[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 175 (Wednesday, December 11, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7650-H7653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ISRAEL QME ENHANCEMENT ACT
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill
(H.R. 1992) to amend the requirements relating to assessment of
Israel's qualitative military edge over military threats, and for other
purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1992
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Israel QME Enhancement
Act''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO ASSESSMENT OF
ISRAEL'S QUALITATIVE MILITARY EDGE OVER
MILITARY THREATS.
(a) Assessment Required; Reports.--Section 201 of Public
Law 110-429 (122 Stat. 4843; 22 U.S.C. 2776 note) is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a), by striking ``an ongoing basis'' and
inserting ``a biennial basis''; and
(2) in subsection (c)(2)--
(A) in the heading, by striking ``Quadrennial'' and
inserting ``Biennial''; and
(B) in the text, by striking ``Not later than four years
after the date on which the President transmits the initial
report under paragraph (1), and every four years
thereafter,'' and inserting ``Not later than one year after
the date of the enactment of the Israel QME Enhancement Act,
and biennially thereafter,''.
(b) Report.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 90 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall
submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
on--
(A) the range of cyber and asymmetric threats posed to
Israel by state and non-state actors; and
(B) the joint efforts of the United States and Israel to
address the threats identified in subparagraph (A).
(2) Form.--The report required under paragraph (1) shall be
submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified
annex.
(3) Appropriate congressional committees defined.--In this
subsection, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to add
any extraneous material to the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Let me begin by thanking both the gentleman from Georgia (Mr.
Collins) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider) for their
leadership and for their foresight in authoring this very important
measure.
In shepherding this legislation through the committee, I was again
reminded of the shared commitment of Members of both parties to come
together to promote Israel's security. It is an example of
bipartisanship at its best.
The United States' commitment to Israel rests on the assurance that
the U.S., through a combination of Foreign Military Financing, the
joint cooperative development of weapons systems and other measures,
will ensure that Israel upholds its qualitative military edge. The
standard definition of that is ensuring Israel's ability to counter and
defeat credible military threats from any individual state or coalition
of states or nonstate actors, and with the growing threat to Israel
throughout the region--from the prospect of a nuclear Iran to an
ascendant Hezbollah and widespread regional instability--Israel's
retention of its QME is critical to its existence.
I had a chance to see this firsthand in 2006 during the second
Lebanon war, which I, frankly, think should be called the ``Hezbollah
war.'' Hezbollah was raining down rockets manufactured originally in
Iran and Syria on a daily basis on Haifa. When I was in Haifa, I
watched those rockets come in, and
[[Page H7651]]
they were being aimed at civilian neighborhoods. They were also being
aimed at the hospital there. On one trip, I went down to the hospital
to see the results.
Haifa is a very cosmopolitan city as one-third of Haifa is Israeli
Jews, another third is Arab Israelis, another third is Druze and other
minorities. The people in that city faced a constant bombardment for 30
days. While we were there, we had an opportunity to talk to some of the
families, to some of the survivors--600 civilian victims from that
attack in that trauma hospital. They told us how those missiles
manufactured in Iran--this was before the invention of the Iron Dome,
so there was no defense to this--would come into the civilian
neighborhoods--90,000 ball bearings--and they would just go through the
walls, through cars, through a shop. This is what led, basically, to a
siege-like setting in which families were underground; but as they
would try to come up at some point, they would be spotted from the
other side, from the border, and once again, Hezbollah would try to hit
that family, to hit that township.
This is what Haifa was going through. It is a reminder of the threat
that Israel needs the best technology to combat these and other
terrorist attacks. It is a relief that now Israel does have the Iron
Dome, that there is warning, that there is the ability of some type of
response other than the type of counterbattery work that we saw as they
were trying to silence those rockets, which were never silenced, which
came in for 30 days.
