Strip Section 219 and Section 622 from the FY2027 NDAA: Protect American Sovereignty
The Issue
PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE
Opposing Section 219 and Section 622 of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act
Filed by Citizens of the State of Tennessee
Submitted to: Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02)
July 2026
Statement of Purpose
We the undersigned citizens of the State of Tennessee respectfully petition our elected representatives in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives to oppose Section 219 and Section 622 of the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 8800) and to use every legislative and procedural tool available to strip these provisions from the final bill before it reaches the President's desk.
This petition is not a request to abandon an ally. It is a demand that our elected officials defend American sovereignty, protect the independence of the United States Armed Forces, and ensure that no foreign government is permanently embedded into the defense infrastructure and intelligence apparatus of the United States of America.
What Section 219 Does
Section 219 of the FY2027 NDAA, titled the "United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative," would direct the Secretary of Defense to designate a permanent executive agent within the Department of Defense responsible for expanding and accelerating the integration of American and Israeli defense technology, supply chains, and industrial cooperation.
Specifically, the executive agent would be responsible for:
• Identifying Israeli developed or jointly developed technologies for integration into United States military systems and programs of record.
• Coordinating collaborative research initiatives involving government, private sector, and academic institutions in both countries.
• Promoting joint training exercises and information sharing mechanisms.
• Expanding bilateral cooperation across missile defense, counter drone systems, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, autonomous systems, directed energy, biotechnology, and network integration.
• Promoting the long term integration of joint capabilities between the United States and Israel.
This is not a routine alliance agreement. No foreign nation in the history of the United States has ever been granted this level of permanent institutional integration into the Pentagon's technology, supply chain, and research infrastructure. Not Britain. Not Canada. Not Australia. Not any NATO ally. Not any country the United States has ever fought alongside.
What Section 622 Does
Section 622 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2027, which has been incorporated into the NDAA package, would amend the National Security Act of 1947 itself by adding a new section governing intelligence sharing with Israel.
This provision would:
• Direct the President, acting through the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense, to "expand and enhance intelligence sharing" with Israel.
• Require the President to personally notify Congress before any intelligence sharing arrangement with Israel could be reduced or altered, and to demonstrate that the reduction is tied to a "specific and identifiable national security concern."
• Use American intelligence access as an incentive to encourage other nations to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords framework.
• Make it procedurally difficult for any future President or intelligence official to restrict Israeli access to classified American intelligence, even in response to counterintelligence concerns.
Neither Section 219 nor Section 622 requires Israel to provide reciprocal access to its own technology, source code, or intelligence as a condition of this expanded cooperation. The obligations flow in one direction.
Why This Is Unprecedented and Dangerous
Sovereignty. Permanently integrating a foreign government's technology and supply chain into the operational infrastructure of the United States military creates dependencies that compromise America's ability to act independently in its own national interest. When American and Israeli strategic interests diverge, as they have on multiple documented occasions, these dependencies become leverage that a foreign government holds over American military readiness.
Counterintelligence. The Defense Intelligence Agency has elevated Israel's counterintelligence threat designation to "critical," the agency's highest category. This means the Pentagon's own intelligence arm considers Israel one of the most aggressive espionage threats against the United States. Congress is being asked to deepen defense and intelligence integration with a country that the Department of Defense has simultaneously flagged as a critical counterintelligence risk.
Executive Agent Authority. Under Department of Defense Directive 5101.01, executive agent authority takes precedence over the authority of other DoD component heads. This means the executive agent designated under Section 219 could overrule determinations by other Pentagon agencies, including the Defense Technology Security Administration, on Israeli access to American technology. The appointment requires no Congressional confirmation. Congress would have no ability to remove the executive agent once installed.
No Reciprocity. Israel has previously negotiated unique accommodations within the F-35 program that were unavailable to other foreign operators. When the U.S. Army purchased two Iron Dome batteries, Army officials repeatedly requested the system's source code so the batteries could be integrated into the Army's broader air defense architecture. Israel refused. Section 219 does not resolve these existing disputes or require reciprocal access as a condition of deeper integration.
Bypassing the Appropriations Process. By embedding this integration into the structure of the Defense Department rather than funding it through annual appropriations, Section 219 shields the arrangement from the congressional oversight and annual review that the American people are entitled to. As political pressure builds to evaluate the scope of U.S. military assistance to Israel, this provision would make it procedurally difficult to scale back cooperation regardless of future circumstances.
Process Failure. On July 21, 2026, the House approved the rule governing debate on H.R. 8800 by a vote of 214 to 211. That rule excluded the bipartisan amendment submitted by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) that would have removed Section 219. American citizens were denied a transparent, recorded floor vote on a provision that permanently alters the structure of the United States military's relationship with a foreign government. The full NDAA passed 216 to 212 on July 23, 2026, with Section 219 intact.
