William M. ``Mac'' Thornberry: “I voted for the Rohrabacher amendment to the foreign affairs authorization bill a week or so ago. I think it is…”

“I voted for the Rohrabacher amendment to the foreign affairs authorization bill a week or so ago. I think it is appropriate to use foreign aid as a carrot to try to get Russia to do what we want them to do. But the most important thing Members have to know about this amendment is it is not foreign aid. It is spending that is in our best national security interests. It is not a gift. It is money spent that will reduce the threat of nuclear weapons which could be used against us. As the gentleman has already let us know, it has been used to eliminate missiles and silos and bombers and submarines aimed against us. It is being used to tighten security on nuclear warheads which could be used against us. It tightens security on nuclear materials which could be sent to other countries, which could also be used against us. It is used to help make sure the expertise on how to build these nuclear weapons is not spread throughout the world and could be used against us. Now, which of those things is not in the national security interests of the United States? This money is spent for us, and it does not matter where else Russia sends missiles, this money is still spent for us. It is cheaper and wiser to spend money now to prevent nuclear materials from spreading throughout the world and to keep them out of the hands of terrorists and rogue nations than to deal with the consequences after they already get them.”