In 2008, Congress required the President to assess on an ongoing
basis the extent to which Israel possesses a qualitative military edge
over the threats that are arrayed against it. Those threats are all too
real. Currently, the assessment is done every 4 years. Currently, it
focuses only on the conventional military threats to Israel. This bill
would require that Congress receive that assessment on a timely basis,
at least every 2 years. It would also require the administration to
specify a separate onetime report integrating cyber and asymmetric
threats to Israel into this overall security assistance framework. This
is very important given the new types of terror--suicide bombings and
the rest of it and cyber warfare--that are being developed on either
side of the border from Hamas to Hezbollah.
These provisions will provide Congress critical information that it
requires in a timely manner to assess Israel's security requirements as
Israel tries to deal with everything from the threat in Iran to all of
the other terrorist organizations that are proxies for Iran. It also
sends the right message at the right time to our mutual friends and
foes alike that the United States and Israel stand together.
So I strongly support the immediate passage. I thank, again, Mr.
Schneider and Mr. Collins for their good work.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise in strong support of H.R. 1992, the Israel Qualitative
Military Edge Enhancement Act.
I want to thank the chairman and the ranking member for working so
diligently with my office, and I want to thank Congressman Doug Collins
for bringing this important legislation before the House floor. I want
to personally thank my friend and colleague Mr. Collins for all of the
work he has done and that we have done together to make sure this bill
becomes a reality.
Israel stands at an historic juncture. In a very dangerous
neighborhood, Israel must have the capabilities to deal with a broad
spectrum of potential conventional and asymmetric threats. With the
United States negotiating with Iran over its nuclear weapons program,
it is vitally important that we continue to give Israel all of the
tools necessary to address a growing list of threats. That is why
Representative Collins and I have introduced this important and timely
bill--to help further safeguard the technological edge Israel has in
defending herself and in safeguarding human life for all of her
citizens.
This bill expands upon existing requirements that the United States
aid Israel in developing defense-capable systems for safeguarding the
Israeli homeland against conventional and asymmetrical threats.
Previously, this cooperation has resulted in the highly successful Iron
Dome system along with the continued development of the Arrow and the
David's Sling series of military hardware.
Despite this capability, Israel now faces the threat of regional
insecurity with a virtual failed state on its border with Syria,
hundreds of thousands of rockets and mortars being stockpiled by
Hezbollah in Lebanon, ongoing rocket fire from Hamas on the Gaza Strip,
increasing terrorist activity in the Sinai, and, most importantly, the
continued existential threat of Iran and its accelerating nuclear
program. The U.S. can and must do more to aid Israel in addressing all
of these threats in a comprehensive way.
The bill before us would specifically encourage greater cooperation
between Israel and the United States in developing new weapons, tactics
and procedures that will safeguard them from the growing threats Of
cyber warfare and asymmetrical military threats such as terrorist
activity. Increased reporting and coordination will allow the United
States and Israel to continue their mutually beneficial research and
intelligence programs to create a more secure and prosperous region--
one that can safeguard human life to the maximum extent possible. By
increasing the frequency of assessment from 4 years to 2, the Israel
Qualitative Military Edge Enhancement Act will help ensure Israel is
always prepared to confront constantly evolving conventional and
asymmetrical threats.
I again want to thank the chairman and ranking member for their
support of this legislation. I also want to thank the other cosponsors
of this bill, including Representative Collins, for their hard work to
hone this bill over the last few months. I would especially like to
thank Vernon Robinson, Jr., who worked so diligently with my staff to
shepherd this bill to the House floor today.
I strongly ask my colleagues to join me in support of this important
bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1330
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Collins), a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
the author of this bill, and we want to thank him for being such an
active member of our committee.
Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do appreciate
that. I do appreciate what your staff and others have done, the ranking
member, in moving this legislation through. And also my good friend
from Illinois (Mr. Schneider) in where we have been able to work
together. I would be remiss also if I did not recognize Vernon Robinson
from my staff as well, who is with me today, who has kept this going
while we have worked. So I appreciate his work and the rest of our
staff in doing so.
