Lois Frankel: “It is an honor to work with Mr. Engel, Mr. Royce, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. And Mr. Poe, it has been a great pleasure and honor…”

“It is an honor to work with Mr. Engel, Mr. Royce, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. And Mr. Poe, it has been a great pleasure and honor to work with you in a bipartisan manner on our Foreign Affairs Committee. I am very proudly standing here, of course, in support of this United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, which recognizes Israel's right to defend itself and writes into law the continued cooperation between our two countries. Defending Israel is in our national security interest, as is ensuring our great friend and ally is safe. It is more important than ever, as mentioned by my colleagues here today. When you look at the region, there is reason to be worried: Hamas in Gaza, rebuilding its rocket arsenal and calling for Israel's destruction; Iran now threatening to dramatically increase its enrichment of uranium while constructing military bases in Syria; ISIS wreaking havoc in Sinai; and Hezbollah pointing 150,000 missiles at Israel. So we must continue strengthening Israel's defenses, and this important bill codifies the memorandum of understanding with Israel signed by the Obama administration, the largest U.S. military assistance package ever. The measure also expands U.S.-Israel cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including authorizing USAID to partner with Israel to aid low-income countries; by leveraging Israeli innovations in the water, food, security, energy, and global health sectors.…”