Quigley Criticizes Republicans for Exclusion of Ukraine Aid from Emergency Aid Bill

Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05), Co-Chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and Ranking Member of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered remarks on the House floor during debate on H.R. 6126, Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, a $14.3 billion emergency funding bill. Quigley criticized Republicans for making the aid for Israel contingent on the exclusion of aid for Ukraine.

Not only does the bill deliberately exclude aid to Ukraine, but it also takes the unprecedented step of conditioning aid to Israel on spending reductions by rescinding $14.3 billion in funding for the Internal Revenue Service from the Inflation Reduction Act. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this policy would nearly double the cost of the emergency aid bill from $14.3 billion to $26.8 billion.

Video of Quigley’s remarks is available HERE.

A transcript of Quigley’s remarks is available below:

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when I came to this house I was told a cardinal rule is: “We are not going to let Israel became a partisan issue.” The manner in which this supplemental is moving forward does just that -- and it’s dangerous and unnecessary. It’s also a dangerous game my colleagues across the aisle are playing with our national security.

Removing Ukraine aid from this package sends a message to Putin and the rest of the world that our aid is conditional on the political climate. It’s clear that some of my colleagues have forgotten why Ukraine's fight is so important and what it means for democracy around the world. So let me remind them.

This past weekend, I traveled to Kyiv and met with President Zelenskyy. We discussed the critical role U.S. aid is playing in the war and what else they need as they head into another winter. Munitions are dwindling and their needs are increasing.

Not only is Putin certain to view the current crisis in the Middle East as a distraction from Ukraine that can be used to his advantage, antagonists in both conflicts are connected through him. Just last week, Russia hosted representatives from Hamas and Iran.

Iran is supporting both Hamas’ attacks on Israel and is believed to be assisting Putin in his assault on Ukraine. Ukraine believes that 1,000 Iranian-designed Shahed drones were used by Russia over the past six months. We do not have to choose which crisis to respond to. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, himself said, “We have the capability and the strength to address different challenges at the same time. We don’t have the luxury of choosing only one threat and one challenge.”

If we want to hold Hamas accountable, defeating Putin in Ukraine is in our best interest. Anyone who tries to argue that a choice must be made between Ukraine and the American people or Ukraine and Israel is presenting a false dilemma. We must help Israel defend itself in the face of terrorism while simultaneously supporting Ukraine in their war against an autocratic invader.

I yield back.