I introduced H.R. 1992, the Israel QME Enhancement Act, to ensure our
commitment to Israel's qualitative military edge remains substantial
and meaningful.
This legislation allows Congress to conduct oversight of weapon sales
in the Middle East with increased frequency. Due to the instability in
the region, it is vitally important that the qualitative military edge
review process be updated to reflect the needs of Israel. H.R. 1992
accomplishes this goal by directing the President to report to Congress
every 2 years regarding the assessment of Israel's qualitative military
edge over military threats to Israel and related weapon sales in the
Middle East.
This is a marked improvement over our current law, which only
requires such a report to be issued every 4 years.
H.R. 1992 also requires the President to issue a report to Congress
on the criteria issued to include cyber and asymmetric threats in the
QME report.
Large conventional armies are less likely to mobilize against Israel,
but terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas are a constant
threat. I am very concerned by the cyber attacks that have been
launched against Israel, as well as the continued onslaught of
terrorist attacks that threaten the security and stability of this
peace-loving nation.
The QME doctrine originated during the Johnson administration, but
came
[[Page H7652]]
into practice during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 when the United States
conducted one of the largest military airlifts in history to resupply
Israel with military hardware. Since Israel's victory in the conflict,
the United States has sworn to ensure Israel's qualitative military
edge remains strong, as surrounding Middle Eastern countries often
possess a quantitative advantage.
The benefits of the Israeli-American relationship are undeniable. Our
alliance has been vital for each nation's intelligence efforts. Both
nations have provided valuable information that has saved the lives of
civilians, as well as military personnel.
I have recognized the value of America's partnership for many years,
and I am humbled and grateful to now be in a position where I can
support this alliance on the floor of the House.
America's support for Israel should be strong and responsive to the
changing threats facing our ally. Their military threat is a vital
component to promoting stability and peace in the Middle East. I am
pleased by the steadfast commitment this body and our leadership have
shown in maintaining a vibrant partnership with Israel.
As the vice chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle
East and North Africa, I am committed to promoting policy decisions
that ensure Israel will be equipped to maintain the only stable
democracy in the Middle East.
In recent weeks, there have been rounds of negotiations concerning
Iran's nuclear capabilities. As a result of these negotiations, an
agreement was reached with Iran, the details of which put Israel in a
very difficult position.
Many questions remain about Iran's continued ability to enrich
uranium and the billions of dollars they will gain in sanctions relief,
questions such as: Where will these be used and how will the money be
used for other attacks such as Hezbollah or others in this area?
One thing I am certain of, however, is the savings will not be spent
on any effort advantageous to U.S. or Israel. Now more than ever,
Congress must demonstrate its unwavering commitment to strengthening
the U.S.-Israel relations during such an unpredictable time in the
Middle East. This is something that is needed. It is something for our
friend Israel. It protects our interests and protects Israel's
interests.
With that, I would urge support of H.R. 1992.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), chairman of the Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman again for the
time.
I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1992, the Israel Qualitative
Military Edge Enhancement Act, authored by my colleague and the vice
chair of our Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, Mr.
Collins.
There is no better time than now, Mr. Speaker, to pass this bill and
send our closest friend and ally, the democratic Jewish State of
Israel, and the rest of the world a strong message that the United
States Congress stands resolutely with Israel and her right to defend
herself.
The U.S. and other world leaders lamentably acquiesced and relented
on the Iran nuclear deal and offered concessions to the regime in
Tehran that do nothing to dismantle its nuclear program. Even as the
negotiations carried on, Iran was busy making advancements to its
nuclear weapons program. Shortly after the deal, Iran announced that it
had made significant progress on its ballistic missile program. And
just this last weekend, Mr. Speaker, the regime announced that it was
moving ahead with testing on more efficient and sophisticated
centrifuges.
