Supplemental Funding

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, there will be no more rollcall votes this year. But make no mistake, the winter recess will be a busy and important few weeks for the U.S. Senate. Negotiations will continue around the clock, reaching an agreement on a critical national security supplemental.

As I speak right now, the negotiators are in a room down the hall trying to make more progress. I came by a few minutes ago to thank all of them for their hard work and encourage them to continue. The future not only of Ukraine but of our country and the Western World depends on it. Challenging issues remain, but we in this caucus are committed to addressing needs at the southern border and to helping our partners and allies confront and deter serious threats in Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific. The Senate will not let these national security challenges go unanswered.

When we return in the new year, we hope to take swift action on the national security supplemental. Passing a national security supplemental is not going to be easy. It is one of the hardest things this Senate has undertaken in a very long time. It will take compromise, good faith, and recognition from both sides that nobody is going to get everything they want.

Democrats will continue to work in good faith with our Republican counterparts to get things done. We will not abandon our principles on border, but we will work to find common ground wherever we can. Let me be clear: It will take cooperation from serious-minded Republicans to get this done. Again, it will take cooperation from serious-minded Republicans to pass a national security supplemental.

I know there are some on the other side who will never vote for it, but there are many who understand the need to both give Ukraine and Israel humanitarian aid for the civilians in Gaza and the Indo-Pacific the help it needs and to help fix our border--doing it in ways that are consistent with our principles.

Democrats will continue to take these negotiations seriously, and we urge the majority of Republicans on the Senate side who understand that this is real and very important to join with us in helping get this done. Doing it together, Leader McConnell and I issued a statement last night that showed we both hope to get this done.

If we fail in this moment, if the United States abandons our friends in Ukraine to Vladimir Putin, history will cast a shameful and permanent shadow upon all of us. It is a matter of the highest urgency that we get this right, and that is precisely what we will work toward in the new year as soon as we return.

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