{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://crane.house.gov/2023/10/24/media-press-releases-newsweek-op-ed-rep-eli-crane-dont-fall-bidens-foolish-attempt-tie-funding/", "Newsweek Op-Ed by Rep. Eli Crane: Don\u2019t Fall for Biden\u2019s Foolish Attempt to Tie Funding for Israel to Ukraine", "2023-10-24", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "Elijah Crane", "C001132", "crane.house.gov", "crane", "https://crane.house.gov/media/", "scraper", "Click here to read the full piece.\n\nAs the world watches in horror as news outlets continue to report on the atrocities unleashed on Israeli civilians at the hands of Islamic terrorists, the United States rightly stands shoulder to shoulder with our ally. Yet while our only ally in the Middle East seeks to defend herself against terrorists hellbent on her complete destruction, President Biden is asking Congress to tether reckless funding for the conflict in Ukraine to aid for Israel\u2014instead of moving to secure our border to prevent a similar attack on American soil.\n\nThe modern Jewish State has been a mission critical partner of the United States since its miraculous founding in 1948. For the past 75 years, the United States has stood resolute with Israel, sharing in a mutually beneficial relationship that has made both nations safer and more prosperous, while making the world more secure. From intelligence sharing and military cooperation that aids our security efforts, to water and medical technology that help our citizens live prosperously, our friendship with Israel has served the United States well.\n\nThe security assistance the United States sends to Israel on an annual basis provides them with the weapons, munitions, and technology to fight back against dark forces who wish to see the Jewish people erased from their ancestral homeland. Those dark forces were out in full, horrifying display on October 7, when Hamas terrorists launched a murderous attack against Israelis\u2014setting civilians on fire, slaughtering entire families, raping women in the streets, and kidnapping children.\n\nAs Israel defends herself against vicious animals who wish to carry out a genocide against Jews, any foreign aid the U.S. provides to Israel would be reciprocal of our shared interests\u2014not an advancement of globalist interests. Israel is being forced to combat the same forces of darkness that have fueled countless terror attacks, including the horrors of September 11, 2001, that have killed thousands of Americans. Not to mention, the recent onslaught in Israel has already claimed the lives of 31 American civilians, with more Americans missing or being held hostage.\n\nAs if this weren\u2019t terrifying enough, this horrific attack sheds light on the threats we\u2019re exposed to within the American homeland, thanks to Biden\u2019s open border.\n\nOur leaders are addicted to focusing on international conflicts while abandoning the needs of Americans at home. They seem to focus on atrocities going on in the world and completely drop the ball and forget about what\u2019s going on here. They forget about our wide-open border under Biden that\u2019s incentivized about 280 people on the terror watchlist to attempt to enter. They forget about the 1.6 million got-aways\u2014all of whom have successfully infiltrated our nation.\n\nIf you don\u2019t think there are any lone wolves or terrorist cells that have come in through that wide open border, you\u2019re a fool.\n\nWe can and should continue to support our ally Israel\u2014but we must put the safety and wellbeing of our own citizens first. We must ensure that we remain levelheaded and vigilant that we don\u2019t allow the current conflict to escalate into another forever war.\n\nAs the U.S. Representative for Arizona\u2019s Second Congressional District, protecting Americans is one of my top priorities, right behind defending our God-given, unalienable rights.\n\nThat objective is not advanced by becoming further entangled in Russia\u2019s conflict with Ukraine. While the war in Ukraine has rightly sparked outrage and caused unnecessary death and suffering, U.S. involvement will only increase casualties, prolong a peaceful end, and potentially escalate the conflict to a nuclear war.\n\nRussia\u2019s goal is to establish geopolitical control over Ukraine. In stark contrast, Hamas\u2019 goal is to eradicate Jews.\n\nUkraine, while democratic in name, is notoriously one of the most corrupt countries in the world. According to Transparency International, the Ukrainian government ranks near the bottom third of all included countries when it comes to levels of corruption.\n\nYet to date, we\u2019ve sent over $135 billion to Ukraine since the start of the conflict\u2014which still has no end in sight. To put that in perspective, since Israel\u2019s founding, we\u2019ve given our ally just over $150 billion. President Biden\u2019s latest request would tie $14.3 billion for Israel to an irrational $61.4 billion for Ukraine.\n\nThe Establishment is dead set on wedging America into the conflict in Ukraine despite our relationship with Ukraine providing no net benefit to the U.S. We have no business inserting ourselves in this war to defend a non-ally simply to police the world.\n\nContinuing to bankroll a land dispute in Eastern Europe that we can\u2019t afford, siphoning funds away from securing our border and giving it parity with Israel\u2019s existential war against genocidal Islamic terrorists, is reckless and irresponsible.\n\nAny additional aid that\u2019s sent to Israel from the United States government should under no circumstances be tied to additional funding for the conflict in Ukraine. Our foreign policy objectives should always be assessed individually, giving our domestic needs preeminence while putting the security and prosperity of America first.\n\nIrresponsibly bundling these two aid packages together saddles our strategic support for Israel with the needless escalation of another forever war.\n\nEli Crane is the representative for Arizona\u2019s 2nd Congressional District and is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee. He is a former Navy SEAL and businessman.\n\nThe views expressed in this article are the writer\u2019s own.\n\nClick here to read the full piece.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:49:26Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://crane.house.gov/2023/10/24/media-press-releases-newsweek-op-ed-rep-eli-crane-dont-fall-bidens-foolish-attempt-tie-funding/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9410050697624683, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}