WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:
“In the coming weeks, Congress has a responsibility to equip America and our allies to face an historic array of national security challenges.
“To understand the urgency of this moment, just look at the impossible choices facing our ally, Israel, as it works to bring innocent people home from terrorist captivity.
“These brutal terrorists bankroll their existence with the blood of innocent people. They know that their hostages can be cashed in for a brief reprieve from justice… or in exchange for terrorists incarcerated in Israel. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is one of Hamas’ own design.
“Just as there is no moral equivalence between terrorism and self-defense, there is no moral equivalence between innocent hostages and convicted terrorists and criminals.
“Unfortunately, this is not just a reminder for the activists on elite campuses and in national newsrooms who have uncritically lapped up and regurgitated activist propaganda.
“It’s also for some of our colleagues here in Congress.
“According to some reports, Senate Democrats will use their caucus lunch today to discuss placing restrictions on U.S. military assistance to Israel.
“One of our colleagues is already on the record demanding that President Biden, ‘be more aggressive with the Israelis.’
“Another has declared that, ‘not one penny will be coming to Israel’ unless our ally bends to his view – offered from the comfort of a Senate office – on how Israel should conduct self-defense operations.
“If Senate Democrats want to vote to tie the hands of Israeli soldiers as they defend their country against vicious terrorists, I welcome such a debate.
“For anyone who needs to hear it again: the conflict unfolding today is between a sovereign democracy that takes great pains to avoid civilian casualties and terrorist butchers who go out of their way to inflict civilian casualties and put their own civilians in harm’s way. Israel deserves the time, space, and resources to restore its security. And I will stand by our ally 100%.
“For that matter, our own people – American men and women in uniform – deserve the same unwavering commitment to restoring credible deterrence against Iran.
“Since October 17th, Iran-backed terrorists have launched at least 73 attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria. Clearly, President Biden’s strikes against desert warehouses have not given our adversaries pause.
“The world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism remains demonstrably undeterred.
“Right now, we have a responsibility to equip Israel to destroy Hamas, deter violence against American servicemembers, and invest seriously in American hard power – a language our adversaries in Tehran, Moscow, and Beijing actually understand.
“Supplemental national security legislation is our chance to uphold this responsibility.”
