The Senate has not voted on the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act. It may not this year. That makes now the time to tell them where we stand.

Two things are wrong with this bill.

First, the money. S. 4784 would authorize the largest defense budget in American history, roughly $250 billion more than last year. Senator Tim Kaine, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, called it a staggering increase. Counting all national defense spending, the rise is over 40 percent. Our communities are suffering from food insecurity, lack of healthcare, and even the ability to afford gasoline. Our communities are struggling, and this is where our tax dollars are going.

Second, Section 1217. Buried in the bill is the Israel FUTURES Act, which would direct the Pentagon to build a permanent initiative integrating Israeli military technology into U.S. defense systems: artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons, cyber and electronic warfare, missile defense, quantum computing, drones, and joint arms production.

This is not aid. Aid can be reviewed, reduced, or ended. Section 1217 moves the relationship into the Pentagon's procurement structure, where it stops being something Congress votes on each year and becomes infrastructure. That is the purpose. As public support for unconditional military aid falls, this makes the relationship permanent by making it structural.

Senators Sanders, Van Hollen, Warren, Markey, Merkley, and Welch have all objected. More than fifty human rights organizations have urged both chambers to reject it. Senator Van Hollen has filed amendments to strike it.

The Senate stalled this bill once. Tell your senators to stop it for good.