Lincoln Diaz-Balart: “I thank the chairwoman for yielding and also the Speaker for bringing us to this point. Let me tell you, I am proud of…”

“I thank the chairwoman for yielding and also the Speaker for bringing us to this point. Let me tell you, I am proud of the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs portion of the bill that we are dealing with today. Let's take out a little bit of the noise and the rhetoric and let's talk about what is in the bill. It includes a 6 percent reduction from fiscal year 2023. Let's be clear, we are at a critical point in our history. One of our most important allies is in its time of greatest need, and this bill answers the call. It is the strongest pro-Israel State-Foreign Operations bill that we have ever seen. So let's talk about facts. It provides $3.3 billion in FMF, Foreign Military Financing, for Israel. Almost as important as what is funded, is what is not funded in this bill. The bill prohibits funds to UNRWA, which has become, frankly, a de facto subsidiary of Hamas. The passage of this bill means not one additional dollar from American taxpayers will fund this deeply flawed organization. But if we go to a CR, we are going to continue to fund it. The passage of this bill also prohibits funds for the anti-Semitic UN Commission of Inquiry against Israel. The passage of this bill means no funds can be used to delist the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization or to implement that infamous nuclear agreement with Iran. Another top priority, Madam Speaker, is countering Communist China.…”