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April 19, 2024 For Immediate Release Contact: Taylor Haulsee
Speaker Johnson joined the Ben Shapiro Show to discuss the national security supplemental
WASHINGTON — Today, Speaker Johnson joined the Ben Shapiro Show to discuss President Biden’s failed foreign policy, the House national security supplemental legislation, and the importance of America projecting strength on the world stage.
Click here to listen to the full interview
On American strength:
I believe in peace through strength. I believe in what Ronald Reagan said, it does not mean that we’re the world’s policemen. It does not mean that American troops should have boots on the ground everywhere. That’s not what we’re for. But to your point, Ben, and you’ve said it well; a strong America is good for stability around the globe. What does that mean? It means the perception of a strong America we’re the last great superpower. We, you know, we’re the greatest nation in the history of the world. It’s not even close. We’re the most free, most benevolent the strongest, the most powerful. And if we don’t act like it, then terrorists and tyrants take over.
The reason that Iran and China and North Korea and Russia right now are acting so provocatively is because we’re projecting weakness on the world stage. Joe Biden’s foreign policy has been an absolute disaster. And that’s what’s got us in this situation. And if we do this little bit of investment here, we can stem the tide, hold them off, hopefully until we get a new president. And that day cannot happen soon enough.
On the House’s leverage with the national security supplemental legislation:
The House is fixing the Senate supplemental bill, the foreign aid bill that was sent to us a few months ago with better policy and better process. And so what we’ve done is we’ve taken, for example, the Ukraine funding elements that are, that are controversial, of course, on our side, we’ve added a loan instrument. We have added the, the REPO Act, which is the use of corrupt Russian oligarchs’ seized assets to support the effort there. We’ve added oversight, accountability, and a strategy shift to force the White House to give us the information and the end game and all the rest. We have an amendment process, so we can address each of these measures on their own merit in four separate bills instead of having them sandwiched together. And everybody can vote their own will and their own conscience and their own constituents. That’s the way this place is supposed to work. And we included tough measures on Russia, China, and Iran, including sanctions and some other innovation. So a very important change in both the process and the policy, and if we had not done this Ben, and this is very important, we would have had to eat the Senate supplemental if, if we had not taken this step, there would’ve been a discharge petition. And that means that a handful of Republicans would’ve crossed over and gotten on board with the Democrats to force it out of my hands and make us take the Senate supplemental as is. That was not an acceptable outcome, and this is the best possible outcome that we can achieve.
On the vital importance of deterring Vladimir Putin:
Look on the Ukraine piece, this is really important to point out. You know, there’s a lot of angst about, you know, quote unquote sending more money to Ukraine, but 80% of the funds that are in this package for Ukraine are literally to replenish American weapons and stocks and facilities. This is America’s defense and industrial base. This is building weapons here at home and refilling our stockpiles really, really important thing for us to do. Ukraine is in a position where they very likely would, would fall. And so this is going to allow them to, to at least hold the line. And I believe then that President Donald Trump is gonna have another term and in, in early next year if this is continuing to that point, I think he’s the one that has the strength to go in and negotiate a peace in this. But not if Russia rolls through the country, I mean, this is really important. As I said in a, in a press gaggle here the other day, to be blunt, I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than boys. You know American soldiers, we don’t want boots on the ground. We’re not the world’s policemen. If we can invest this small amount right now and achieve the desired outcome that is better for us in the long run, and it saves us a lot of money and of course, blood and toil.
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