Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which will provide Israel with desperately needed aid to respond to the horrific October 7 attacks and protect itself from Iran and its proxies.

What happened in Israel on October 7 was horrifying. On a recent trip to Israel, I saw firsthand the remnants of the violence that innocent people were subjected to, including the site of the Supernova Sukkot Gathering music festival that Hamas attacked, Kibbutz Be'eri and the homes where so many were massacred, and Hostage Square where I met with families of those taken hostage by Hamas.

The United States has not forgotten October 7. Today, we are providing the aid Israel has needed since the day Hamas terrorists killed innocent Israeli civilians in the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Just last weekend, Israel was openly and directly attacked by Iran. I applaud the role of the United States in providing Israel with support in its defense against that attack.

While we must ensure Israel can stand strong in the face of adversaries like Iran that seek its annihilation, we must also ensure that every step possible is taken to protect innocent life in Gaza and elsewhere.

On my trip, we also went to Khirbet Zanutah, a Palestinian village in the West Bank where settlers destroyed homes and a school. On the trip, we were also briefed from Gaza by humanitarian organizations, including UNRWA, which have lost hundreds of staff to the violence.

To that end, I have called for an immediate cease-fire of at least 6 weeks to facilitate the safe delivery of aid to civilians in Gaza. We must protect aid workers. We must open additional crossings to bring in at least 500 trucks a day and ensure that food is never used as a weapon of war.

Innocent families are in danger, children are starving, and civilian casualties are mounting, not just in Gaza but in conflict zones all around the world. The more than $9 billion in humanitarian support in this bill would make sure that we are not leaving Gazans, the Ukrainians, the Sudanese, the Haitians, or the Rohingya behind.

We must pass this bill and ensure Israel has the resources it needs to defend itself and that much-needed humanitarian aid can flow to millions of vulnerable people around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I urge your support, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. DeLAURO. Wasserman Schultz), the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.

Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ. Mr. Speaker, it is incomprehensible that the Israeli hostages captured on Simchat Torah are still in Hamas' captivity as we approach Passover. I rise to finally provide long overdue aid to our ally Israel as she fights to defend herself against threats on multiple fronts.

On October 7, Hamas launched a massacre that led to the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas murdered, raped, and captured Israelis, Americans, Jews, Muslims, Christians, and people from dozens of countries.

Hamas broke a cease-fire and declared war on humanity. Since that bloody day, Hamas terrorists have promised to carry out the attack again and again.

I recently visited Israel for the third time since October 7. I saw the realities of Hamas' dedication to annihilate Israel. I will never be able to unsee the images at the Nova Festival site where Hamas massacred hundreds of young people. The road leading toward the site is littered with burn marks where cars with people fleeing for their lives were burned alive on the spot. You walk into the festival site and see hundreds of memorials to the innocent victims who were murdered in cold blood.

At Kibbutz Kfar Aza, we saw homes riddled with bullet holes and burned to the ground with people still in them.

This is what Israel is up against. This is what Israel must defend against, maniacal terrorism dedicated to the destruction of not just the State of Israel but of all Jews.

Israel fights not only to destroy Hamas' Iran-backed military capabilities but to send a clear message to our adversaries who seek to erase the Jewish state: You will not be successful.

President Biden, Leader Jeffries, and Democrats have fought for months to send this critical security assistance, as well as lifesaving humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people, who are also victims of Hamas. A vote against this bill is a vote to deny that aid.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support this vital effort to help Israel in this existential battle and aid civilians, and I urge my colleagues to join me to free Gaza from Hamas. ``The people of Israel live.'' ``Am Yisrael Chai.''

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Ms. DeLAURO. Lois Frankel), who is a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this bill, which sends military aid to Israel to defend herself, protects U.S. troops in the Middle East, and provides urgently needed food and medicine to those suffering in places like Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine.

Mr. Speaker, my grandfather Abe fled Europe as the Nazis took over and murdered 6 million Jews. Today, almost one-half of the world's Jewish population, over 7 million people, live in Israel.

With calls of ``from the river to the sea,'' Iran's regime and its proxies have vowed to wipe Israel off the map. Hezbollah fires rockets. Hamas brutally attacks innocent Israelis, raping women and taking hostages. Iran sends a barrage of missiles as it builds its arsenal.

Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, Iran is not our friend either. Israel's security is our security, and without our attention and resources, the Middle East is at risk.

The funding in this bill will save lives with missile defense for our ally, protecting our troops in the Middle East, and humanitarian aid for the heartbreaking need around the world.

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Ms. DeLAURO. Manning).

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Ms. DeLAURO. Jackson Lee).

Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, we can do no less than to come to this floor today to be the America that we have been known around the world to have become, and that is a freedom-loving democracy standing for and watching our men and women go overseas, in many instances to shed their blood for others as well as the American people.

I cannot stand by while babies die and while mothers lose their babies in their wombs.

I stand today so that we can make sure that the people in Gaza continuously have the funding that is necessary and that Israel and Ukraine can stand up for others while they are fighting for democracy.

It is important to take note that our allies include Taiwan, as well.

It is important to note, as well, that the future of America is not yesterday. It is now.

Are we going to accept the challenge of being the kind of nation that does not only stand for itself but fights for others?

Let us vote for this funding bill because the war must end in peace and must end now. End the war now in peace.

Mr. Speaker, I rise here today to express my support for the National Security Supplemental package to not only help our foreign allies but to also help protect our national interests here at home.

We need to reinvigorate our industrial base and provide Ukraine and Israel with critically needed security assistance and these bills do exactly that.

