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Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) is urging House Republican leadership to immediately bring the Senate-passed bipartisan national security supplemental aid bill to the floor for a vote, emphasizing its potential to meet the nation’s security challenges and help save lives in the short and long term.

Yesterday, Rep. Carbajal – a Marine veteran and senior member of the House Armed Services Committee – joined House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other House Democrats with military and national security backgrounds to push for debate and a vote on the bipartisan bill which passed the Senate in a bipartisan vote earlier this week.

“As Marine veteran and someone who has mobilized in the 90s, when we were confronting a different dictator invading his neighbor, let me be clear about what happens if the Speaker fails to bring this bill up for a vote: this supplemental won't just save lives today by delivering aid and helping defend civilian lives. This package will save lives in the future,” said Rep. Carbajal. “The men and women of our armed forces who could be called upon to respond to a wider conflict and new wars. If Russia, in Donald Trump's words, does whatever it wants to Ukraine, we know that it may not stop there. If we do not approve this bill today, we still have to approve it eventually. Only next time it might be to defend a NATO ally. And it would just not be American dollars. It could be the lives of American servicemembers and yes, civilians.”

Rep. Carbajal’s remarks can be viewed in full here.

“[Rep. Carbajal and these other members] understand through their own life experiences of service how urgent it is that the House pass forth with the bipartisan and comprehensive national security bill that has been advanced in the United States Senate. This is a matter of America's urgent national security. It's a matter of democracy. It's a matter of freedom. It's a matter of standing by our allies,” said Leader Jeffries. “And in the absence of doing so, particularly as it relates to the ongoing war of aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine, it's a matter of American lives potentially being on the line if Ukraine and its brave war effort falters because of inaction here in the United States Congress by extreme MAGA Republicans.”

Rep. Carbajal also joined Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Jason Crow (D-CO), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Pat Ryan (D-NY), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson urging him to bring the bill to the House floor for a vote.

“Our impact on the future of democracy has never been more clear. Ukraine now enters its third year of war with Russia with a depleted stockpile of weapons and necessary supplies, the threat of Hamas still looms large in Israel and Gaza, and China’s intentions within the Indo-Pacific region are of deep concern. The stakes of failing to enact this legislation now cannot be overstated. Therefore, we implore you to take up this legislation immediately,” the members wrote.

You can read their full letter here.

The national security supplemental package passed with 70 votes in the Senate earlier this week includes:

• $60.06 billion to support Ukraine in its fight to repel Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion and protect its people and sovereignty.
• $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel.
• $2.44 billion to support operations in the U.S. Central Command and address combat expenditures related to conflict in the Red Sea.
• $9.15 billion in humanitarian assistance to provide food, water, shelter, medical care, and other essential services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine, and other populations caught in conflict zones across the globe.
• $4.83 billion to support key regional partners in the Indo-Pacific and deter aggression by the Chinese government.
• $481 million to continue support for Ukrainians displaced by Putin’s war of aggression.
• The Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act.

As a Vice Chair of the New Democrat Coalition, Rep. Carbajal has been a leader in pushing for Congressional action on President Biden’s supplemental request for security and humanitarian aid in support of Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, as well as humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza and funding to help address immigration backlogs and security challenges at the U.S. southern border.

“For Republicans to say that they will not consider this bill because it lacks the very actions on border security that they killed in the cradle just this past week is hypocrisy and an insult to the intelligence of the American people at a level I am shocked to see,” said Rep. Carbajal. “Our immigration system is broken, and the influx at our border is overwhelming that broken system. Democrats came to the table to find solutions, with an eye to this being the first step to finally addressing overdue fixes to a system that I myself used to come to the this country when I was a child. But Republicans said the quiet part out loud: that if it meant helping Joe Biden, they really had no interest in acting in a bipartisan way on immigration and the border.”

Rep. Carbajal has also been pushing the Biden Administration to help scale up efforts to deliver life-saving aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, seek the renewal of a humanitarian ceasefire, secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas, and emphasize to Israel the need for a strategy that protects civilian life.

Rep. Carbajal recently voiced concerns to President Biden over Israel’s military operational strategies, and signed a resolution calling for a renewal of a humanitarian ceasefire that had previously helped facilitate safe delivery of humanitarian aid and the release of hostages being held by Hamas.