Speaker Johnson After House Passes Foreign Aid: ‘We Did Our Work Here and I Think History Will Judge It Well’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
WITT: “We’ll have to go to Speaker Johnson. Let’s take a listen.”

Johnson: “I said these are not normal times. They’re not. The world is destabilized and it is a tinder box. It is a dangerous time. Three of our primary adversaries, Russia, China and Iran are working together. They are being aggressors around the gleb and they are a global threat to our prosperity and security. Their advance threatens the free world and demands American leadership. If we turn our backs right now, the consequences could be devastating. So this afternoon, the house acted. We sent over tothe Senate and it will be transmitted shortly, our national security legislation. Make no mistake. This is not a blank check like the Senate pup elemental bill was. This is very different. Instead of taking the path of least resistance and bringing up the supmental on the house floor or allowing discharge petition, we gave our members a voice, a chance, a better process, and a much better policy. Unlike the Senate’s blank check, the house legislation has a number of features, providing greater accountability and forces an end game strategy and includes a loan instrument of the the foreign loan and ensures Russian assets pay for part of the bill. The loan system itself is a house innovation and allows for much needed insight. 80% of the Ukraine funding will go to the replennishment of American weapons and stocks and our facilities and our operations. It also includes tough measures and sanctions on Iran and Russia and China which most of the American people understand is a necess and important thing. Our process ensured that each member was able to consider each of the elements on their own merits which is how the house is supposed to work. I know there are critics of the legislation. I understand that. It is not a perfect piece of legislation. We are not ensured that in a time of divided government and in a time when there are a lot of different opinions. But there is no question that the house has made many strong improvements to the Senate bill and the product we sent over there is much better. This package I will note because it is very important also includes national security priorities and many of them but it is the only way that we could have gotten Democrats to support aid to Israel. That’s a fact. There is a lot of misinformation out there about the bill and I want to make one point about one issue that has been drawing a lot of the attention. Could any of the funding go to Hamas or terrorist organizations and we put safeguards in the legislation to ensure that unrwa is not funded, the U.N. amgancy that included participants in the October 7th attack on Israel. We also had language that prevents the funding from going to Hamas or any other bad actors. That is an important element of oversight. Congress takes oversight seriously and we will keep an eye on every dollar. I said it simply and once again, it is an old military adage, we would rather sebd bullets to the conflict overseas than our own troops. I think this is an important moment and an important opportunity to make the decision. We allowed the house to do that and I expect the Senate to make the same decision. One or two questions. As I said many times, I don’t walk around the building worried about a motion to vacate. I have to do my job. I did the right thing to allow the house to work its will. You do the right thing and you let the chips fall where they may.”

Reporter: “Why you decide to do it right now?”

Johnson: “Important work to do here. We had a reauthorize the foreign intelligence surveillance act. We had a lot of important measures to be done and we got to this as quickly as we could. This is an important matter. It is timely. You have heard from leaders around the world including in Ukraine that this is being done in a timely basis and the house the to have the time to deliberate and do this in the right manner.”