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Floor Speech
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Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I want to thank my senior Senator from the State of Tennessee for leading the charge on this important issue.
Time and time again, my colleagues across the aisle have blocked passage for a fully funded, standalone aid package for Israel. We have heard them claim they won't support our bill because cutting the IRS would allow millionaires to get away with tax evasion.
So Senator Blackburn and I are rising once again to make things easy for our colleagues who want a bloated IRS. But I have to tell you, not once in my lifetime have I heard any Kansan come to me and express interest in inflating the IRS, of all Agencies.
But we will press on, calling this bluff and putting forth the exact same bill without the IRS pay-for. For several months, I have said: If you don't like my pay-for, show me another. But at the end of the day, what matters is getting the aid to Israel.
Since this body won't allow us to make cuts to the IRS--on tax day, no less--to pay for the aid, unfortunately, it just won't be paid for. We will do away with the cuts if it means Democrats will stop holding aid to Israel. Let's make this deal right now. The people of Israel need us to make the deal.
But, once again, we will see the Democrats block this bill. That is because it is not about the cuts to the IRS. It is time to stop politicking. Senate Democrats' opposition here against this live unanimous consent proves to the American people and Israel that this was never about the IRS cuts being used as a pay-for. It was never about tax cheats or millionaires. It is about using our ally, Israel, as a pawn in their underlying mission to send another blank check to Ukraine, and it is about a handful of pro-Iranian and pro-Palestinian votes in swing States. It is that simple.
Again, I call on my Democratic colleagues to do the right thing. Drop the political posturing and let's secure a gigantic bipartisan victory for Israel in their time of need.
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