Chris Van Hollen: “I come to the Senate floor today with a sense of great disappointment--disappointment in what my colleague, the senior…”

“I come to the Senate floor today with a sense of great disappointment--disappointment in what my colleague, the senior Senator from Florida, and the Republican leader have done with the bill before us today. They have taken a bill that had broad bipartisan support--maybe unanimous bipartisan support--and tried to turn it into a political weapon. In the process, they are doing a great disservice to the American people and to all of us who value the tradition of strong, bipartisan support for our friend and ally Israel. I am a cosponsor of the original bill, S. 2497, entitled the ``United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018.'' It is a bill to codify the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Israel. It was forged under President Obama and provides Israel with $38 billion in security assistance over the next 10 years. This includes $33 billion in foreign military financing funds to Israel and $5 billion in missile defense assistance for the Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow 3. That is a lot of money when you consider the many priorities we have here at home and abroad. In fact, more than one-half of our entire global foreign military financing--the security assistance we provide to all of our partners and allies around the world--goes to Israel. In my view, that is an important investment.…”