DeLauro Floor Remarks on House Republican Israel-Only Funding Bill: “We should reject this unserious effort.”

WASHINGTON — House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) delivered the following remarks on the House floor:

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

One hundred twenty-two days ago, Hamas terrorists murdered over 1,000 Israelis and at least 30 Americans in cold blood – and took hundreds hostage in the worst attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

President Biden’s supplemental funding request for Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, and for our border has gone all but completely unanswered by this historic do-nothing majority. For months, our colleagues in the majority insisted that any foreign assistance bill must include border policy changes. So spoke Speaker Johnson at the White House several months ago. He said we needed a bipartisan border security agreement that would unlock the door for funds for foreign assistance.

Yet Republicans have rejected a bipartisan bill that would accomplish exactly what they have asked for. While declaring that bill ‘dead on arrival’ in the House, the majority has opted to consider a bill that we know the President will veto. This is a political stunt that makes it less likely that Israel gets its funds while endangering U.S. national security. This accomplishes nothing, and delays aid getting out to our allies and providing humanitarian relief. Our allies cannot wait, our border communities cannot wait, our cities cannot wait.

I wholeheartedly support funding for Israel. I have written aid to Israel supplemental appropriations over the last several years. However, I cannot support this bill, which falls dangerously short of what this moment calls for. Our allies are facing existential threats, and our friends and foes around the globe are watching, waiting to see how America will respond. Putin is watching. Xi is watching. Ayatollah Khamenei is watching. Russia, China, and Iran are watching. And our allies are watching.

This bill does not provide a penny in humanitarian assistance. We cannot abandon the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of these conflicts, particularly in Gaza. The costs of Hamas’s rule over Gaza and war against Israel are borne by innocent Palestinians. Israel’s harsh response has raised these costs further. Families, children, are facing unthinkable circumstances – millions facing starvation – because of this conflict. No one with clear eyes would say otherwise.

Furthermore, if this bill were to become law, there is no path to support Ukraine. We are witnessing the first land war in Europe in a generation – and through inaction, this Congress risks handing a sovereign nation over to a ruthless autocrat, jeopardizing U.S. national security. Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine. If he overtakes Ukraine and moves against a NATO ally, we will see U.S. troops in a ground war.

If we do not provide Ukraine with what they need, the ultimate legacy of the 118th Congress will be the appeasement of a dictator, and the destruction of a free nation. Our allies and our enemies, in Europe and around the globe, will know that the United States is no longer a trusted partner in the security of the free world.

Yet, we know that a supermajority of this body supports Ukraine. There are unquestionably more than 218 votes in the House for a supplemental appropriations bill that includes Israel, humanitarian, Ukraine, and Indo-Pacific assistance.

Yet House Republicans are refusing to take that path. The Senate bill acts now to address the border that is in crisis. The status quo is unacceptable, but Republicans say “no” to moving forward. We should reject this unserious effort, this political ploy, and insist on a bipartisan product that supports our allies and protects the integrity of our border.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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