Marjorie Taylor Greene Decries $37 Trillion+ Deficit 'That Continues To Enslave The American People'

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During a debate on the House floor on Thursday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), and Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) sounded off on U.S. defense aid to Jordan.

Transcript

00:00Thank you. It is now in order to consider amendment number 115 printed part A of House

00:12Report 119-199. For what purpose does the gentleman from Georgia seek recognition? Mr.

00:18Speaker I have an amendment at the desk. The clerk will designate the amendment.

00:21Amendment number 115 printed in part A of House Report number 119-199 offered by Ms. Greene of

00:28Georgia. Pursuing to House Resolution 580 the gentleman from Georgia Ms. Greene and a member

00:34opposed each will control five minutes. The chair now recognizes the gentleman from Georgia.

00:39Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker as we are considering the defense appropriations bill

00:46that cost the American people 831 billion dollars it is important to consider the amount of foreign

00:54funding that we are spending every single year. The American people are 37 trillion dollars in debt.

01:01Life in America has become unaffordable especially for our youngest generations.

01:08This amendment would strike 500 million in military assistance to Jordan. This bill provides up to 500

01:15million in military assistance to support the armed forces of Jordan. However, our Department of Defense

01:23mission statement is to deter war and ensure our nation's security. My amendment would strike this

01:31provision to ensure that our defense appropriation bill funds only our military not foreign militaries.

01:38Why does our Department of Defense appropriations bill continue to pay for other countries'

01:44militaries? Furthermore, the National Security Department of State and related programs appropriations bill

01:52released this week already provides for an additional 1.65 billion in aid to Jordan. So why are we giving

02:01them another 500 million in our appropriations bill for our Department of Defense? Congress has appropriated

02:09between 1.5 billion and 1.65 billion in economic and military aid annually to Jordan since 2018. Annually. We're

02:22already sending them billions and billions and billions of dollars as the American people continue to tumble

02:29further and further and further in a graveyard of debt. 37 trillion dollars is a debt that we don't think we'll

02:38ever be able to claw our way out of. However, it's this institution and the irresponsible continued

02:46spending year after year after year that continues to enslave the American people in debt.

02:54At what point do our military bases in the Middle East and around the world make our country safer? In America

03:01today, there are still hundreds of the American people dying every single day from fentanyl that is

03:08come from China and the cartels create and depress pills and other drugs and smuggle into our country.

03:16It's time to put the American people first, Mr. Speaker, and it's time to finally consider

03:22the drastic amount of spending that we spend every single year in foreign aid. Mr. Speaker, I reserve.

03:28General Lady reserves. For what purpose is the gentleman from California?

03:33I rise in opposition to the General Lady's amendment.

03:34The gentleman is recognized.

03:35The gentleman remains an indispensable ally in an extremely dangerous region. Our partnership

03:42with the Kingdom of Jordan is critical both to the regional and U.S. and national security.

03:47We must continue to ensure Jordan can counter extremist terrorist threats, have the resources

03:52necessary to continue their role as the linchpin in the region. With that, I urge a no vote on the

03:58amendment and reserve the balance of my time. With that, I yield 90 seconds to the ranking member

04:03and the gentlelady from Minnesota. General Lady is recognized.

04:07Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in opposition to the amendment. Jordan's a long-standing reliable

04:12ally in the region, as the chair pointed out. And when there is any type of incident in the region,

04:17our national security officials, from CENTCOM generals to diplomats, first contact that they make is to get the

04:24temperature of the region from their Jordan counterparts. The United States and Jordan have since 1996 a

04:33status of force agreements and a 2006 acquisition and cross-service training agreement and a 2021

04:40defense cooperation agreement. This is a 30-year stability-built relationship in the Middle East

04:48with an Arab partner, and we need to nurture and maintain it. We've deployed military personnel to

04:54Jordan to support operations that defeated ISIS, to enhance Jordan's security, and to promote regional

05:00stability. Jordan air bases have been particularly important for U.S. to conduct intelligence, surveillance,

05:07and target acquisition and reconnaissance missions in Syria and Iraq. Just two weeks ago, our U.S.

05:14central commander traveled to Jordan, where he met with the chairman of the Jordan's chief of staff and key staff.

05:21They discussed the evolving security situation in the region, the deepening bilateral defense

05:26relationship between the United States and Jordan, and further expand in the military-to-military relationship

05:32between Jordan's armed forces and ours. This partnership continues to serve as a steadfast, capable, strategic

05:39partner for peace and stability in the region, and we need strong allies. Jordan's been and continues to

05:46be one of our strongest, and for this reason I oppose this amendment. I ask my colleagues to do the same,

05:51and I yield back. Generality yields back.

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