This package further helps U.S. national security interests by investing in our submarine industrial base and in other systems vital to maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

We must vote to pass this supplemental package which provides over $95 billion in funding for critical bipartisan national security priorities included in the following outlined bills. H.R. 8038--21st Century Peace through Strength Act

I want to express support this bill, which contains a number of Republican and bipartisan bills that are generally related to sanctions on Russia and Iran.

And notably, the majority of the bills that make up this package passed the House under suspension of the Rules.

The Ranking Member will vote in support of H.R. 8038.

In particular, this sidecar bill includes the following:

A modified version of H.R. 4l75--REPO for Ukrainians Act which would authorize the President to seize Russian sovereIgn assets.

In addition to H.R. 7520--Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries act of 2024, which would protect Americans' sensitive personal data by prohibiting data brokers from profiting off our data by selling that data to foreign adversaries or entities controlled by foreign adversaries.

And H.R. 7521--Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Controlled Applications--Act, which further seeks to protect Americans' sensitive data from foreign adversaries by forcing the social media platform TikTok's Chinese parent company to divest or face a ban in the US.

While this is certainly a commendable effort to combat the threat of foreign adversary-controlled applications, I must also express my general support for the use of social media platforms in this digital age.

Any restrictions on the use of globally used platforms must also be done with careful consideration and protection of the incredible national and global benefits. H.R. 8036--Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024

This bill allocates $8.12 billion to counter and deter the Chinese Communist Party's involvement in the Indo-Pacific region.

Specifically, the bill allots $2 billion to the Foreign Military Financing Program (FMF) for Taiwan and other key stakeholders in the region and expands the use of FMF loans to additional countries;

$1.9 billion to replenish defensive capabilities provided to Taiwan and others in the Indo-Pacific, with an additional $542 million to strengthen U.S. military capability;

and $3.3 billion to develop and augment U.S. submarine infrastructure in the region. H.R. 8035--Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024

This bill provides a direly needed $60.84 billion to bolster Ukraine in the face of the ongoing Russian assault.

$23.2 billion of this pot will go to replenishing U.S. weapons, equipment stocks, and defensive capability expended on behalf of or sent to Ukraine, while $13.8 billion is flagged for procurement of new weapons and defensive capabilities.

$11.3 billion will also go to current U.S. military operations in the region.

Providing this aid to Ukraine is necessary and long overdue.

As we are all reminded that on February 24, 2022, Russia, under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, launched a premeditated war against Ukraine in an attack on democracy and a grave violation of international law, global peace, and security.

The war has caused Ukrainian women and children to become more vulnerable to being trafficked.

The unjust and brutal war put millions of Ukrainian women and children at risk of trafficking, millions of children have been deprived of their education and are experiencing trauma, and according to a report by Yale University, more than 6,000 children are in Russians custody.

According to a report by Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL), at least 6,000 children from Ukraine ages four months to 17 years have been held at camps and other facilities within Russia- occupied Crimea and mainland Russia since Russia's full-scale invasion began.

As reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education, over 400 schools have been destroyed and an additional 2,600 schools are damaged across Ukraine.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that 90 percent of the 5.8 million refugees who have fled Ukraine for Europe are women and children.

That is why I introduced H.R. 5800, The Oleksandr Ivanov Act.

My bill imposes financial blocking and visa sanctions on any foreign person or organization that the President or Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, determine are responsible for engaging in or facilitating the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine or for their forced assimilation, adoption, or placement in a foster Home, and engaging in or facilitating the human trafficking of Ukrainian refugees.

The Oleksandr Ivanov Act also contains a provision that requires the Department of State to submit a report on United States efforts for reintegrating Ukrainian children affected by the war--including but not limited to: supporting the rebuilding and redevelopment of the Ukrainian education system, and the implementation of mental health supports to address trauma and family separations.

Holding Russia accountable for war crimes is crucial.

There can be no impunity for these heinous crimes. H.R. 8034--Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024

This important bill appropriates $26.38 billion to support our ally Israel and provide critical global humanitarian assistance.

A combined $5.2 billion will go towards replenishing or bolstering the Iron Dome, Iron Beam, and David's Sling.

$3.5 billion is set aside for the procurement of weapons and other defensive capabilities, with an additional $4.4 billion tagged to replenish U.S. defensive reserves.

$2.4 billion will be appropriated for current U.S. military operations in the region in response to recent attacks.

And $9.2 billion is specifically held for humanitarian assistance in Gaza and around the world.

Supporting this supplemental funding is critical to help Israel protect its people against the threats it faces from Hamas and Iran and its other proxies, including Hezbollah.

This supplemental would provide urgent life-saving humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians in Gaza and vulnerable people suffering around the globe.

For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to come together and encourage the House to pass these important measures expeditiously.

This bill provides urgently needed humanitarian aid for millions of civilians who have been caught in the crossfire across many theaters, whether it is Ukraine against Russian aggression; Israel in its war against Iran and its proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis; or our Indo-Pacific partners against an adversarial China.

Innocent families are in danger today. Children are starving, and civilian casualties are mounting in conflict zones all around the world. The humanitarian support in this bill would make sure that we are not leaving these people behind.

It is, again, so critically important that the United States demonstrate its support for its allies, and its leadership when it comes to humanitarian assistance, wherever it is needed.

We come here to govern. We come here to take our responsibilities seriously, and I believe that the majority of people here do take responsibilities seriously.

Today, we have the ability to help to make a difference. In this piece of legislation, in addition to our support for our ally, Israel, we have the moral responsibility to provide humanitarian assistance. The United States cannot stand by and watch people starve to death and be caught in crossfires without our standing up and saying: ``No.''

I urge my colleagues to vote for this bill. As I said at another meeting this week, the moment has met us. We need to meet that moment

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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