1. United States
2. Tenn.
3. Letter

Vote yes on the Massie-Khanna amendment to strip Section 219 from the FY27 NDAA. This provision would create a "United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative" that goes far beyond anything Congress has established with any NATO ally, including the UK, Germany, or Japan. No comparable statutory framework for this level of permanent defense integration exists for any other partner. The transparency problem alone should give pause. Unlike arms sales or supplemental appropriations that produce identifiable funding totals and require separate votes, cooperative activities under this framework would be far harder for Congress and the public to track. That concern is compounded by the Defense Intelligence Agency's recent decision to elevate Israel's counterintelligence threat designation to "critical," its highest category. And the Iron Dome episode is instructive: the U.S. Army purchased two batteries but couldn't integrate them because Israel withheld the source code. That is not a relationship that should be locked into deeper institutional integration by statute. Only 16% of Americans support arming Israel without restrictions, according to Sen. Sanders. Future administrations need the flexibility to recalibrate this relationship when American and Israeli interests diverge. Section 219 makes that harder. Vote yes on the amendment.