00:00Madam Chair, my amendment is simple. It strikes $3.3 billion of foreign aid to the country of
00:06Israel from the State Department funding bill. You know, we've got $39.4 trillion of debt.
00:16We've got needs at home, which include our infrastructure, our roads and bridges. We've
00:22got a shortfall in that fund. We've got our locks and dams that we're perpetually trying to figure
00:26out new funding mechanisms to come up with. And we've got homeless veterans. And we're sending
00:32more money to Israel in this bill than we spend on homeless veterans in this country.
00:37Just to put it in perspective, there are 3,000 counties in this country. And if you divide that
00:44into $3 billion, that's a million dollars from every county. This is not a significant amount
00:49of money that is going overseas. So I think we should stop it. We should put them on a diet.
00:56They're the biggest welfare recipient of the United States and have been for many years.
01:03$310 billion has been received by Israel from the taxpayers of the United States. That's
01:08in inflation-adjusted dollars since we've been giving them money. And that's why I think this
01:14amendment is important. And I reserve the balance of my time.
01:18The gentleman reserves.
01:21For what purpose does the gentleman from Florida seek recognition?
01:24Madam Chairman, I rise to claim time and opposition to the gentleman's amendment.
01:28And it's recognized for five minutes.
01:31Thank you, Madam Chairman. As chairman of this subcommittee since 2023, I'm proud to be a leader
01:38in this body in providing unwavering support to our friend and ally, Israel. Especially, especially
01:45after the October 7th terrorist attack. The $3.3 billion in foreign military financing for Israel
01:54included in this bill supports American, our national security interests overseas.
02:01You see, the same terrorists and terrorist entities that threaten Israel also threaten the United
02:09States and our people directly. You see, when we give Israel the tools and capabilities to
02:17eliminate these terrorist threats and to protect their homeland, by the way, including the many
02:24Americans who visit and live there, we are making America and the American people safer.
02:30The United States and Israel have worked together on successful military operations, like those in the
02:37past year, to decimate Iran's nuclear program and missile capabilities. And Israel is also using the
02:44overwhelming, overwhelming majority of this funding to actually purchase American-made weaponry.
02:53So it actually helps our defense industrial base and our economy. And we've worked together extensively on
03:03developing military capabilities and other capabilities. Because of these advancements for our mutual interest
03:11and for our mutual security, there is currently a discussion, frankly, of moving to a new security
03:17partnership with Israel after the fiscal year 2028. Now, just to be clear, the assistance in this bill
03:24for fiscal year 2027 is under the terms of the existing MOU, Memorandum of Understanding, which runs for two more
03:33fiscal years. This does not in any way prejudge the outcome of ongoing negotiations. This is about fulfilling
03:42our commitment to one of our closest and most important allies that we have in the entire world at a
03:53time
03:53when terrorists are butchering people around the world. And we made that commitment because it makes the
04:03American people, our country, stronger. So I urge defeat of the amendment and I reserve the balance of my time.
04:15Thank you, Madam Chair. I heard a common refrain in my colleagues' arguments there that, oh, don't worry,
04:22all this money is going to the military industrial complex. Well, I've got a problem with that. That's not a
04:29sustainable economy, buying weapons and letting people use them overseas on other people, particularly
04:36oftentimes innocent civilians. And I'm not compelled by the argument that our job is to be here and enrich
04:44the military industrial complex, now called the defense industrial base. With that, I would like to yield
04:50two minutes to my friend and colleague, Mr. Castro from Texas. The gentleman is recognized. Madam Speaker,
04:57Israel does not need, and quite honestly, does not deserve more American money for weapons.
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