[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17115]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             UNITED STATES-ISRAEL STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP ACT

  (Mr. COLLINS of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COLLINS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2673, 
United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act.
  S. 2673 includes language from the Israel QME Enhancement Act. The 
Israel QME Enhancement Act is a bill that I sponsored and was supported 
unanimously by this body. Israel's qualitative military edge is the 
ability to maintain quality arms against numerically superior odds.
  My bill provided for a review of Israel's QME at shorter intervals, 
from 4 years to 2 years, and I am honored the review language made it 
into the Strategic Partnership Act. Both pieces of legislation 
recognize Israel's residence in a neighborhood of bad actors.
  Over the decades since the establishment of the State of Israel in 
1948, it has endured several extended armed conflicts with its 
neighbors. From the Israeli War of Independence in 1948 through 
Operation Protective Edge, the latest conflict with Hamas, Israel has 
endured constant threats.
  Another constant is that Israel has been able to depend upon the U.S. 
for military assistance. During the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the U.S. 
conducted one of the largest airlifts in U.S. history to assist Israel.
  Today, we stand on the floor of the House in support of a bill to 
increase its military assistance and to increase the help to our friend 
Israel.

                          ____________________