The Broader Context
The United States has provided Israel more than $310 billion in cumulative aid since 1948, the largest total given to any country in American history. The current Memorandum of Understanding guarantees $3.8 billion annually through 2028, and since October 2023 Congress has approved tens of billions more in emergency military assistance.
The United States has exercised its United Nations Security Council veto more than 40 times to shield Israel from binding international resolutions, providing a level of diplomatic protection unmatched for any other nation.
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and its affiliated super PACs spent nearly $127 million in the 2023 to 2024 election cycle. Approximately 65% of current members of Congress have received money from AIPAC or its affiliates. For 80 sitting members of Congress, AIPAC is their single largest all time donor.
Sections 219 and 622 did not emerge from a groundswell of public demand. They emerged from the institutional architecture of a lobbying operation that has spent decades ensuring that the United States Congress prioritizes this relationship above scrutiny, above reciprocity, and above the interests of the American people.
What We Are Asking
We the undersigned citizens of Tennessee respectfully demand that our elected representatives:
• Vote to strip Section 219 (United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative) from the FY2027 NDAA before the bill reaches the President's desk.
• Vote to strip Section 622 (intelligence sharing expansion with Israel) from the Intelligence Authorization Act and any NDAA conference report that includes it.
• Publicly state their position on both provisions so that their constituents can hold them accountable.
• Insist that any future defense cooperation agreement with any foreign nation include reciprocal obligations, congressional confirmation of key officials, sunset provisions, and annual appropriations review.
• Prioritize the sovereignty of the United States, the independence of the United States Armed Forces, and the interests of the American people above the financial influence of any lobbying organization, foreign or domestic.
Closing Statement
We do not ask our representatives to abandon an ally. We ask them to act like representatives of the American people. We ask them to defend the sovereignty that the Constitution entrusts to their care. We ask them to ensure that no foreign government, however friendly, is permanently woven into the command, supply, intelligence, and technology infrastructure of the United States military without the full, transparent, and informed consent of the people.
The Senate has the opportunity to correct what the House passed without proper debate. We are asking our senators and our representative to use that opportunity.
Initiated by: Bryan McKee, Knoxville, Tennessee
Date: July 25, 2026
17
The Issue
PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE
Opposing Section 219 and Section 622 of the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act
Filed by Citizens of the State of Tennessee
Submitted to: Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02)
July 2026
Statement of Purpose
We the undersigned citizens of the State of Tennessee respectfully petition our elected representatives in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives to oppose Section 219 and Section 622 of the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 8800) and to use every legislative and procedural tool available to strip these provisions from the final bill before it reaches the President's desk.
This petition is not a request to abandon an ally. It is a demand that our elected officials defend American sovereignty, protect the independence of the United States Armed Forces, and ensure that no foreign government is permanently embedded into the defense infrastructure and intelligence apparatus of the United States of America.
What Section 219 Does
Section 219 of the FY2027 NDAA, titled the "United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative," would direct the Secretary of Defense to designate a permanent executive agent within the Department of Defense responsible for expanding and accelerating the integration of American and Israeli defense technology, supply chains, and industrial cooperation.
Specifically, the executive agent would be responsible for:
• Identifying Israeli developed or jointly developed technologies for integration into United States military systems and programs of record.
• Coordinating collaborative research initiatives involving government, private sector, and academic institutions in both countries.
• Promoting joint training exercises and information sharing mechanisms.
• Expanding bilateral cooperation across missile defense, counter drone systems, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, autonomous systems, directed energy, biotechnology, and network integration.
• Promoting the long term integration of joint capabilities between the United States and Israel.
This is not a routine alliance agreement. No foreign nation in the history of the United States has ever been granted this level of permanent institutional integration into the Pentagon's technology, supply chain, and research infrastructure. Not Britain. Not Canada. Not Australia. Not any NATO ally. Not any country the United States has ever fought alongside.
What Section 622 Does
Section 622 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for FY2027, which has been incorporated into the NDAA package, would amend the National Security Act of 1947 itself by adding a new section governing intelligence sharing with Israel.
This provision would:
• Direct the President, acting through the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense, to "expand and enhance intelligence sharing" with Israel.
• Require the President to personally notify Congress before any intelligence sharing arrangement with Israel could be reduced or altered, and to demonstrate that the reduction is tied to a "specific and identifiable national security concern."
• Use American intelligence access as an incentive to encourage other nations to normalize relations with Israel through the Abraham Accords framework.