There can be no mistaking these actions. They all add up to Iran
continuing down its path of achieving a full nuclear weapons program.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard this rhetoric that has been coming out of
Iran for years now. The regime does not recognize Israel's right to
exist. It denies the Holocaust. It repeats its calls to wipe Israel off
the map, and ``death to Israel'' is chanted throughout the country.
Iran is an existential threat to Israel's very existence; and now
more than ever, we need to ensure that Israel remains not just one step
ahead of those who seek to do her harm, but light years ahead.
In conclusion, there is no room for error as Iran inches closer and
closer to having nuclear breakout capability. I urge all of my
colleagues to support this bipartisan measure, expressing our strong
support for Israel to have a qualitative military edge.
I thank my chairman, as well as Mr. Collins, the author of the bill.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Roskam), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. ROSKAM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the time.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate my colleagues from Georgia and
Illinois for their work on this matter. It is incredibly important;
and, as Ms. Ros-Lehtinen mentioned a minute ago, the challenges that
Israel are facing are incredibly significant.
The challenges are moving very, very quickly, Mr. Speaker. There is a
storm cloud that is brewing; and rather than waiting to recalibrate,
this bill says let's evaluate how Israel is doing in terms of a
qualitative military advantage and edge more frequently.
As we know, if Israel is strong in the Middle East, good things
happen. If Israel is weak in the Middle East, good things don't happen.
We have an opportunity now for the House to stand with Israel. As
mentioned before by Mr. Collins a minute ago, it is not just for
Israel's sake; but it is clearly in the best interest of the United
States.
There is one democratic ally in the Middle East, and that is the
State of Israel. It is incumbent upon us as a co-equal branch of
government to encourage the administration to do the right thing, not
just from Israel's point of view but from the long-term strategic
interest of the United States.
I am a cosponsor of this legislation. I am pleased that it is being
brought under the leadership of Chairman Royce and his committee to the
House floor. I urge its passage.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my
time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas, Judge Poe, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.
Mr. POE of Texas. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, all around Israel things are in tremendous turmoil.
To Israel's south, Egypt is experiencing its worst period of unrest
in 50 years. There is no elected government, and there won't be until
next year. The economy is on a ventilator in Egypt. It is propped up
only by billions of dollars of aid from Gulf countries.
The Muslim Brotherhood is openly fighting the interim government with
armed mobs. Terrorists and vagabonds in the always lawless Sinai
Peninsula are only encouraged by the weakened state of Cairo.
To Israel's north, Syria has become the world's hotspot for
terrorists. Terrorists like al Qaeda and Hezbollah are streaming in,
with no end in sight. Out-of-town criminals have come into the country
to wreak havoc.
To Israel's east, already fragile Jordan is being overrun with Syrian
refugees and infiltrated by terrorists as well.
A little further east, al Qaeda is wreaking havoc in Iraq. There is
more violence there than at any point since 2008.
And to the far east, mischief regime of the desert, Iran is closer
than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon that can enable it to fulfill
its threat to wipe Israel off the map.
When I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu 2 weeks ago, he was clear
that Israel cannot accept Iran as a nuclear threshold power if Israel
wants to continue to exist as a people. He called our interim deal with
Iran the worst deal of the century. I agree with him. It seems that we
not only gave away the farm; we gave away the mineral rights as well.
We took our best diplomatic tool, sanctions, off the table. The biggest
problem with the deal was that it made a peaceful solution more
unlikely.
[[Page H7653]]
With all of these threats surrounding it, we need to stand side by
side and let the world know--our enemies and our friends--that we are
allies of Israel. They are the U.S.'s strongest ally.
Israel is the only democracy in the region and the only one that
respects human rights. It is in their national security interest and
our national security interest to ensure Israel can defend itself from
the ever-changing military threats. The enemies they have in the
neighborhood are enemies to us as well.
I support H.R. 1992. The bill will make sure, too, that Israel's
enemies do not gain a military advantage over the State of Israel. I
urge its passage.
