Arlington, Va (April 3, 2024) – Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Eric Fanning is urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to take up the Senate-passed National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024. In a recent letter, Fanning highlighted the importance of the bill to the health of American defense industrial base, as well as the country’s broader national security goals in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.
“The $95.3 billion bill passed by a vote of 70-29 because a bipartisan supermajority of the Senate recognized that this investment is about more than providing vital support to our allies and partners; it fundamentally strengthens America’s national security starting here at home,” Fanning wrote. “U.S manufacturing capacity is a military capability in itself. For this reason, the Aerospace Industries Association strongly urges the House to take up the Senate-passed legislation and pass it as soon as possible.
“This supplemental not only helps demonstrate our commitment to freedom and security around the world, but it also provides crucial investments to shore up the U.S. defense industrial base in ways that will help deter future conflicts,” Fanning continued.“Production is deterrence and the funding would replenish depleted American military stockpiles with new and modernized equipment, while also providing American-made equipment to our partners and allies fighting for freedom. Our national security is enhanced by both elements of this legislation.”
You can read the full letter below or by clicking here.
Dear Speaker Johnson:
On February 13, 2024, the U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed the “National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024,” a bill providing supplemental appropriations to address the military conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, as well as U.S. Central Command combat expenditures in the Red Sea. Additionally, it bolsters the security of key regional partners in the Indo-Pacific and sends urgent humanitarian assistance into conflict zones across the globe. The $95.3 billion bill passed by a vote of 70-29 because a bipartisan supermajority of the Senate recognized that this investment is about more than providing vital support to our allies and partners; it fundamentally strengthens America’s national security starting here at home. U.S manufacturing capacity is a military capability in itself. For this reason, the Aerospace Industries Association strongly urges the House to take up the Senate-passed legislation and pass it as soon as possible.
More than five months have elapsed since the Administration requested $106 billion in supplemental national security funding to counter Russian aggression and address growing threats in the Indo-Pacific and other regions. With each passing month, as available funds dwindle, the situation in Ukraine becomes more challenging, and our options to support Ukraine and our European allies grow more limited. At the same time, China is investing heavily in its industrial base and is increasingly on a wartime footing. The U.S. must overmatch that investment and the supplemental is a down payment to achieving this objective.
This supplemental not only helps demonstrate our commitment to freedom and security around the world, but it also provides crucial investments to shore up the U.S. defense industrial base in ways that will help deter future conflicts. Production is deterrence and the funding would replenish depleted American military stockpiles with new and modernized equipment, while also providing American-made equipment to our partners and allies fighting for freedom. Our national security is enhanced by both elements of this legislation.
We appreciate the Senate’s strong, bipartisan support for this bill, and we urge the House to act in the same united fashion and send this vital and urgent legislation to the President’s desk.
Sincerely,
Eric Fanning
President and CEO
Aerospace Industries Association
