Marjorie Taylor Greene Moves To Cut $500 Million In Military Assistance To Taiwan

Forbes Breaking News

During House floor debate, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced an amendment to reduce U.S. assistance to Taiwan by $500 million.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

00:01As the House considers funding $831 billion to the Department of Defense for the funding

00:08of our great men and women in our military to defend our nation and our nation's interests,

00:15it's important to talk about the foreign aid that we are funding to foreign countries.

00:19The American people are $37 trillion in debt.

00:24The debt keeps rising and the interest on our debt is at $1 trillion now per year, $1 trillion.

00:34My amendment would strike $500 million of military assistance to Taiwan.

00:41This is an increase of $100 million from fiscal year 2025 and will be used to provide a wide

00:48variety of assistance, including planes, drones, missile defense, munitions, and more.

00:55Listen to this.

00:56As we're giving an extra $100 million, making it $500 million in this Department of Defense

01:04appropriations bill, the entire defense budget of Taiwan is less than $20 billion.

01:11Our defense budget is $831 billion.

01:15It wouldn't be so high if we weren't giving foreign aid.

01:18We've given Taiwan over $2 billion in funding and munitions over the past two years.

01:25We've already given them $2 billion, but now we're giving them another $500 billion.

01:31Increasing foreign aid to Taiwan will only increase their reliance on the United States, and the

01:36United States should be serving the American people and stop enslaving the American people

01:42in massive debt that drives the inflation that is causing Americans to suffer, that is causing

01:50Americans to not be able to afford everyday life.

01:53The United States is $37 trillion in debt, and we can't even hardly afford our own massive

02:00military budget, let alone funding the significant portions of other countries, of foreign countries,

02:09foreign nations, and foreign people that do not pay taxes here in America.

02:16We have so many of our own domestic problems here at home, and should not be funding foreign countries,

02:23foreign aids, and quite frankly, instigating World War III with China.

02:29Before we start worrying about Taiwan's borders or Ukraine's borders or any other countries' borders,

02:35we should be focusing on the continued security of our own border and deporting the criminals

02:42and terrorists and millions of people that invaded our country and are somewhere within our country

02:48after they invaded our own borders.

02:51Mr. Speaker, our reserve.

02:53General Lady of Reserves, for purposes, a gentleman from California seek recognition.

02:58I rise in opposition to the General Lady's amendment.

03:00Gentleman is recognized for five minutes.

03:02I greatly admire the gentlelady from Georgia's passion for ensuring support for our overseas allies

03:08are a wise use of taxpayers' dollars, but support for Taiwan must be part of that equation.

03:16Just yesterday, the Trump administration released a statement of administration policy for the

03:20Defense of Appropriation Bill, very supportive of the bill we produced.

03:25One of the very few areas the administration expressed any slight disagreement with our bill

03:29was wanting more money for Taiwan.

03:33The administration has proposed including $1 billion, while this bill provides $500 million.

03:39Now, had OMB delivered budget materials to us in time for consideration, we would have certainly

03:45taken a look at providing what they requested, but that wasn't the case.

03:50Supporting Taiwan in the face of unrelenting Chinese aggression is absolutely in the vital

03:55interest of the United States.

03:56I want to point out that Taiwan makes 90 percent of the world's chips and close to 100 percent

04:03of the highly needed chips for artificial intelligence and high technical devices.

04:11The funding will go a long way to make sure that Taiwan has the resources necessary to help

04:16prevent a Chinese invasion.

04:19That's the position of the Trump administration, and that's the position of this bill.

04:23With that, I urge a no vote on the amendment and reserve the balance of my time.

04:27And I yield two minutes to the ranking member, the gentlelady from Minnesota.

04:33The gentlelady is recognized.

04:35Thank you, Mr. Chair.

04:36I am very, very proud of my vote to vote against the President's big tax package, which added

04:44a $3.4 trillion debt to our national debt over the next 10 years.

04:50But right now, I'm rising in opposition to this amendment.

04:53America's strength around the world does not only stem from our military power, but our network

04:57of alliances in Europe and the Pacific that allow us to project power.

05:02Our allies support us, and we support them.

05:05That means when our allies are threatened, the United States needs to be with them.

05:09That's exactly what we're doing in Ukraine, helping sovereign nation defend its democracy

05:16from Russian aggression.

05:18A similar situation could easily occur in the Pacific, where Taiwan is threatened by the People's

05:23Republic of China.

05:25China has a recent history of seizing territory.

05:28Look at the evasion of Tibet in the 1950s.

05:31They've suppressed democracy in Hong Kong.

05:33And when the Chinese President speaks of reunification of Taiwan, we should believe that he will attempt

05:38it.

05:39We cannot allow that to happen.

05:41China may not stop with Taiwan.

05:42If Taiwan falls, other Pacific Island nations like the Philippines would be threatened.

05:47And America is not alone in these concerns.

05:49Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand are deeply concerned about the future of Taiwan's

05:55democracy.

05:56That's why they're working with us to deter China and to prevent an evasion of Taiwan

06:01from happening.

06:02The $500 million in this bill will assist Taiwan in preparing their military, increasing their

06:07readiness and their deterrence capabilities.

06:10So I support the inclusion of the funds in this bill, and I strongly oppose this amendment.

06:14I ask my colleagues to do the same, and I yield back.

06:17Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

06:25The best way to compete with China is to have a strong American economy.

06:29We shouldn't be having to fund the protection of a foreign country that is producing over

06:3390 percent of our chips when we should be producing those chips right here at home.

06:39Currently many of our rare earth minerals are tied up on federal lands, and this is a problem

06:44that is tying up the production of chips here in America.

06:49You see, America should be building our strength and resilience.

06:54Instead of an additional, let's say an additional $500 million being given to Taiwan for their defense

07:01budget, we shouldn't be investing that $500 million into America's ability to produce.

07:08chips, so that we don't have to be the world's police that go defend all these other foreign

07:16countries from China's aggression.

07:18The best way to beat China is with a strong America, but decades of America-last policies

07:25where our manufacturing jobs were sent overseas and sent to China is what made China strong.

07:33America created that problem, and America is continuing to create that problem by dependence

07:38on foreign countries for our own manufacturing.

07:42This is why rural America has been crumbling for decades, because of the economic loss of

07:47their own small towns.

07:50In America today, the cost of college tuition has increased by over 180 percent.

07:57That means it's unaffordable for many students, and they're laden with student loan debt.

08:02According to American Compass, in 1985, 40 weeks of a typical worker's income could provide

08:08the middle class essentials for a family of four.

08:11But now, this requires over 62 weeks of income, exceeding the 52 weeks in a year.

08:18Life is unaffordable for Americans, Mr. Speaker, worth $37 trillion in debt.

08:23I urge my colleagues to vote for my amendment, and I yield.

08:37I'll give a really good chance to work at the end of this, even though it really is really

08:40good.

08:41And it's true.

08:43Let's talk about the equity code and the equity code.

08:45I think it's a huge boost of interest in debt.

08:46It's a huge boost of interest, isn't it?

08:47Maybe you can find a little bit.

08:49If you're lucky, that it's a big boost of interest in debt.

08:49I think the highest� is your belief in debt.

08:51But the Preferences are a huge boost in debt.

08:53And I think the loss and the debt has increased by $37 trillion in debt, and you want to do it,

08:54have a huge boost in debt.

08:55If you're lucky enough, you want to have a huge boost of interest in debt, and you won't

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