And that's just the way it is.
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, the United States has no more important relationship,
not just in the region but in the world, than the strategic,
unbreakable alliance with the democratic Jewish State of Israel.
Israel's security is our security. Israel's security must not in any
way be compromised.
As has been noted here already, Israel lives in a most dangerous
neighborhood. Her security is dependent on a clearly demonstrated
permanently sustained qualitative military edge. This bill, H.R. 1992,
improves and enhances our relationship with Israel to guarantee her
qualitative military edge in a very dangerous neighborhood.
I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1992 and to
protect Israel's security.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
In closing, let me again stress the importance of the relationship
with our ally Israel.
Let me thank Mr. Collins for his leadership in authoring this
important measure and thank Mr. Schneider. I am a cosponsor of this
bill as well, and let me say we have many common threats, especially
Iran's nuclear program.
This measure, H.R. 1992, is a testament to the American people's
enduring commitment to the security of Israel. I hope to see it passed
today.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. GINGREY of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R.
1992--the Israel QME Enhancement Act. I would like to commend the
author of this legislation and colleague from Georgia, Mr. Collins, for
his leadership on this issue. I would also like to thank the Foreign
Affairs Committee Chairman Royce of California and Ranking Member Engel
of New York on quickly moving this bill through the Committee.
Mr. Speaker, it goes without saying that our strongest ally in the
Middle East is the State of Israel. It is, therefore, incumbent upon us
to provide them with our unwavering support. In order to uphold this
commitment, we must understand the ongoing security threats to Israel.
H.R. 1992 helps achieve this goal by increasing the frequency by which
the Secretary of State must report to Congress on Israel's qualitative
military edge (QME).
Unfortunately, Israel is constantly on alert from various threats to
its existence, particularly cyber and asymmetric ones. In fact,
regional, Iran has stated that its desire to ``wipe Israel off of the
map.'' Therefore, despite the interim agreement between the P5+1 that
was adopted on November 24, 2013, I still believe that it is critically
important that we prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons
capability.
Congress took an important step during 2012 by implementing economic
sanctions on Iran through the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human
Rights Act of 2012. This important legislation punishes individuals who
knowingly sell more than 1,000,000 barrels of refined product, or
individuals that sell, lease, or provide Iran with goods, services,
technology, or information.
However, despite these sanctions, Iran's nuclear program has
continued to grow. Earlier this year in June, the International Atomic
Energy Agency stated that Tehran was violating international
regulations by increasing the number of centrifuges. Although the
November 24th interim agreement caps Iran's proliferation at 5%, I
remain skeptical of Iran's motive for continued nuclear activity.
Mr. Speaker, that is why the bill we have before today is absolutely
essential in assisting Israel. By increasing the QME reports delivered
to Congress, we can oversee the potential emerging threats that Israel
will face in the future. I urge all of my colleague to join me in
supporting H.R. 1992.
Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, given the geopolitical history of the region,
the U.S. fully understands Israel's need to be better armed than its
neighbors.
Potentially threatening Arab countries surrounding Israel have
superior numbers, which is the reason why Israel needs to maintain a
qualitative edge.
As Iran creeps ever closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon, this
qualitative edge has become all the more important
As our closest ally in the region, we should do all we can to prevent
Israel from being put in harm's way.
I believe the legislation before us today does precisely that and I
thank the gentleman from Georgia and my colleague on the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, Mr. Collins, for authoring this bill.
This legislation improves our policy of ensuring Israel's safety by
better reflecting the security environment of its potential
adversaries.
Israel is mostly attacked by unconventional weapons and those weapons
should be considered into the QME.
As cyber-attacks are increasingly being used as a means of warfare,
Israel needs to maintain a competitive edge, while countries such as
Iran attempt to increase their cyber capabilities.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Fortenberry). The question is on the
motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1992, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
____________________