Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), joined Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Mike Rounds (R-SD) in calling for $500 million to fully fund U.S.-Israel cooperative missile defense programs in the Fiscal Year 2024 Defense Appropriations bill.
“Since 1986, Congress and successive Administrations have demonstrated bipartisan support for joint U.S.-Israel missile defense collaboration. This partnership has helped build and maintain a multi-tiered Israeli missile defense system capable of countering a wide range of threats from state and non-state actors.” wrote the senators.
“Continued support of the U.S.-Israel collaborative defense programs is critical to meeting the United States’ and Israel’s national security needs,” continued the senators. “In addition to ballistic missile defense, this $500 million in federal funding will continue critical work on these air defense systems that can help counter hostile unmanned aerial systems. Together, these programs confront the compelling challenges facing both Israel and the United States and represent the enduring friendship of our nations.”
Joining Senators Cramer, Gillibrand, and Rounds are Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ted Budd (R-NC), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), James Lankford (R-OK), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), John Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Rick Scott (R-FL), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), John Thune (R-SD), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Click here to read the letter.