Chairman Cole Testifies Before House Rules Committee (As Prepared)

Apr 18, 2024

Statements

Thank you.

Chairman Burgess, Ranking Member McGovern, and distinguished members of the Rules Committee, I thank you for the warm welcome.

When I cycled off the Rules Committee last week, I knew I'd be back in this room and at this witness table at some point. I did not anticipate it would be this soon! But, as we have all seen, events move at their own speed in the House of Representatives.

I come before you today to testify on a series of critical security supplemental bills that provide much-needed defense assistance to our allies and partners around the world. We are confronting a tinderbox of uninvited aggression on multiple fronts, and America must stand firmly on the side of freedom.

Peace through strength cannot be delivered through appeasement. Taken together, these measures protect our friends and partners and replenish American stockpiles of ammunition, weapons, and supplies. This is not only about safeguarding ideals of democracy and peace-but also central to our own national security.

The tyrants and dictators at the helm of Russia, China, and Iran show disdain for sovereignty-and they are acting on it. We are here because the shared order of the free world is at risk.

This is not hypothetical.

Two years ago, Vladimir Putin launched a forcible and illegal invasion of Ukraine. The onslaught was brutal. Yet, the defiant Ukrainian people have fought valiantly. They refuse to let Moscow take their homeland, but the conflict is now a war of attrition. It is incumbent on Ukraine's friends to provide needed aid so that Ukraine can continue to resist.

Israel, too, is literally on the front lines. Last year, Hamas launched a vicious terror attack on our great ally. Twelve hundred Israelis were murdered, and hundreds of people were taken captive. One hundred and thirty hostages, including American citizens, remain imprisoned in Gaza today. Iran has taken note and is looking to prolong violence in the region. This past weekend, Tehran executed an unprecedented aerial assault on Israel, firing hundreds of missiles and drones. Most of these were intercepted by Israeli forces and those of Israel's friends and allies, including the United States, but the threat from this known state sponsor of terrorism cannot be understated. Nor can the threat from Iran's proxies, not just Hamas, but Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others, all of which are capable of and willing to commit themselves to warfare against Israel.

Taiwan, meanwhile, faces real and serious threats from the Chinese Communist Party, which looks across the Taiwan Strait and into the South China Sea. Taiwan continues to show the world what a free and democratic China could look like, and their security is critical to American security interests in the Asia-Pacific theater.

We are at an inflection point, and I'd remind everyone here to remember history. We are living in what feels like a time in the past.

In the 1930s, aggressor nations probed for weakness, seeking any openings to exploit their neighbors. At the time, the democratic West had opportunities to confront and end this aggression. We failed to do so, and from that failure, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and a militarized Japan took the message that we would do nothing to stop them. The result was bloody and devastating, culminating in the largest, most destructive, and deadliest war in history.

The eyes of the world are upon us.

Russia is watching.

Iran is watching.

The Chinese Communist Party is watching.

What are we going to show them?

Failing to pass this critical national security aid is a gift to our adversaries. I would encourage all members to vote to support this critical legislation.

I thank you again for your kind invitation to appear before the Rules Committee to testify today, and I look forward to your questions.