Welcoming the Guest Chaplain

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this week, the city of Washington becomes the command post of liberal democracy. It was my great honor to join, earlier this morning, with Leader McConnell and with my Democratic and Republican colleagues welcoming to the Senate the Secretary General of NATO, as well as the leaders of the U.K., Germany, Sweden, and Finland. For the first time ever, we were proud to welcome the leaders of NATO's two newest members, Sweden and Finland. Standing in the same room with NATO's newest members, Sweden and Finland, was a proud moment for us Senators. It was a culmination of the work that began 2 years ago when the Senate, in a bipartisan way, overwhelmingly approved their accession to the alliance.

I told the leaders of NATO that America will never turn its back on the alliance. I told them the Senate will always hold up its end of the bargain to support NATO and ensure we have the tools to keep the free world safe; and I urged everyone in the room to continue standing firmly with Ukraine.

I applaud the members of NATO for their major announcement of a new round of aid that will help soldiers on the battlefield, brave Ukrainian soldiers. Ukraine

Mr. President, later today, I will also meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at a bipartisan meeting of Senators, and we will affirm yet again that the United States stands with them until the job is done.

A few months ago, the Senate showed what leadership looks like by passing a sweeping supplemental package that delivered weapons and ammo and air defenses and missiles for Ukrainian soldiers.

Unfortunately, sadly, many extremists on the hard right led by Donald Trump didn't want to send so much as a nickel to help Ukraine. They would have preferred to let Putin have his way in Europe.

The hard right's softness towards Putin is a prime example of why they cannot be trusted to protect America on the world stage. I am glad their opposition to Ukraine aid was ultimately unsuccessful. But a majority of Republicans in this Chamber voted against that aid.

And what really bothered me was so many of the Republican--the Republican party has been a strong, anticommunist, hawkish party since the days of Ronald Reagan, maybe earlier. And all of a sudden, when Donald Trump, whose knowledge of foreign policy is negligible--to put it kindly; it is often wrong--they turn around and do 180 degrees and oppose giving aid to Ukraine and, instead, start to smile upon Putin.

That, my fellow Americans, is a warning of what a Republican- controlled Senate would do if, God forbid, Trump becomes President. They would turn around on all their principles. Donald Trump could, on a whim, say something, and all of a sudden: Yes, sir. They will march in line with him. This Ukrainian example was a sad one.

So this week, we saw why the supplemental was so important and why America must stand with the Ukrainian people after Putin's forces obliterated an entire wing of the largest children's hospital in Kyiv. I mentioned this to our NATO leaders and the heads of Sweden and Finland and Germany and Britain who were at our meeting.

What a vicious man Putin is. A children's hospital? You see the pictures of these children who were trying to survive cancer--you know, when you see pictures of children like that, many with their shaved heads--and Putin bombs the hospital? What a despicable man. What a brute. That is who we are dealing with, world. That is who we are dealing with, America, when it comes to Vladimir Putin. His savagery is an example of why Donald Trump's vision is so dangerous at this moment, because a Trump administration would make a Putin victory far more likely.

Thankfully, that is not the case. Instead of breaking NATO, Putin's war has made NATO even stronger and must continue to be that way until the Ukrainian people see victory and peace is restored to Eastern Europe. Reproductive Freedom For Women Act

Mr. President, now on choice, today the Senate will vote on the Reproductive Freedom For Women Act. Senate Republicans must answer a very simple question: Do they believe that women should be trusted to make their own healthcare choices? Yes or no? Will Republicans stand with the majority of Americans, stand with the mainstream, and stand against Donald Trump by affirming a woman's fundamental right to choose? Will Republicans show courage and declare, as most people in this country prefer, that the basic protections of Roe v. Wade should be the law of the land?

I want to thank Senator Murray from the great State of Washington for leading this bill and every single female Senator on our side of the aisle for cosponsoring it.

Today's vote will not be the end of the struggle to secure reproductive freedoms, but it is an important step forward. Americans want to see where their Senators stand. By voting on these bills on women's health, we are moving the issue forward, because it is very important and very reasonable for members to be called on to take a position on a vital issue.

Of course, many Republicans would rather sweep reproductive health under the rug, saying it is political. But this is not political. This is the essence of what elected government is like. We all know these issues are deeply personal to so many people, and Americans ought to be able to see how their Senators vote.

All year long, Senate Republicans have shown everyone just how out of touch they are with the mainstream. When Senators blocked Federal protections for contraceptions, when they blocked protections for IVF, they chose MAGA extremism over the American people.

When Donald Trump pushed not one, not two, but three radical Justices to the Supreme Court with the explicit goal of overturning Roe, Senate Republicans confirmed them without question.

It was Trump who said:

If we put another two or . . . three justices on [the Court] . . . that will happen.

Every time Senate Republicans have gotten a chance to do the right thing this year, they have consistently doubled down on their anti- woman agenda. Just yesterday, Senate Republicans again and again came to the floor to block commonsense legislation to protect women's reproductive freedoms.

Of course, if my Republican colleagues take issue for being called out for their bad record on women's issues, they have another option. They should vote yes today. Maybe it will happen. Unlikely, but you always hope.

If Republicans don't think women, on the other hand, are second-class citizens, they should vote yes. If Republicans don't think women are second-class citizens, they should vote yes. If Republicans do, in fact, trust women to make their own reproductive choices, they should vote yes.

I urge them: Do the right thing. And I remind them: America is watching. Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

Mr. President, now on the U.S.-Mexico steel announcement, this morning the Biden administration announced new joint actions with Mexico to prevent China and other countries from evading tariffs on steel and aluminum imported through Mexico.

For years, America's steel and aluminum industry has been harmed by the Chinese Communist Party's schemes to flood markets with products that are artificially cheapened thanks to subsidies from the Chinese Communist Party. One of the most common ways the CCP avoids tariffs and launders its steel into the U.S. market is through Mexico.

Earlier this year, I visited a steel producer in central New York, Nucor Steel in Auburn, NY--many good paying jobs in that beautiful plant. I visited the plant to bring attention to a dangerous pattern in our steel industry.

I called then on the administration to take action to stop the steel surge from China by preventing the CCP from using Mexico as a backdoor entrance into the United States.

I am glad to see this morning that the Biden administration responded to my concern by taking action to strengthen U.S. steel and aluminum. We have some very fine aluminum plants in Upstate New York as well.

This announcement is a major step towards protecting U.S. markets from being flooded with cheap, Chinese-made steel and aluminum imported through Mexico. The Chinese Communist Party's unfair trade practices have devastated companies and union steel workers across the United States, and especially in industrial places, places like Auburn in central New York, Massena in the north country, who simply aren't competing on a level playing field.

The CCP's behavior also endangers our national security because it weakens our domestic supply chains used by our military and transportation systems.

So the administration's action is great news for America's safety and for communities and States like New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and others who know the grief of watching manufacturing jobs leaving for China.

I applaud the administration for taking action to stop the Chinese Communist Party's unfair trade practices, and we will keep working to make sure American workers, manufacturers, and industrial regions are not left on the world stage.

And just one other note, upstate New York has a major role in convincing America and their Senator about China's unfair practices. When I visited Crucible steel up in Syracuse in 2003, the owner said to me: China is manipulating its currency. It makes it much harder for me to sell steel abroad, and it makes it easier for China to compete with me here in America.

Lindsey Graham and I, actually--Senator Graham and I back then teamed up and worked and worked and worked to see that this manipulation of currency, which affected steel, was put an end to, and we have made some significant progress. There is still more to make even now.

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