Israel QME Enhancement Act

All around Israel things are in tremendous turmoil.

To Israel's south, Egypt is experiencing its worst period of unrest in 50 years. There is no elected government, and there won't be until next year. The economy is on a ventilator in Egypt. It is propped up only by billions of dollars of aid from Gulf countries.

The Muslim Brotherhood is openly fighting the interim government with armed mobs. Terrorists and vagabonds in the always lawless Sinai Peninsula are only encouraged by the weakened state of Cairo.

To Israel's north, Syria has become the world's hotspot for terrorists. Terrorists like al Qaeda and Hezbollah are streaming in, with no end in sight. Out-of-town criminals have come into the country to wreak havoc.

To Israel's east, already fragile Jordan is being overrun with Syrian refugees and infiltrated by terrorists as well.

A little further east, al Qaeda is wreaking havoc in Iraq. There is more violence there than at any point since 2008.

And to the far east, mischief regime of the desert, Iran is closer than ever to obtaining a nuclear weapon that can enable it to fulfill its threat to wipe Israel off the map.

When I met with Prime Minister Netanyahu 2 weeks ago, he was clear that Israel cannot accept Iran as a nuclear threshold power if Israel wants to continue to exist as a people. He called our interim deal with Iran the worst deal of the century. I agree with him. It seems that we not only gave away the farm; we gave away the mineral rights as well. We took our best diplomatic tool, sanctions, off the table. The biggest problem with the deal was that it made a peaceful solution more unlikely.

With all of these threats surrounding it, we need to stand side by side and let the world know--our enemies and our friends--that we are allies of Israel. They are the U.S.'s strongest ally.

Israel is the only democracy in the region and the only one that respects human rights. It is in their national security interest and our national security interest to ensure Israel can defend itself from the ever-changing military threats. The enemies they have in the neighborhood are enemies to us as well.

I support H.R. 1992. The bill will make sure, too, that Israel's enemies do not gain a military advantage over the State of Israel. I urge its passage.

And that's just the way it is.