On the recordSeptember 7, 2017
I want to thank the gentleman from Florida for raising this important issue. The plight of religious and ethnic minorities persecuted by ISIS has been, and remains, a priority for this committee, including the need for psychosocial support services to those affected by the crisis. That is why ample funding has been provided to assist communities affected by ISIS, including persecuted religious and ethnic minorities. The fiscal year 2017 Security Assistance Appropriations Act provided over $1 billion for programs to counter ISIS and address the needs of those affected by ISIS. Funding was also provided in the fiscal year 2017 regular appropriations bill. Finally, we included language on this very issue in the fiscal year 2018 bill, including designating $10 million for programs to protect vulnerable and persecuted religious minorities. The amendment, however, would reduce the Foreign Military Financing account by more than $70 million. This account funds our friends and allies like Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Colombia, Ukraine. The President's budget request proposed deep cuts to this account, which we clearly rejected in the committee mark. In short, we have already addressed the gentleman's concerns, and I cannot support such a large cut to security assistance. Mr. Chair, I urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.
