Heritage Action opposes the Rule to combine foreign aid bills, solely because it would create a new legislative package that bypasses accountability on individual bills. The Rule vote will be included as a Key Vote on our legislative scorecard.
The Rule establishes parameters for debate and consideration on the below bills:
H.R. 8034 – Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
H.R. 8035 – Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
H.R. 8036 – Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
H.R. 8038 – 21st Century Peace through Strength Act
The Rule includes language to combine the above four bills after each has passed the House separately. There is no vote on the final package—meaning members will not have the ability to oppose combination of the bills on the floor, even if members only support pieces of the overall package.
This Rule fundamentally transforms the policy questions it claims to consider. The vote on and structure of the Rule is not simply a procedural step for beginning debate, rather, it is intended to ensure votes on the individual bills do not jeopardize a predetermined outcome. The Rule is designed to produce a single bill consistent with the Senate-passed foreign aid supplemental, regardless of the lack of support for that package in the House. To that end, the Rule is the only vote that addresses the contents of all four underlying bills together.
Debating the merits of each individual bill is important; allowing votes on each individual bill is similarly important. However, knowingly supporting a process that fundamentally undermines the purpose of these two goals is extremely misleading to the American people and disingenuous for members who claim to oppose the Senate’s recently-passed foreign aid supplemental.
Heritage Action opposes the Rule to combine foreign aid bills, solely because it would create a new legislative package that bypasses accountability on individual bills. The Rule vote will be included as a Key Vote on our legislative scorecard.