of hers who was the artist who did the portrait of him when which he was painting, when she when he died, they too were with them in the cottage that she had destroyed had almost all the letters them. so he had kept up with the correspondence. so she was at the best seats at all his inaugurals and in the forties she started coming to the white house under an assumed name, and he would stop at this stop in new jersey to see her. all right. well, thank you. thank you both for being here. let's give them a round of applause.

the presiding officer: the

senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. lord, our redeemer, abide with our senators through the passing hours of another day. strengthen them to stand firm for those good and eternal values that keep a nation strong. lord, give them the courage to do the right even when others are doing wrong. remind them that you are the pilot of their lives who can guide them to a desired destination. let discretion preserve them,

understanding keep them, and faith fortify them. lead them not into temptation, but deliver them from the forces of evil. save them from pride that mistakes their abilities for possessions, and keep them humble enough to see their need of you. we pray in your holy name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, april 23, 2024. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable raphael g. warnock, a senator from the state of georgia, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patty murray, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to h.r. 3935, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to calendar number 211, h.r. 39 packers an act to amend title 49, united states code, so forth and for other purposes.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: it is my understanding that the senate has received a message from the house of representatives to accompany h.r. 815. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. mr. schumer: i ask that the chair lay before the senate the message to accompany h.r. 815. the presiding officer: the chair lays before the senate the message from the house. the clerk: resolved, that the house agree to the amendment of the senate to make certain improvements relating to the eligibility of veterans to receive reimbursement for emergency treatment furnished

through the veterans community care program and for other purposes, with an amendment. mr. schumer: i move to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 815 and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are so ordered. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment to h.r. 8915, an act to amend title 38 united states code and so forth and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i ask -- i ask that further reading of the names be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to concur in the house amendment to h.r. 815 with an amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, moves to

concur in the house amendment to the senate amendment with an amendment numbered 1842. mr. schumer: i ask consent that further reading of the eight be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. schumer: i have a second-degree amendment at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposes an amendment in my judgment 1843 to amendment number 1842. mr. schumer: i ask consent further reading of the amendment be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i move to refer h.r. 815 to the committee on appropriations with instructions to report back forthwith with an amendment. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: mr. schumer moves to

refer the house message to accompany h.r. 815 to the committee on appropriations with instructions to report back forthwith with amendment number 1844. mr. schumer: i ask consent that further reading of the motion be dispensed. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. schumer: i have an amendment to the instruction at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new york, mr. schumer, proposes an enemy numbered 1845 to the instructions of the motion to refer. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that further reading of the eight be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. mr. s mr. schumer: i have a second amendment at the-esque did. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the new york --

mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that further readings doesed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: so, mr. president, the senate convenes in a moment nearly six months in the making. a few days ago the house of representatives at long last a approved essential national security funding for ukraine, israel and the indo-pacific. today it the senate's turn to act. for the information of the senators, at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon, the senate will hold two roll call votes one on a procedural motion and then a vote to invoke cloture. the time has come to finish the job, to help our friends abroad once and for all. i ask my colleagues to join together to pass the supplemental today as expeditiously as possible, send our friends abroad the aid they have long been waiting for. let us not delay this. let us not prolong this h let us not keep our friends around the world waiting a moment longer.

i yield the floor and note the absence ofs a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: to provide for the common defense is one of congress's primary responsibilities. i've been at this business for quite a while and i've found that making and explaining sensible decisions about advancing our nation's interests is easier when you start from the right set of assumptions.

here's what i know to be true -- american prosperity and security are the products of decades of american leadership. our global interests come with global responsibilities. healthy alliances lighten the burden of these responsibilities. and, at the end of the day, the primary language of strategic competition is strength. these are the facts that led me to urge presidents of both parties not to abandon afghanistan to terrorists. to fight efforts from both sides of the aisle to tie america's hands in critical parts of the

world, to push consecutive administrations to equip ukraine with lethal weapons before russia escalated, and to continue fighting for the sort of sustained investments in our military and defense industrial base necessary to meet the challenges that we face. the responsibilities of leadership, the value of alliances, the currency of hard power -- these are foundational prin principles. they're not driven by the fickle politics of any one moment. they're tested and proven by the workings of a dangerous world.

today, the senate sits for a test on behalf of the entire nation. it's a test of american resolve, our readiness, and our wil willingness to lead. and the stakes of failure are abundantly clear. failure to help ukraine stand against russian aggression now means inviting escalation against our closest treaty allies and trading partners. it means greater rink that american forces would become involved in conflict. it means more costly deployments of our military and steeper military requirements to defend against aggression.

