Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I encourage my colleagues to answer the question: How can we justify appropriating America's hard-earned taxpayer dollars to a foreign military that emboldens Hezbollah in their reign of terror and hate for America? Hezbollah's influence runs rampant throughout the Lebanese Government. Even advocates of aid to the Lebanese military concede that Hezbollah's influence runs rampant throughout the Lebanese Government. What matters is not the addressee. It is the address--Hezbollah's house. Money is fungible, and we are pumping cash and hard currency into a terror haven infested with terror finance and corruption. Even those advocating to aid the Lebanese military say that this is an entity unwilling and unable to counter Hezbollah. Then why are we wasting our money? My amendment ensures that none of Americans' taxpayer dollars may be made available for the Lebanese Armed Forces. Funding to the Lebanese Armed Forces is a policy that has been in place since 2006, essentially on autopilot. Since then, the U.S. has provided more than $3 billion to the Lebanese military, supposedly to build up state institutions as a counterweight to Hezbollah, but with little to show in return. In fact, Lebanon has come more under the sway of Hezbollah and Iran today than when the U.S. began funding Lebanon's military. Hezbollah's chief Christian ally, the Free Patriotic Movement, is the political party literally in control of Lebanon's defense ministry.…”