VIDEO RELEASE: Schneider Remarks on Opposition to Partisan Israel Supplemental

WASHINGTON— Today, Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) spoke on his opposition to Speaker Johnson’s partisan Israel supplemental funding bill. Video of his remarks can be found here.

Schneider is member of the Foreign Affairs and Ways and Means Committees. He is a founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Abraham Accords Caucus. He is the cochair of the bipartisan Israel Allies Caucus, the bipartisan Congressional Hellenic Israel Alliance, and the Transatlantic Friends of Israel. He has led and introduced many pro-Israel pieces of legislation, including the bipartisan Israel Relations Normalization Act and the bipartisan DEFEND Act to oppose Iranian aggression in the region. He is a Congressionally appointed trustee on the Holocaust Museum Memorial Board.

Schneider gave the below remarks from the House Floor:  

Mr. Speaker,

I rise in opposition to this bill.

80 years ago, the greatest generation laid their lives on the line fighting for our county and the free world in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific.

Today, we are facing grave global challenges and threats not seen in decades.

The world is again looking to the United States to lead, and we must not shrink from the burdens of our responsibilities.

We are here today talking about Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security.

Israel is fighting a war for its survival and must defeat Hamas.

Hamas is a genocidal, nihilistic terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel and murder of the Jewish people.

There will not be peace for Palestinians or Israelis until Hamas can no longer rule over Gaza or threaten Israel from its borders.

It is also important to understand that Putin’s war against Ukraine cannot be separated from Hamas’s war against Israel.

Success in both wars is imperative for the interests of the United States.

We must demonstrate to our allies and our enemies that we are not just able, we are committed to supporting Israel, Ukraine, and our friends in the Indo-Pacific as they defend themselves.

Sadly, at this moment, the new Speaker of the House, and the bill he brought to the floor today are coming up woefully short.

Leaders from both sides of the aisle have long accepted three tenets in their support for Israel:

1. Support for Israel must never be a bargaining chip

2. Support for Israel is and must remain broadly bipartisan

3. Aid for Israel must never be conditioned

This bill violates all three.

Right now, Israel urgently needs our strong support.

Meanwhile, Republicans who have too long tried to use Israel as a political, partisan wedge, are now conditioning aid to Israel on the partisan demand we defund the IRS.

Reflecting the cynicism of this move, their condition for supporting Israel will not even pay for itself, but will dig our fiscal hole $27 billion deeper.

It will be far better and less costly in blood and treasure if we ensure Russia, Iran, and Hamas are defeated in their current wars than if our enemies achieve strategic victories against Ukraine and Israel, and America has to strengthen our defenses in Europe and the Middle East.

Speaker Johnson’s plan is dangerous, reckless, and irresponsible. 

It’s dangerous because it endangers Israel’s security. It’s reckless because is conditions aid to Israel for the first time. It is Irresponsible because it adds $27 billion to the national debt. 

I am fully committed to ensuring Israel gets the aid it needs as quickly as possible.

I will work with anyone, Democrat and Republican, to get this done. 

We all know the Senate will send us a robust, bipartisan package. I look forward to leading the charge making sure that package passes overwhelmingly in this House.

But I cannot support the terribly flawed, weak and dangerous bill Speaker Johnson and the Republicans have on the floor today. 

I urge all my colleagues to reject the cynical bill before us.

Earlier, Schneider released the following statement opposing the bill:

For more than 40 years I have devoted my energies to strengthening the vital, strategically important relationship between the United States and Israel.  I have done all I could to ensure Israel’s security and vibrancy as a Jewish, democratic state.  I have held faith through times of hope and moments of darkness that one day Israelis and Palestinians would come to see each other as brothers and sisters, and would recognize that both people belong to the same land.  I still believe that the ultimate path to peace lies through a negotiated two state solution, with the Jewish state of Israel living with security and prosperity next to a Palestinian state, with both fully integrated into the broader Middle East.  That is why I was so hopeful at the signing of the first Abraham Accords and I have been so dedicated to deepening and expanding these historic agreements.

There are three tenets to this work that have always been accepted by both sides of the aisle:

1.  Support for Israel must never be used as a bargaining chip

2.  Support for Israel is and must remain broadly bipartisan

3.  Aid for Israel must never be conditioned

This bill violates all three.

In my worst nightmares, I never thought I would be asked to vote for a bill cynically conditioning aid to Israel on ceding to the partisan demands of one party. I also never thought that a day would come that I would be asked to consider voting against an aid package for Israel, our most important ally in the Middle East, and maybe in the world.

Republicans, who have too long irresponsibly tried to use Israel as a political, partisan wedge, are now requiring aid to Israel be conditioned on their partisan demand to defund the IRS.

Reflecting the cynicism of this move, their condition for supporting Israel will not pay for the aid our ally desperately needs, it will actually cost American tax payers an additional $12.5 billion.

The introduction of conditions and the potential deferral or deflection of our commitments to Israel, as well as Ukraine and Taiwan, threatens not only our national interest, it also threatens our long-term fiscal health. It is far better and less costly in blood and treasure to ensure Russia, Iran, and Hamas are defeated in their current wars than it will be if they achieve strategic victories against Ukraine or Israel. We must consider the costs of the U.S. having to readjust our defensive postures to confront an emboldened Russia in Europe, an empowered Iran in the Middle East, or an overly confident China in the Indo-Pacific.

So today, in this most perilous moment, Israel urgently needs unflinching support from the United States to defeat Hamas in Gaza—a genocidal, terrorist entity backed by Iran and reinforced by Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Syria, and even the Houthis in Yemen. It needs to be bipartisan. And it needs to be unconditional.

I am fully committed to ensuring Israel gets the aid it needs as quickly as possible. I will work with anyone, Democrat and Republican, to get this done.  But I cannot support the terribly flawed, weak and dangerous bill Speaker Johnson and the Republicans have on the floor today.  I urge all my colleagues to reject this dangerous and cynical bill.

The Senate will pass a robust, bipartisan aid package.  I will lead the charge to pass that package in the House as soon as humanly possible.