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April 19, 2024 For Immediate Release Contact: Taylor Haulsee
Speaker delivers remarks following House vote on rule
WASHINGTON — Following a 316-94 vote on the procedural rule to allow amendments and debate on the House national security supplemental, Speaker Johnson delivered brief remarks to press off the House floor:
“The Senate sent us effectively a blank check for foreign aid, and that was not going to work for the policy or the process in the House. It is a better process to break the bills up into four separate measures for consideration and that is what we will have tomorrow. Everyone can vote their will and their constituents desires on Israel aid, the Ukrainian aid, the Indo-Pacific, and our fourth national security package that has all of the innovations in it.
“Because we did this process, we got a better outcome. There are a lot of innovations that the Senate didn’t consider. We include the REPO Act, which as you know is the use of corrupt Russian oligarchs’ assets to help fund the resistance in Ukraine. We introduced the loan concept for the governmental assistance part to be provided a loan, instead of a gift. We also included some really important sanctions on Russia and China and Iran, which I believe is the new axis of evil, and many of us do. They are the ones who are the aggressors in this situation.
“The reality here is that if the House did not do this better policy and process, allowing for amendments on the floor in the process tomorrow, we would have had to eat the Senate supplemental bill. And that is because we were very close, given the timeline of both Israel and Ukraine, to a discharge petition being brought. And a discharge petition, in layman’s terms, is when a number of members or a majority of members get together, they can override the Speaker and bring something straight to the floor. That would have happened imminently on the Senate supplemental.
“So, by doing this, even though it’s not the perfect legislation, it’s not the legislation that we would write if Republicans were in charge of both the House, the Senate, and the White House, this is the best possible product that we can get under these circumstances to take care of these really important obligations. And so, we look forward to the vote tomorrow. We look forward to every member voting their conscience and their desire. And that is exactly how this process is supposed to work and how the House is supposed to operate. We’re happy to provide that and we’ll give you more comment tomorrow.”
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