Lincoln Diaz-Balart: “We use the term ``my friend'' all the time here, but I will tell you that the gentleman from Arizona and I are friends.…”

“We use the term ``my friend'' all the time here, but I will tell you that the gentleman from Arizona and I are friends. I have great respect for him, but I do have to claim the time in opposition. Congress recently provided $1.6 billion in foreign military financing for Ukraine--not in this bill; that was already done--and other countries impacted by the situation in Ukraine. {time} 1830 While foreign military financing funds in this bill are not designated for Ukraine--there aren't any--let me tell you why I still respectfully have to stand in opposition. I think this sends a pretty bad message during a time of active war. I think it would be a monumental mistake, potentially emboldening our enemies, including Russia, and send a dangerous signal of United States' weakness, something that, unfortunately, this administration does every single day, and a lack of resolve to others around the world, including potentially Communist China and other adversaries. I will also note that House Republicans successfully secured language in the fiscal year 2024 State and Foreign Operations bill that brings unprecedented transparency and oversight requirements on all assistance going to Ukraine, which I think is a very important thing to do, and I think all of us agree with that. I want to repeat: There are no FMF funds in this bill for Ukraine. The only FMF we have in this bill goes to other key partners, and I mentioned that, like Taiwan.…”