Political Quotes

“as sponsor of this bill, I support continuing to help the thousands of Americans fleeing the hostilities in Lebanon and returning to the safe confines of the United States. As of Sunday, July 23, 20 flights had rescued 3,890 U.S. citizens from Beirut and the surrounding area. Of those rescued Americans, hundreds received aid from the Health and Human Services, HHS, repatriation program after they arrived in the U.S., including 25 unaccompanied minors and 21 special needs cases--of which 12 were medical cases. However, under current law, there is a $1 million spending cap on this program, which is close to being reached. Without legislative action, the repatriation program will no longer be able to provide aid to Americans in need. There may be 10,000 more U.S. citizens repatriating from Lebanon in the coming days who might require assistance through this program. To make this aid available to other Americans as they arrive from Lebanon, this bill temporarily lifts the $1 million annual spending cap on the current HHS repatriation program. The Congressional Budget Office predicts this will allow about $4 million in additional spending for the thousands of Americans evacuating Lebanon. Additionally, today's action, while increasing aid, also increases program integrity and oversight.…”