[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 64 (Monday, April 15, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2723-S2724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Supplemental Funding

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, in response to Iran's massive attack 
against Israel over the weekend, we saw two things:
  First, we saw a sovereign nation that takes its security seriously 
mount a successful defense. Israel's defense, with the help of regional 
and coalition partners and the vigilant support of brave U.S. 
servicemembers in the region, intercepted and neutralized the bulk of 
the 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran.
  Unfortunately, the second thing we saw was the Commander in Chief 
sticking to the same playbook--second-guessing the will of the Israeli 
people and trying to tie the hands of an ally under attack.
  President Biden insisted ahead of Iran's attack that America's 
commitment to Israel was ``ironclad.'' But after 3 years of appeasement 
and weakness and 6 months of quibbling over Israeli's right to self-
defense, I am not really sure whom he expects to believe that 
assertion. Just saying so, saying our commitment is ironclad, doesn't 
make it so. Words don't paper over the glaring rifts between the Biden 
administration and the national unity government in Jerusalem. The 
public criticism of Israel by senior administration officials 
undoubtedly influences the decisions of Israel's adversaries.
  If the President's commitment to a vital ally were ``ironclad,'' his 
response to this weekend's attack would not be to lecture her leaders 
against responding in self-defense.
  Would an American Commander in Chief fail to respond if an adversary 
launched 300 missiles at American soil? The fact that our collective 
defenses worked in this case doesn't obviate the threat. It doesn't 
make the need to compel Iran to change its behavior any less urgent.
  Make absolutely no mistake, Iran is not deterred; it is actually 
emboldened.
  The regime that attacked Israel this weekend is the same one that 
green-lit the violent hijacking of a commercial shipping vessel earlier 
the same day. It is the same Iran that trains, equips, sustains, and 
expends terrorist proxies from Lebanon to Gaza to Iraq and Syria to 
Yemen.
  It is the same regime that continues to grow an arsenal of long-range 
ballistic missiles and advance closer and closer to a nuclear weapons 
capability.
  And, of course, it is the same murderous regime that continues to 
equip Russia's brutal violence in Ukraine. It is no mere coincidence 
that the mixed barrage of UAVs, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles 
designed to complicate Israel's air defenses is the same mix Russia 
uses to launch devastating and frequent long-range attacks against 
Iranian cities.

[[Page S2724]]

  Our adversaries are working together to make America and our friends 
less safe and less secure.
  It is time for the Commander in Chief to lead allies and partners in 
an international effort to impose meaningful costs on Iran, threatening 
the things its leaders hold dear, and changing this regime's violent 
behavior.
  We can't afford weakness. We can't afford to be deterred by Iran. The 
easiest way to hasten escalation and a wider war is to show you are 
unwilling or unable to meet aggression with strength. There is only one 
way to stop a bully.
  So it is time for the Commander in Chief to stand by our allies and 
stand up to our adversaries. He can actually begin that today.
  But it is also time for Congress to deliver the urgent investments 
that our industrial base, our forces, and our partners will need to 
meet and outcompete the growing and linked threats that we face.
  The Senate passed an urgent national security supplemental 2 months 
ago--2 months ago. It would help meet the urgent needs of Ukraine's 
resistance, equip Indo-Pacific allies to deter PRC aggression, 
replenish Israel's stocks of critical capabilities, and expand our own 
capacity to refill and deploy the arsenal of democracy.
  Anyone taking the challenges we face seriously knows that these unmet 
needs are absolutely urgent. So I will once again urge our House 
colleagues to take up this legislation without delay.