• Make it procedurally difficult for any future President or intelligence official to restrict Israeli access to classified American intelligence, even in response to counterintelligence concerns.
Neither Section 219 nor Section 622 requires Israel to provide reciprocal access to its own technology, source code, or intelligence as a condition of this expanded cooperation. The obligations flow in one direction.
Why This Is Unprecedented and Dangerous
Sovereignty. Permanently integrating a foreign government's technology and supply chain into the operational infrastructure of the United States military creates dependencies that compromise America's ability to act independently in its own national interest. When American and Israeli strategic interests diverge, as they have on multiple documented occasions, these dependencies become leverage that a foreign government holds over American military readiness.
Counterintelligence. The Defense Intelligence Agency has elevated Israel's counterintelligence threat designation to "critical," the agency's highest category. This means the Pentagon's own intelligence arm considers Israel one of the most aggressive espionage threats against the United States. Congress is being asked to deepen defense and intelligence integration with a country that the Department of Defense has simultaneously flagged as a critical counterintelligence risk.
Executive Agent Authority. Under Department of Defense Directive 5101.01, executive agent authority takes precedence over the authority of other DoD component heads. This means the executive agent designated under Section 219 could overrule determinations by other Pentagon agencies, including the Defense Technology Security Administration, on Israeli access to American technology. The appointment requires no Congressional confirmation. Congress would have no ability to remove the executive agent once installed.
No Reciprocity. Israel has previously negotiated unique accommodations within the F-35 program that were unavailable to other foreign operators. When the U.S. Army purchased two Iron Dome batteries, Army officials repeatedly requested the system's source code so the batteries could be integrated into the Army's broader air defense architecture. Israel refused. Section 219 does not resolve these existing disputes or require reciprocal access as a condition of deeper integration.
Bypassing the Appropriations Process. By embedding this integration into the structure of the Defense Department rather than funding it through annual appropriations, Section 219 shields the arrangement from the congressional oversight and annual review that the American people are entitled to. As political pressure builds to evaluate the scope of U.S. military assistance to Israel, this provision would make it procedurally difficult to scale back cooperation regardless of future circumstances.
Process Failure. On July 21, 2026, the House approved the rule governing debate on H.R. 8800 by a vote of 214 to 211. That rule excluded the bipartisan amendment submitted by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) that would have removed Section 219. American citizens were denied a transparent, recorded floor vote on a provision that permanently alters the structure of the United States military's relationship with a foreign government. The full NDAA passed 216 to 212 on July 23, 2026, with Section 219 intact.
The Broader Context
The United States has provided Israel more than $310 billion in cumulative aid since 1948, the largest total given to any country in American history. The current Memorandum of Understanding guarantees $3.8 billion annually through 2028, and since October 2023 Congress has approved tens of billions more in emergency military assistance.
The United States has exercised its United Nations Security Council veto more than 40 times to shield Israel from binding international resolutions, providing a level of diplomatic protection unmatched for any other nation.
AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and its affiliated super PACs spent nearly $127 million in the 2023 to 2024 election cycle. Approximately 65% of current members of Congress have received money from AIPAC or its affiliates. For 80 sitting members of Congress, AIPAC is their single largest all time donor.
Sections 219 and 622 did not emerge from a groundswell of public demand. They emerged from the institutional architecture of a lobbying operation that has spent decades ensuring that the United States Congress prioritizes this relationship above scrutiny, above reciprocity, and above the interests of the American people.
What We Are Asking
We the undersigned citizens of Tennessee respectfully demand that our elected representatives:
• Vote to strip Section 219 (United States–Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative) from the FY2027 NDAA before the bill reaches the President's desk.
• Vote to strip Section 622 (intelligence sharing expansion with Israel) from the Intelligence Authorization Act and any NDAA conference report that includes it.
• Publicly state their position on both provisions so that their constituents can hold them accountable.
• Insist that any future defense cooperation agreement with any foreign nation include reciprocal obligations, congressional confirmation of key officials, sunset provisions, and annual appropriations review.
• Prioritize the sovereignty of the United States, the independence of the United States Armed Forces, and the interests of the American people above the financial influence of any lobbying organization, foreign or domestic.
Closing Statement
We do not ask our representatives to abandon an ally. We ask them to act like representatives of the American people. We ask them to defend the sovereignty that the Constitution entrusts to their care. We ask them to ensure that no foreign government, however friendly, is permanently woven into the command, supply, intelligence, and technology infrastructure of the United States military without the full, transparent, and informed consent of the people.
The Senate has the opportunity to correct what the House passed without proper debate. We are asking our senators and our representative to use that opportunity.
Initiated by: Bryan McKee, Knoxville, Tennessee
Date: July 25, 2026
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on July 25, 2026