Rodney Frelinghuysen: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I want to make it clear that we are not giving any funds and assistance…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, I want to make it clear that we are not giving any funds and assistance to the Governments of Iran and Syria. When and if the chemical weapons leave Syria, there may be a third party that we are assisting in terms of getting those chemical weapons out of the region, which I think is a good idea. We are not supporting the Assad regime, I can assure you, and we are certainly not supporting what has been happening in Iran over the last decade. I do support the continuation of the United States' participation in the Middle East peace efforts. I think we need some progress, and I think this amendment would send the wrong signal to our commitment to that process and would undermine that which we are trying to bring-- lasting peace to the area. I think it would be ill-advised, but I can assure you that we are not sending any money to Syria and Iran, so I oppose the amendment.”