Meng, Roskam Urge House Appropriators to Boost Funding for U.S.-Israel Missile Defense Cooperation

Today, Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, and Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL), co-chair of the House Republican Israel Caucus, urged House appropriators to increase funding for joint U.S.-Israel missile defense systems including Iron Dome, Arrow, Arrow 3, and David's Sling.

In a bipartisan letter to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Reps. Roskam and Meng requested $41.4 million in funding for the Iron Dome anti-rocket defense system, $286.9 million for the David's Sling Weapon System (DSWS), and $146.9 million for the Arrow Weapon System (AWS).

In their letter, the lawmakers wrote:

"As you know, these programs are essential to the safety and security of our ally Israel. Our requested funding levels for the upcoming year seek to address the evolving threats posed by Israeli adversaries, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran—all of which are developing more advanced, short, medium and long-range rocket and missile capabilities. In particular, the United States and Israel are ramping up serial co-production and procurement of the David's Sling Weapons System, which will defend against Large Caliber Artillery Rockets (LCAR), Tactical Ballistic Missiles (TBM), and the emerging cruise missile threat. With our support, we expect this system, along with the Arrow 3 exo-atmospheric interceptor, to be operational within the decade."

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"During these challenging budgetary times, we can and must prioritize federal funding for the programs where federal involvement can have the greatest impact on people's lives. These cooperative programs are without question one of these worthy priorities in need of our support."

The full letter can be viewed here.

Last year, Roskam and Meng successfully secured increased funding for Iron Dome, David's Sling, Arrow, and Arrow 3 after sending a similar letter to House appropriators.