WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on the House vote on stand-alone funding for Israel’s Iron Dome:

“Regrettably, my recent requests to expedite key bills to the floor to address the growing crises our communities face, and keep people safely housed have been denied. Each time, precedent and resource constraints have been cited as the rationale.

“And yet and still, House leadership had no problem advancing a standalone bill to provide $1B in additional military spending without advanced notice, without ample time for debate, and on the very same week the House already had another defense bill headed to the floor and a regular order process in place to debate and advance defense related priorities through the National Defense Authorization Act.

“I deeply want Israeli and Palestinian families to know true peace and safety. My wish for Israeli and Palestinian families and for my own family is the same – to not only survive but to thrive. I want the same for every family here in the United States and around the globe. It is Israel’s prerogative to protect its residents through the use of the Iron Dome, I take no issue with that responsibility or sacred task, it is one of the fundamental roles of a sovereign state. But this is not the way Congress should consider an unprecedented $1B in funding above and beyond what’s called for in the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding with Israel.

“If we can’t move with urgency on critical domestic spending in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, there’s no reason we should move this way on military spending. I remain consistent in my commitment to working towards long overdue parity in our domestic and defense spending. I have made these process concerns abundantly clear with Caucus Leadership and I will be voting NO today.”

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