U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today issued the following statement after voting for the national security supplemental funding package:
“America’s interests are being threatened by China, Russia, and Iran. If we want to meet these connected threats, we need to use our diplomatic leverage, maintain a strong military, and stand with our allies and partners.
“This legislation provides vital security assistance to those on the frontlines of aggression in Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. We cannot abandon these allies and partners as they face existential threats.
“This bill also takes urgent steps to help rebuild our defense industrial base, which has significantly diminished in recent years. Restoring our military readiness — from artillery and submarines to semiconductors — is critical not to promoting war but to deterring conflict and furthering America’s global interests.
“In the aftermath of the last two decades, there is a natural impulse to want to withdraw from our global leadership role and turn our attention inward. But we cannot ignore the cost of such divestment – costs which are manifesting themselves at this very moment. Abandoning our allies and partners will empower and embolden authoritarian powers such as China and Russia. Leadership comes with a price, but it also comes with rewards.”
The legislation passed the Senate 79-18. The components of the package passed the House on April 20, 2024, and it will now go the President’s desk for his signature.
In addition to critical support for our defense industrial base and our allies and partners, the legislation takes steps to reduce China’s malign influence in the United States through TikTok, creates a mechanism for the U.S. and our allies to use Russian assets to fund future Ukraine reconstruction, and imposes new sanctions against Iran’s drone and energy industries and against its senior leaders.
