Chairman Cole Remarks During Floor Consideration of H.R. 8034, 8035, and 8036, a Series of Security Supplemental Bills

I rise today to offer H.R. 8036, the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024. The bill provides eight point twelve billion dollars in emergency supplemental appropriations to continue efforts to counter communist China and ensure a strong deterrence in the region.

It includes three point three billion dollars to develop submarine infrastructure, two billion dollars for the Foreign Military Financing Program for Taiwan and other key partners in the region, one point nine billion to replenish defense articles and defense services provided to Taiwan and regional partners, five hundred and forty-two million dollars to strengthen U.S. military capabilities in the region, and one hundred thirty-three million dollars to enhance the production and development of artillery and critical minerals.

Today’s bill should not be viewed in isolation. It is part of a series of three security supplemental bills and a related national security measure, all of which are being considered as part of a comprehensive security funding package. This measure, and the other two supplemental bills, will provide needed military assistance to Israel and Ukraine during their time of crisis, it will provide support for Taiwan as it confronts aggression from the Chinese Communist Party, and will provide support for U.S. military forces operating in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, including the critical replenishment of American stocks of ammunition.

America’s greatest writer, Mark Twain, is reputed to have said that history does not repeat itself, but it does sometime rhyme. Tragically, the past two years have produced echoes of a dark time in world history, the 1930s.

In the 1930s, evil regimes bent on aggression, domination, and even genocide took their first steps down a dark road that would eventually lead to world war. Tragically, the democratic West turned inward then, standing idly by while Fascist regimes began to take aggressive actions against their weaker neighbors. There was time, then, to put a stop to aggression, if only we had had the fortitude and wherewithal to stand firmly on the side of freedom.

Today, we are seeing uncomfortable parallels to that dark time. In Europe, Vladimir Putin launched an unjust and illegal invasion of his democratic neighbor, Ukraine. In Asia and the Pacific, the Chinese Communist Party encroaches on its neighbors and openly threatens the continued self-determination of Taiwan, a nation which continues to show the world what a free and democratic China could look like. And in the Middle East, Israel faces attacks on multiple fronts, beginning with the horrible terror attack launched by Hamas on October 7, and continuing with an unprecedented direct aerial assault launched by the Iranian regime over the weekend.

These events do not take place in a vacuum, Madam Speaker. They take place in regions around the world critical to American national security. They threaten our friends and partners around the globe and threaten the continued safety of democracy. The security of our fellow democratic states is our security, and protecting their security is undoubtedly in America’s national interests.

Some of the greatest American leaders of the 20th century recognized this fundamental reality. I think of Franklin Roosevelt calling on Americans to become the great “arsenal of democracy” to defeat Nazi Germany, and I think of Ronald Reagan reminding us that “[p]reservation of a peaceful, free, and democratic Europe is essential to the preservation of a peaceful, free, and democratic United States.”

Madam Speaker, peace through strength cannot be delivered through appeasement. We cannot wish our way to national security, and we cannot thrust our heads into the sand while aggressive nations threaten their neighbors. Today’s measure is not only about safeguarding ideals of democracy and peace, but it is also central to our own national security.

The actions we take today will be seen and heard around the world. Vladimir Putin is watching. Xi Jinping is watching. And the Iranian mullahs are watching. What will we show them?

Will we show them that our commitment to security does not stop at the water’s edge? Will we show them that we know that the security of our friends and partners around the globe is our security? Or will we fail to take action, and in doing so give these powers the same gift we gave to the fascist powers in the 1930s?

I know which I would choose. I know what I would show our adversaries, these tyrants and dictators: that just as in Ronald Reagan’s time, the United States stands committed to the common defense, and that our commitment to our friends and partners stands, both now and into the future.

I urge all members to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.