Washington, DC – Today, Representative Gregory W. Meeks, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement on the House passage of the FY22 appropriations package, which included funding for valuable global priorities like addressing the climate crisis, supporting global health security, and providing life-saving humanitarian assistance.

Provisions in FY22 which the Chairman praised include:

• Ukraine supplemental Funding Request: Includes over $4 billion in humanitarian aid, $650 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF), and more in long term security and economic support for Ukraine and the region
  
  
• The Haiti Development Accountability and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act - Requires the State Department and USAID to conduct a thorough assessment of U.S.-led assistance and development initiatives in Haiti since the devastating earthquake in 2010.
  
  
• Israel Relations Normalization Act - Encourages the State Department to bolster current Abraham Accords agreements and seek ways of expanding them to other nations - all while making certain they benefit the Palestinian people and contribute to a two-state solution
  
  
• $1 billion in supplemental funding for the Iron Dome system, an essential defense for Israel’s national security.

“I’m proud to have successfully included many of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s priorities in the FY22 appropriations package. Among those provisions were an important section I authored requiring a comprehensive strategy from the Administration on how the U.S. will support Ukraine to counter Russia’s unprovoked, illegal invasion, as well as a detailed diplomatic plan for working with our allies and partners going forward.

“The additional security assistance provided addresses critical needs of the Ukrainian government that were conveyed during my visit both in Kiev last month and at the Polish-Ukrainian border just a few days ago.

“I am also pleased this bill includes support for Israel and Arab-world normalization efforts, and $1 billion for Israel’s life-saving Iron Dome system.

“This bill demonstrates American leadership on the world’s stage, at a time when global engagement is more important than ever to our security, our economic benefit, and our democratic values. I look forward to its swift enactment into law.

“I was disappointed, however, to see that the COVID supplemental funding was pulled from the omnibus at the last minute. After valuable efforts by this Congress and the Biden Administration to develop, produce, and procure sufficient COVID vaccines, the last and most important step is to ensure those shots get into arms. As I’ve long said, COVID doesn’t respect national borders, and we are all made safer by efforts to address the spread of this disease around the world.”