[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 37 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H743-H744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              SUPPORTING A NATIONAL SECURITY SUPPLEMENTAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Committee on National 
Security, I rise to remind the House Republican leadership that actions 
speak louder than words when it comes to national security and 
America's defense of democracy and human rights worldwide.
  In reference to the current migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, 
Speaker Johnson has repeatedly stated that ``our national security 
begins at our border.''
  He has indicated that border policy would be the Republican hill to 
die on. He even insisted that the House would

[[Page H744]]

not act on a foreign aid package unless it included substantive 
provisions to enhance border security, his ``top priority.''
  However, the actions taken by the House Republican leadership do not 
live up to those words. Three weeks ago, a bipartisan coalition in the 
U.S. Senate negotiated a national security agreement that proposed the 
most significant reforms in decades, introducing new emergency border 
authorities, including granting the President the ability to close the 
border under certain circumstances, anti-fentanyl and anti-human 
trafficking provisions, and resources to enhance security at the 
southern border.
  President Biden indicated a willingness to sign the compromise 
agreement, when passed. Instead, at the direction of former President 
Trump, Speaker Johnson declared the bill dead on arrival in the House 
before he even received the final text.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress should debate and amend, when necessary, and 
pass a commonsense border security and immigration bill to end the 
crisis at our border and regain control of our border.
  Similarly, following Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine in February 
of 2022, the House Republican leadership released the following 
statement:
  They said, ``We stand in complete solidarity with the innocent 
Ukrainian people and vow to continue to support them as they defend 
themselves from Putin's unprovoked onslaught.''
  The Speaker personally echoed those commitments during his meeting 
with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in the Capitol last December.
  However, after the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan 
foreign aid package that includes over $60 billion in assistance to 
support the Ukrainian military and people, a bill which also included 
provisions for $14 billion in aid to Israel and nearly $10 billion in 
humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, Ukraine, 
and other populations affected by conflict, the Speaker once again 
declared the bill dead on arrival.

  Upon his election to the speakership, Speaker Johnson pledged that 
the House Republican Conference, and I am going to give you a quote, 
``And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of 
it.'' That could not be further from the truth.
  As evidenced by another looming government shutdown, this Republican 
majority remains mired in internal party dysfunction and legislative 
chaos to the great detriment of U.S. national security, our 
international partners, and the American people.
  We are now one day away from a partial shutdown that would disrupt 
critical Federal programs, including veterans' outreach services, air 
traffic control training, food assistance for low-income families, and 
an estimated 200,000 military families who now rely upon WIC to 
alleviate food insecurity--according to the National Military Family 
Association.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the House Republican leadership to set politics 
and partisanship aside and work with Members on both sides of the aisle 
to immediately address these critical priorities.
  We also have an opportunity to urge the United States Treasury to 
take control of the $300 billion in Russian assets that are in the 
possession and custody of U.S. and EU banks. Take that $300 billion and 
give it to Ukraine so they can fight for their freedom and feed their 
people.

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