Cole Remarks At FY25 Budget Request for the Department of State (As Prepared)
Thank you, Chairman Diaz-Balart. I’m so pleased to be back with the State-Foreign Operations Subcommittee today. I previously served on this Subcommittee with both distinguished Chairwoman Kay Granger and Chairman Hal Rogers. Experience tells us that the work done here is of critical importance to America’s national security.
Secretary Blinken, we appreciate your appearance before us today and your service to our country. There is no denying we are facing a time of increasing global disorder and rising threats to the security of the United States.
We all know that historical analogies can be misleading. Yet, it is hard not to see haunting parallels between the conflicts raging across Europe and the Middle East and another dark time in world history, the 1930s.
The disturbing echoes of that dangerous decade are certainly before us. In Europe, Vladimir Putin’s warped dream of a new Russian Empire has led to the unjust and brutal invasion of his democratic neighbor, Ukraine. In the Indo-Pacific, the Chinese Communist Party continues its efforts to undermine the rules-based order, threaten Taiwan, and seek Chinese strategic domination in Asia and beyond. And in the Middle East, Israel faces threats on multiple fronts, beginning with the horrific attack launched by Hamas on October 7th. Even now, the terrorist regime in Iran is using missiles and proxies to threaten Israeli and United States interests across the region.
As you know, many of us were outraged at the Administration’s decision to pause very vital weapon transfers to our friend, Israel. In my judgment, utilizing these weapon transfers as leverage over Israel’s military decisions during this critical time is both dangerous and self-defeating. Moreover, withholding arms to Israel has our adversaries celebrating. It weakens Israel’s deterrence against Iran, as well as Hamas and Hezbollah. I’m deeply concerned over the signal it sends to these terrorists and enemies of both our nation and Israel.
Meanwhile, in what some have called an “axis of upheaval,” our sworn adversaries in Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran are increasingly joining hands in their challenge to Western institutions, democratic values, and the cause of freedom. The prospect of greater military, economic, and technological cooperation between these hostile, authoritarian powers can only be deeply disturbing to the United States, our allies, and our partners.
Here at home, the unprecedented flow of migrants to the border and the uptick in dangerous and deadly drugs such as fentanyl into our country have brought America to an important crossroads that demands clear leadership.
Mr. Secretary, your budget request for the coming year aims to address some of these challenges, but I am concerned that, in other respects, it has missed the mark.
I am pleased at the request to fully fund security assistance for Israel and Egypt, a proposed increase for the Indo-Pacific region, as well as for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Funding, which is critical to countering the transnational criminal networks trafficking in fentanyl and other deadly narcotics.
I am, however, concerned that your budget proposes billions in additional mandatory funding and other budgetary gimmicks. These initiatives appear to ignore our deteriorating fiscal outlook, and frankly, Congress is unlikely to adopt them.
When your department, or any Executive Branch agency, resorts to budgetary gamesmanship rather than making the hard strategic choices necessitated by limited resources, it does a disservice to your cause.
Mr. Secretary, again I want to thank you and the men and women who serve in the Department of State for your service, and I look forward to your testimony and the dialogue to follow. I yield back.
