What they said. What they meant.

“I want to talk a lot about this bill. I want to add more things later.”

“I want this bill to pass. It gives money to countries we like. It does not give money to countries we don't like. It has less money than before. It does many things. I want to thank everyone. I want the bill to pass.”

“I like this bill. It spends money on security and diplomacy. It gives money to our friends. It says we will fight our enemies. It says we will watch how money is spent. It says our country will lead by being strong and smart. I want my colleagues to pass this bill.”

“I like this bill. It spends less money than last year. It puts America first. It has more oversight of taxpayer dollars. I don't want taxpayer money spent on woke projects in other countries. I want the money to stay in America. It should support our defense and industry. When we spend abroad, it should help our allies like Israel and Taiwan. This bill is about security and accountability. That's why I support it.”

“I like this bill. It spends money to protect Christians in Nigeria. Many Christians have been killed there. I went to Nigeria last year. We have a plan to help the Nigerian government protect Christians. Our plan is working. This bill will make Nigeria do more to protect Christians if they want our help. I want everyone to vote yes on this bill. We should support Christians.”

“I like this bill. It does what conservatives want. It puts America first. It watches foreign aid closely. It is pro-life. It punishes countries that don't allow religious freedom. Most important, it fights scams from China that take a lot of money from Americans. It fights human trafficking. It helps other countries stop these scams. I want my colleagues to vote for this bill.”

“I like this bill. It will cut spending. It will fight against climate change rules. It will stop bad U.N. agencies. I don't want the U.N. to make us pay for climate change. I don't want China to control U.N. agencies. This bill will stop that. I want America to be in charge. We should pass this bill.”

“I want you to pass this bill. It helps our country's security. It saves money. I already talked about it. Other people talked about it too. I urge a yes vote.”

“I want the government to spend money on many programs. Both parties agree. The programs are for foreign countries. The money will try to help other countries. The government should spend more money on Taiwan and Latin America. The government should spend money in Mexico. The government should spend money to stop human trafficking. I want everyone to vote yes. I want the bill to pass.”

“The Fulbright Program spends too much money. It is waste. I want to cut the funding. The people who run the program are bad. They support things I don't like. Some people who get the money are from other countries. Those countries might not be our friends. I think it is a risk to let them come here. I want to shut down this program. Our country will be safer if we stop spending this money. I am on the side of responsibility and protecting the country.”

“I want to protect funding for the Fulbright Program. It helps our country make friends in other countries. Those friends are good for our national security. Our bill already cut spending in many areas. We don't need to cut this program. It does a lot of good for our country. It helps us spread our values instead of China's values.”

“I want to enforce a law that has been on the books for nearly 50 years. The law says other countries should pay us for military training. But the law is weak. It doesn't make sure other countries really pay us. So American taxpayers pay instead. That's not right. We have a lot of debt. We need to look at every line item. We need to make sure we collect what taxpayers are owed. This amendment will help with that. It won't hurt our relationships with other countries. It's a small fix but it's important. We need to address these issues no matter how small they are.”

“It's already law. We don't enforce it. We could get money for this program. We're $40 trillion in debt. We spend $2 trillion we don't have. We pay for other countries' defense. That's bad. My amendment would enforce the law. We would get more money. I want my colleagues to support it.”

“We spend too much. Our debt is very high. We should not borrow more. This program spends money on climate projects in other countries. They say these projects are gender responsive. I think that's a waste of money. Even the Taliban gets this money. I want to stop spending on this program. It costs $140 million. That's too much. We have large debts. We should not spend more.”

“I am against this spending. It does not matter if the spending is for a good cause. We are $40 trillion in debt. We should not borrow more money from our children. We need to be responsible with money. I want the government to stop spending so much. I want to start fixing the debt now. Our children will have to pay for it later. We need to be careful. We can't keep spending like this. I want my colleagues to support me.”

“We are $39.4 trillion in debt. We should not send $3.3 billion to Israel. We have needs at home. Our roads and bridges need repair. We need to fund dams and locks. We have homeless veterans. We spend more on Israel than homeless veterans. Israel received $310 billion from us. They are the biggest welfare recipient. We should put them on a diet. I want the government to stop spending so much. That is my amendment. I think it is important.”

“I want to protect Israel. They are our ally. I am proud to help Israel. Israel fights terrorists. We should help Israel fight terrorists. Israel buys American weapons. That helps our defense industry. We made a deal with Israel. We should keep our promise. I don't want to cut funding for Israel.”

“I don't like that. You say it's good to spend money on weapons. I think it's bad. You want to use weapons on people. That's bad. I don't want to give more money to weapon companies.”

“I like this bill. It gives money to U.S. friends and allies. It does not give money to U.S. enemies. Israel is a strong U.S. ally. The bill supports Israel. That is in the agreement. I oppose the amendment. I don't want to change the bill.”

“I don't want to send taxpayer money to other countries. Not to Israel, Egypt, or Jordan. Israel has a strong economy. They say they don't want our money. I say no foreign aid to anyone. I don't want our money and technology mixed up with theirs. I'm very concerned about money to Israel this year. There is a war in Gaza with many casualties. I don't want U.S. taxpayers to pay for Israel's military actions. I want my amendment to pass.”