Dear John,

Welcome to your Weekly Wrap, a recap of the week in Congress and highlights of my work. This week,  I would like to take some time to walk you through the tumultuous process to bring critical legislation to the floor for a vote.  

Last week, after much delay, the House considered a series of national security bills to provide aid to our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific (H.R. 8036, the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act), Ukraine (H.R. 8035, the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act) and Israel (H.R. 8034, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act). The House also passed H.R. 8038, the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act, legislation to address the growing threats posed by U.S. adversaries, including Russia, Iran, and China. 

Additionally, the House considered the End the Border Catastrophe Act. While this bill has been presented as legislation to address our immigration system, the End the Border Catastrophe Act does nothing to address the humanitarian crisis happening at our borders. It is a repackaged  version of the Secure the Border Act, which already failed in the United States Senate, twice. 

I am deeply concerned by this latest display of dysfunction and disregard by the House Republican majority. For weeks, House Republican leadership has failed to bring the Senate Security Supplemental Bill to the floor. Now, in the eleventh hour as Speaker Johnson finally acted to bring this critical legislation forward, House Democrats once again provided the votes necessary to release aid to Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and to families caught in the crossfire of these conflict zones. 

For my full recap, please read below. 

Follow the Rules

On Wednesday, the House Committee on Rules convened to consider a rule for H.R. 3602, the End the Border Catastrophe Act.  This legislation is an abbreviated version of H.R. 2 – the Secure the Border Act, which has already passed in the House and failed in the Senate, twice. This extreme legislation would essentially ban asylum and parole in the United States and includes no provisions to secure a humane pathway to citizenship. 

The rule to consider H.R. 3602 failed in the Rules Committee because of a lack of Republican support for the measure. In another show of political theater - the Republican-sponsored bill brought before the Republican-led Committee failed because of a lack of support by committee Republicans. 

As a result, the bill was considered under suspension. Needing a two-thirds majority, the legislation did not pass the House on Saturday. 

On Thursday, the Rules Committee convened again to consider the rule for three supplemental aid bills, including: 

• H.R. 8034, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which provides $13 billion to aid in the defense of Israel and includes $9.15 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza and vulnerable populations around the world in places like Haiti, Chad, Sudan and others. 
• H.R. 8035, the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which provides $13.78 billion to support Ukraine in their defense against Russian aggression.
• H.R. 8036, the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which provides $5.6 billion to support the deterrence against Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

These three bills represent the language in the National Security Supplemental Bill, which passed the Senate months ago. 

In an unprecedented move and due to a lack of support among House Rules Committee Republicans, Committee Democrats voted in support of the rule to advance these individual aid bills to the floor. Without votes from Committee Democrats, the bills would have never made it out of committee to receive floor consideration by the full House. 

On the Floor

On Friday, by a vote of 316 – 94, the House passed H.Res. 1160  which allowed for further consideration of the aid bills and H.R. 8038, the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act. This legislation addresses the growing threats posed by U.S. adversaries including Russia, Iran, and China.

On Saturday, I voted in support of each of the aid bills: 

The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act which passed by a vote of 366-58, the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act which passed by a vote of 311-113, and the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act which passed by a vote of 385-35. Additionally, I supported the 21st Century Peace through Strength Act, which passed by a vote of 360-58. 

While I am pleased that legislation to support our global allies and partners has finally been brought to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote, I am deeply concerned by this latest display of dysfunction and disregard by the House Republican majority. For weeks, House Republican leadership has failed to bring the Senate Security Supplemental Bill to the floor –idly watching as global carnage continues to climb, countries teeter on the brink of collapse, and innocent civilians face certain danger, starvation, and civilian causality.

After months of delay and inaction Speaker Johnson has finally acted to bring this critical legislation to the floor. Yet again, House Democrats provided the votes necessary to move legislation in the House forward and bring aid to Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and to families caught in the crossfire of conflict zones.

During this time of concurrent international crises, we cannot continue to legislate in extremes and play partisan games. 

That’s a wrap. 

Jahana Hayes
Member of Congress