House Democratic leaders call new Speaker Mike Johnson's legislative plan for emergency aid to Israel, bad for national security, and propose a no-vote on the measure.
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00:00 Regarding Israel, while House Republicans are leading on approach, we're also leading
00:04 the charge to support our cherished friend.
00:07 And last week, in one of my first acts as Speaker, we passed a resolution reaffirming
00:10 our commitment to Israel in its moment of peril.
00:13 And now, as Israel begins the next phase of its war, it's been kind of disturbing to us.
00:18 I've heard Democrats suggest that there needs to be a ceasefire.
00:21 Let us be clear.
00:22 We've been very clear about this.
00:24 There was a ceasefire.
00:25 It was before October 7th.
00:27 And Hamas broke it.
00:28 And Israelis suffered unspeakable acts of evil, as you've heard even recounted here
00:32 this morning.
00:33 Israel doesn't need a ceasefire.
00:35 It needs its allies to cease with the politics and deliver support now.
00:39 And that's what we're doing.
00:40 House Republicans plan to do that.
00:42 We're going to do it in short order.
00:43 And it provides Israel the aid it needs to defend itself, free its hostages, and eradicate
00:47 Hamas, which is a mission that must be accomplished.
00:51 All of this, while we also work to ensure responsible spending and reduce the size of
00:57 the federal government, to pay for that commitment to our friend and ally.
01:01 We have obligations and we have commitments, and we want to protect and help and assist
01:05 our friend Israel, but we have to keep our own house in order as well.
01:10 And I think people at home, I think the American people understand that.
01:13 At home, you have to balance your budget.
01:14 At home, you have to make tough decisions.
01:17 And Washington should run the same way.
01:19 And so we are here to change the environment, to change the paradigm, the way Washington
01:24 thinks.
01:25 And if we don't change the trajectory we're on, it's going to hurt our country terribly.
01:28 Some of the greatest threats we face are through extremism and partisanship.
01:33 And we're seeing that play out with our new speaker today.
01:37 This time, they're seeking to condition life-saving aid to Israel for the sole purpose of making
01:43 it easier for billionaires to cheat on their taxes.
01:47 We're learning a lot about this new speaker this week with these first legislative decisions.
01:53 And this has been a complete and total disaster.
01:57 We look forward to working in a bipartisan way to send aid to our allies abroad.
02:04 But this bill today is not that vehicle.
02:08 We're recommending a no vote because this is bad for national security.
02:11 It's a bad precedent to set.
02:14 It costs resources.
02:16 But we have never conditioned emergency aid like we have done under Speaker Johnson this
02:24 week.
02:25 This is wrong.
02:26 This is wrong for Israelis.
02:28 This is wrong for the region.
02:30 It's important that we carry on our work, that we look to help our allies in this respect,
02:38 Israel and Ukraine, and making sure that we have robust funding on the humanitarian side
02:42 too.
02:43 The policy differences have to do with timing and making sure.
02:47 The fact that Republicans advanced this bill without humanitarian funding is deeply problematic
02:53 to many of us within the Democratic caucus and is something that we need to fix within
03:00 the legislation.