Eliot Engel

To act horrified about the changes that are being made to Medicare Advantage now after voting to support them for years strikes me as being disingenuous.

The ACA did not make any cuts to the benefits guaranteed to all Americans over the age of 65.

My entire career is just representing mostly low- and moderate-income Medicare beneficiaries and protecting Medicare.

I think we all understand the urgency of the moment and the necessity of joining our international--joining an international response to the clear act of Russian aggression.

I really think that the playing field has not been leveled and we create obstacles to having these countries join with us to look westward rather than eastward.

Russia has exerted intense pressure, especially economically, on Ukraine in the past and my fear is that Ukraine can expect more pressure in the months ahead.

The democratic transition that has occurred in Ukraine is an expression of will of the Ukrainian people. It is not about the United States. It is not about Russia.

House Resolution 447... sent a powerful message that the American people stand wholly and unequivocally with the people of Ukraine in their hour of need.

But we must remember that the purpose of our pressure on Russia is not simply to punish aggression and certainly it is not to escalate the confrontation, but instead to move Putin toward a resolution that protects the territorial integrity…

I think it is a good compromise.

I think that this strikes a good balance. It talks about reducing Russian control of energy exports.

In closing, let me again say that this is another example of bipartisan cooperation on the Foreign Affairs Committee. I want to again thank Chairman Royce for being such a great partner in ensuring that important legislation like this…

It is now my pleasure to yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Deutch).

It is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Wasserman Schultz).

I believe this bill supports their entrepreneurial spirit.

This bill begins to tackle these challenges in a comprehensive way.

Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most energy-deficient regions of the world with nearly 70 percent of the population lacking access to electricity.

I am very pleased and honored to be the lead Democratic cosponsor of this bipartisan legislation which addresses a critically important issue.

I want to continue to urge my colleagues to support the resolution. As anyone can see, this is a very bipartisan resolution. It is very important. I yield back the balance of my time.

I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell), a very distinguished member of both the Budget and Ways and Means Committees and a member of the Ukrainian Caucus as well.

I just want to make one final comment and that it's--it was my opinion when the chairman and I met with Mr. Maliki that he was a good listener but I didn't think he provided too much in terms of answers to the questions we had, one of…

When I look back at the war in Iraq, what really breaks my heart is that we lost so many Americans, so much American blood, and now it's almost as if we didn't do anything.

I appreciate the close collaboration that we have working on this and so many other issues on this committee.

This is a point that Ranking Member Eliot Engel and myself raised and underscored with President Maliki when he visited Washington last fall.

I strongly support H.R. 938, the Israel Strategic Partnership Act. Israel is one of our closest and most reliable allies.