Vote Explainer: Massie Amendment to H.R. 8595 — National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Seth Moulton (MA-06) issued the following statement regarding his decision to vote in favor of Massie Amendment to H.R. 8595 — the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027.
"Today I will vote in favor of an amendment to remove $3.3 billion in U.S. taxpayer-funded Foreign Military Financing for Israel from this year's State Department appropriations bill. We simply cannot continue to condone Netanyahu’s actions that are against our moral conscience and our own national security interests by perpetuating the status quo.
"As Secretary Rubio said himself, Netanyahu pushed Trump into war with Iran, which has been an utter disaster for everyone except Iran. Netanyahu is also flagrantly violating international law and fundamental human rights by supporting settler violence and expanding territory in the West Bank. In responding to the horrific terrorist attacks of October 7th, Netanyahu has prosecuted a war in Gaza that has killed 60,000 civilians, including an estimated 21,000 children, with a strategy that has failed to dislodge Hamas, failed to produce a political endgame, and failed to provide any long-term plan beyond continued violence. He is now doing the same thing, without any long-term strategy or political endgame, in Lebanon, which even the Trump Administration has loudly opposed.
"Based upon my own experience in a counter-insurgency campaign, I have spoken out loudly, publicly, and repeatedly about these failures, and even made my case to Netanyahu and his top deputies in person—but as with so many similar pleas from U.S. military and political leaders, it has failed to produce results. So we must do more.
"In all of these cases, I personally believe that Israel is not only acting against America’s national security interests, but against its own long-term interests as well. Therefore, continuing unconditional assistance would be condoning an unacceptable status quo. Even Netanyahu himself recently called for ending U.S.-taxpayer support for Israeli defense. None of us should be to the right of Netanyahu.
"Withholding these funds would not leave Israel defenseless. Israel has a nearly $50B defense budget and Congress also gave Israel an additional $9B over and above annual appropriations in 2024. But the idea that U.S. taxpayers should foot the IDF’s bills when too many Americans are struggling to pay their own, and when so many of us, including many veterans of Middle Eastern wars, disagree with their strategy for how this materiel is used, is not something I can support. Importantly, this amendment preserves funding for Iron Dome, which saves not only Israeli lives, but Palestinian lives as well, by reducing retaliatory strikes which were the only option before effective defenses.
"The United States has a longstanding strategic relationship with Israel that clearly needs a reset. This amendment is a small but significant step in that direction."
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