'We're Already Sending Them Billions And Billions And Billions': MTG Slams DoD Funding For Jordan

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During debate on the House floor, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced an amendment to strip funding for Jordan's armed services.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

00:02Mr. Speaker, as we are considering the defense appropriations bill that cost the American

00:08people $831 billion, it is important to consider the amount of foreign funding that we are

00:16spending every single year.

00:18The American people are $37 trillion in debt.

00:23Life in America has become unaffordable, especially for our youngest generations.

00:29This amendment would strike $500 million in military assistance to Jordan.

00:34This bill provides up to $500 million in military assistance to support the Armed Forces of

00:41Jordan.

00:42However, our Department of Defense mission statement is to deter war and ensure our nation's

00:49security.

00:50My amendment would strike this provision to ensure that our defense appropriation bill funds only

00:56our military, not foreign militaries.

00:59Why does our Department of Defense appropriations bill continue to pay for other countries' militaries?

01:07Furthermore, the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs appropriations

01:13bill released this week already provides for an additional $1.65 billion in aid to Jordan.

01:22So why are we giving them another $500 million in our appropriations bill for our Department

01:27of Defense?

01:29Congress has appropriated between $1.5 billion and $1.65 billion in economic and military aid

01:37annually to Jordan since 2018.

01:41Annually.

01:42We are already sending them billions and billions and billions of dollars as the American people

01:49continue to tumble further and further and further in a graveyard of debt.

01:55$37 trillion is a debt that we don't think we'll ever be able to claw our way out of.

02:02However, it's this institution and the irresponsible continued spending year after year after year that

02:10continues to enslave the American people in debt.

02:15And at what point do our military bases in the Middle East and around the world make our

02:20country safer?

02:22In America today, there are still hundreds of the American people dying every single day

02:28from fentanyl that has come from China.

02:31And the cartels create and depress pills and other drugs and smuggle into our country.

02:37It's time to put the American people first, Mr. Speaker.

02:42And it's time to finally consider the drastic amount of spending that we spend every single

02:47year in foreign aid.

02:48Mr. Speaker, I reserve.

02:50General Lady reserves.

02:52For what purposes?

02:53Gentlemen from California.

02:54I rise in opposition to the General Lady's amendment.

02:56Gentlemen is recognized.

02:57Jordan remains an indispensable ally in an extremely dangerous region.

03:03Our partnership with the Kingdom of Jordan is critical both to the regional and U.S. and

03:07national security.

03:09We must continue to ensure Jordan can counter extremist terrorist threats, have the resources

03:14necessary to continue their role as the linchpin in the region.

03:18With that, I urge a no vote on the amendment and reserve the balance of my time.

03:22With that, I yield 90 seconds to the ranking member and the gentlelady from Minnesota.

03:26General Lady is recognized.

03:28Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

03:29I rise in opposition to the amendment.

03:31Jordan is a long-standing reliable ally in the region, as the Chair pointed out.

03:36And when there is any type of incident in the region, our national security officials,

03:40from CENTCOM generals to diplomats, first contact that they make is to get the temperature

03:46of the region from their Jordan counterparts.

03:49The United States and Jordan have, since 1996, a status of force agreements and a 2006 acquisition

03:58and cross-service training agreement and a 2021 defense cooperation agreement.

04:03This is a 30-year stability-built relationship in the Middle East with an Arab partner, and

04:11we need to nurture and maintain it.

04:13We've deployed military personnel to Jordan to support operations that defeated ISIS, to

04:19enhance Jordan's security, and to promote regional stability.

04:23Jordan air bases have been particularly important for U.S. to conduct intelligence, surveillance,

04:29and target acquisition, and reconnaissance missions in Syria and Iraq.

04:33Just two weeks ago, our U.S. central commander traveled to Jordan, where he met with the Chairman

04:39of the Jordan's Chief of Staff and Key Staff.

04:42They discuss the evolving security situation in the region, the deepening bilateral defense

04:47relationship between the United States and Jordan, and further expand in the military-to-military

04:53relationship between Jordan's armed forces and ours.

04:57This partnership continues to serve as a steadfast, capable, strategic partner for peace and stability

05:03in the region, and we need strong allies.

05:06Jordan's been and continues to be one of our strongest, and for this reason I oppose this

05:10amendment.

05:11I ask my colleagues to do the same, and I yield back.

05:14The gentlelady yields back.

05:16The gentleman from Georgia is recognized.

05:19Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

05:21With the American people $37 trillion in debt, and we are weighing whether we should send another

05:28$500 million to Jordan after they have already received $1.65 billion in another appropriations

05:37request, and they receive already another $1.65 billion every single year from the American

05:45taxpayer who can hardly afford to pay their bills.

05:49Let's talk about America's veterans.

05:52You know, for the past several decades, we have men and women in our country, great men

05:58and women, who served in our military, but yet were shipped over to some foreign war in

06:05the Middle East.

06:07That didn't defend America's border.

06:10Our border continued to be overrun by foreign people from all over the world.

06:14But they were sent over there to fight for our freedoms.

06:17And you know what they came home with?

06:19They came home with physical injuries that they have to live with the rest of their life,

06:24and they came home with PTSD and mental injuries that they live with for the rest of their

06:30life.

06:31And unfortunately, they have a suicide rate of over 22 a day.

06:39Over 6,400 veterans committed suicide in 2022.

06:45Over 32,000 veterans were homeless in 2024.

06:49Yet the debate is about sending another $500 million for the defense of Jordan.

06:55And that's a country I guarantee you most Americans can't even find on a map.

07:01But most Americans have a veteran in their family or their friends that suffers every single

07:07day from this country's continued pursuit of foreign wars and funding foreign wars.

07:13Mr. Speaker, enough of the foreign aid and foreign wars and funding for the security

07:19of foreign borders that have nothing to do with our own borders and our own American people

07:25and the $37 trillion in debt that's killing us.

07:29Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support my amendment.

07:33And I yield the remainder of my time.

07:35General Lady yields.

07:38Gentlemen from California.

07:40Gentlemen from California yields.

07:41Gentlemen from California yields.

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