In this week’s edition, we discuss the most recent Congressional moves concerning emergency aid to Israel and provide a brief update on the war in Gaza and the wider conflict between Iranian extremism and the West.

Wait, now Hurry Up 

For months, Congress has been unable to advance a clean Israel emergency supplemental bill. Over the weekend, Speaker Johnson seems to have concluded that enough was enough, and later today the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act will be brought to the House floor.

This legislation focuses on military assistance to Israel without conditions and already enjoys bipartisan support. However, the House Freedom Caucus (because they hate common sense) and the Progressive Caucus (because they hate Israel) are opposing the bill.

The Speaker will bring this legislation to the floor quickly but doing so means that for the bill to advance, it will require two-thirds of the chamber’s support. We are mobilized in support of this legislation - and have been since the bill was announced on Saturday.

On the Senate side, Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell are trying to advance a much larger emergency supplemental that combines Israel aid, Ukraine aid, humanitarian aid (including to Palestinians), security funding for houses of worship (Nonprofit Security Grant Program), and an American border security/immigration policy agreement. Notably, the legislation would also make permanent the suspension of U.S. aid to UNRWA.

While some of the policies mentioned above are backed by CUFI, politics is the art of the possible, and House leadership has loudly indicated that the bill in its current form is a nonstarter. Congressional leaders have been trying to combine these issues and make compromises in such a way as to satisfy both sides of the aisle for months – it hasn’t worked. Like the House bill, passage of the Senate package is by no means guaranteed (if it even makes it to the Senate floor) as Majority Leader Schumer would need 60 votes to end debate on the measure.

Si vis Pacem, Para Bellum

“If you want peace, prepare for war” is a 1,500-year-old Roman adage that was true even before it was uttered, and remains so to this day. Yet, all of the above discussed Congressional chaos indicates to America’s friends and foes that the American political leadership (as opposed to the military) is not prepared for a fight (with anyone but each other). 

One need not be a military scholar or geo-political expert to recognize that if we want to avoid a wider conflict in the Middle East, we must ensure our allies deter the foes at their borders, and the United States is able to deter the powers seeking to compete with us. That requires a functioning United States Congress. It requires our elected officials to ask first not what any piece of legislation does for their party, but what it does for our country, and then vote accordingly.

Moreover, regardless of what Congress does or does not authorize or appropriate, the President of the United States has unmatched power in the realm of foreign policy. While it was too little too late, we believe that President Biden’s decision to strike back against Iran-backed terrorist proxies in the region was an important step in attempting to claw back deterrence. We remain pessimistic as the administration’s wider comments and actions indicate that they have yet to learn that appeasement does not result in success.

Whether its pro-Hamas voters in Michigan, pro-Hamas leaders in Qatar, or pro-Hamas mullahs in Tehran, no amount of slapping around Israel or its leadership will satiate those who want to see Israel wiped from the map. Until the Biden administration realizes this simple truth, they will continue to make unforced errors and be perceived as weak by leaders across Asia.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team