Press Releases

Washington, D.C. ­– Today, Congressman Nathaniel Moran (TX-01) released the following statement after voting to support a series of votes that included border security and foreign aid: 

“In Congress this week, amid mounting threats from authoritarian regimes, we engaged in a series of votes that involved border security and foreign aid to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine.  Although I did not favor certain portions of the bills, nor all of the procedural decisions utilized in their passage, I ultimately voted in favor of sending additional foreign aid and voted to reaffirm my support of increased border security by voting for the End the Border Catastrophe Act, which reaffirmed much of what was previously passed by the House in the Secure the Border Act of 2023.

These are extremely tough issues.  Rightfully, Americans are hesitant to provide foreign aid of any kind to other nations because our nation is struggling to address critical matters at home—namely border security and spending.  I am, too.  And, I have worked tirelessly for border security for the past 16 months in Congress.  But, our efforts to secure the border and stand against international tyrants is not a binary one.  We do not have to choose to either address domestic concerns or international threats; instead, we can choose to address both simultaneously.  I believe that history teaches us that we must address both.  

There is no doubt that our current foreign policy decisions are complicated by the failures of the Biden Administration to appropriately address these critical domestic issues that affect the very sovereignty and security of our nation.  And, they are complicated by the fact that China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia are working together in their endeavors. 

Our foreign policy decisions are further convoluted by the absence of leadership from the United States across the globe, which has incentivized these bad actors to behave even worse.  We have simply failed to engage in steady, strategic, and strong foreign and military policy that would serve as a deterrent to these oppressive regimes.  Right now—under the Biden Administration—American leadership is absent on the world stage, and these bad actors know there will be little to no consequence for their actions.  We are giving them the green light.

Let me be clear: The United States is not the world’s police force.  But, when it comes to the current foreign policy of the United States during this critical time in history, there are two potential paths: (1) a pathway of strength or (2) a pathway of appeasement.  The latter has proven unsuccessful.  On June 6, 1984, at a ceremony commemorating the 40^th Anniversary of the Normandy invasion, President Ronald Reagan said the following:  

‘We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost.  We’ve learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.’

Forty years later, Reagan’s wisdom endures.  Strength is the only winning strategy for the United States and its national security interests.  Today, these growing tyrannical governments are looking to expand their territories, as well as their military, diplomatic, and economic influence—regimes like those in China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (along with all their proxies, like the Mexican Cartels, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas).  The U.S. cannot sit idly by as those countries minimize our influence, divide our alliances, and destroy our allies like Israel and Taiwan, among others. 

Today, the vote I cast in favor of these packages was a vote in support of a stronger America and a more secure border; a vote to oppose the terrorism and totalitarianism that seeks to dominate the free world by force; a vote to spend some money now to avoid spending much more later; a vote to send arms now to our allies to avoid sending American troops later; and a vote to reaffirm President Reagan’s truth that peace comes through strength and that America must lead, even when it’s difficult.”

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