These bills are not only for the security and preservation of Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan but also for continued American leadership on the world stage. We must stand together with our allies and partners and against authoritarianism.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, the United States must make absolutely clear in both word and deed, not just today but every day, and without equivocation that we stand with Israel.
Both defensive weapons systems like Iron Dome and David's Sling and all necessary offensive military capabilities must be conveyed without delay to Israel for as long as it takes to defeat Hamas and deter Iran, Hezbollah, and other radical Islamists.
Of significance, H.R. 8034 prohibits aid to Gaza from flowing through UNRWA, an anti-Semitic and disgraceful organization that teaches Palestinian children to hate Jews and glorifies suicidal martyrdom and the evisceration of Israel as a state.
UNRWA is a child soldier factory that we have funded for decades. Twenty-one years ago on this floor, in 2003, I offered an amendment that passed the House to defund UNRWA. The Senate never acted. A few weeks ago, the Foreign Affairs Committee passed my bill to stop UNRWA funding.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my friends for bringing this bill to the floor. It defunds UNRWA.
Israel has an absolute right to exist free from aggression and anti- Semitic hate.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, we are in a war we didn't choose. Dictators with rule of gun are invading democracies with rule of law.
We see this with the invasion by Putin, but I am really grateful to see the bipartisanship here today.
Donald Trump established the Embassy in Jerusalem. He stood with Israel. He sent Javelin missiles to stop Putin in Ukraine. He put American troops in Poland to stop war criminal Putin. It was Donald Trump who tried to stop Nord Stream 2, which finances the oppression by Putin of the people of Russia, leading to the assassination of Alexei Navalny.
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Mr. CALVERT. Mr. Speaker, in closing, this is a day we are going to act. I urge all my colleagues to support these critical national security bills. They provide the resources necessary to bolster our military, reassure our allies and partners, and commit to stand against tyranny.
The world is waiting, watching, and wanting America to lead. This is our moment.
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