failure to reestablish deterrence against iran means encouraging unchecked terrorist violence against american personnel, our ally israel, and the international commerce that underpins our prosperity. and failure to match the threat the people's republic of china means jeopardizing the entire system of alliances that preserve american interests and reinforce american leadership. colleagues on both sides of the aisle who dismiss the value of our allies and partners ignore what history teaches about times when we lacked such friendships. our adversaries understand the st

stakes, and they're responding with a coordinated full-court press. iran and north korea are literally arming russia's war in ukraine. china is helping iran skirt international sanctions, a quote, friendship without limits, end quote, has blossomed between moscow and beijing. the authoritarians of the world may have caught the west flatfooted, they may be betting big that american influence is in decline. but increasingly, our friends understand the stakes too. in asia, nations with every excuse to be preoccupied by chinese aggression understand that, in fact, defeating

authoritarian conquests halfway around the world is actually in their interests. they know china will benefit from russian advances, and they know beijing is waiting for us to waver. in europe, allies that had long neglected the responsibilities of collective security are making historic new investments in their own defense. finland and sweden, two high-tech nations, responded to russian escalation by bringing real military capabilities to the most successful military neil in world history -- to the most successful military alliance in world history. and when the house passed the supplemental last week, the prime minister of sweden reiterated that our allies have even more work to do. the holiday from history is

over. and in the middle east, a close ally is locked in a fight for its right to literally exist. the people of israel require no reminders of the stakes of hard power competition or deterrence. the only remaining question is whether america does. do our colleagues share the view of the japanese prime minister that, quote, the leadership of the united states is indispensable, end quote? or would we rather abdicate both the responsibilities and the benefits of global leadership? will the senate indulge the fantasy of pulling up a draw bridge? will we persist in the 21st century with an approach that failed in the 20th?

or will we dispense with the myth of isolationism and embrace reality? but those who insist that america cannot do what the moment requires, the facts are inconveniently clear. first, supplemental investment in the capabilities of america and our friends need to defeat russian aggression are not a distraction from china. without the investments we've made over the past two years, america's defense industrial base would be even further behind the clear requirements of long-term competition with the prc. don't believe me? just ask the former chairman of the house select committee on chinese communist party who stayed in congress long enough to support the legislation now before us.

second, supplemental investments have expanded our capacity to produce critical munitions. this contains additional investments aimed at expanding production capacity of critical munitions and weapons systems needed in the indo-pacific. higher production rates and lower unit costs of critical munitions are a no-brainer for colleagues who are actually interested in strategic competition with the prc. colleagues on the other side of the aisle who shea they're concerned over -- who say they're concerned over the defense industrial base today would have done well to join me months before russian escalation in ukraine in supporting a massive proposed investment under reconciliation led by our former colleagues senator shelby and senator inhofe. if some of our republican colleagues hadn't joined the

democratic leader in opposition, we would have begun to rebuild our capacity even sooner. and finally, investment in american hard power and leadership isn't coddling our allies. by every objective measure, it helped drive our allies to make historic, historic investments of their own in collective defense. across europe, the acceleration of defense spending is outpacing our own, and right now allies and parters in -- partners from europe to the indo-pacific have contracted more than $100 billion worth of cutting-edge american weapons and capabilities. that's right, our allies across the world are buying expensive, sophisticated american weapons, produced in american factories, by american workers.

do my colleagues really think that will continue if america decides their global leadership is too heavy a burden? so much of the hesitation and short-sightedness that has delayed this moment is premised on sheer fiction, and i take no pleasure in rebutting misguided fantasies. i wish sincerely that recognizing the responsibilities of american leadership was the price of admission for serious conversations about the future of our national security. make no mistake -- glee in -- delay in providing ukraine the weapons to defend itself has strained the prospects of key feeting russian aggression -- defeating russian aggression. dithering and hesitation have compounded the challenges we

face. today's action is overdue, but our work does not end here. trust in american resolve is not rebuilt overnight. expanding and restocking the arsenal of democracy doesn't just happen by magic. and even as our allies take on a greater share of the burden of collective security, our obligation to invest in our own defense is as serious as ever. so, i'll continue to hold the commander in chief to account for allowing american adversaries to deter us, for hesitating in the face of escalation, and providing anything less than full support for allies like israel as they fight to restore their security and their sovereignty.

at the same time, i will not mince words when members of my own party take the responsibilities of american leadership lightly. today, the senate faces a test, and we must not fail it. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: i ask that the calling of the roll be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: mr. president, a recent article by peter pomerantz start this way. after they beat azakian so bin laden that blood came out of -- so bad that blood came out of his ears, after they sent electric shocks on his genitals, the russians began to

interrogate him about his faith. when did you become a baptist? when did you become an american spy? assat tried to explain that in ukraine there was freedom of religion. you could choose your faith. but his tortureres saw the world the same way as the kgbd. an american church is a front for the american state since soviet times. that's the end of the quote, mr. president. since soviet times, russian orthodox church has been used as a tool of the state so russians, assume protestants in ukraine

are american agents. the world was horrified after the kiev suburb of bucha was liberated revealing that civilians had been massacred simply for being loyal ukrainians. but bucha is not an exception. in every part of ukraine that russia has occupied, civilians have been murdered, women systematically raped and christians not loyal to moscow have been persecuted, tortured, and killed. every day the russian military fires rockets, drones, and shells at civilian areas to demoralize the population in hopes of taking more of ukranian land. and yet, with every russian missile attack, every ukranian

town destroyed and every report of murdered pastors, the ukranian people become more determined to prevent any more territory falling under russian occupation. you can understand why calls for some american politicians to negotiate with russia seems so absurd to ukrainians under daily attack. ukraine knows that if it is allowed, if it allows any more territory to fall under russian control, it will mean more ukrainians tortured and killed. likewise, for most ukrainians, giving up on their fellow countrymen currently suffering

under russian occupation is a non-thinkable. there is also zero indication for russia that russia is looking to negotiate. the lack of any new u.s. military assistance from congress for over a year has actually bolstered putin's belief that he can outlast the west despite being outnumbered and outmaxed in economic and military power. we all know that russia is in violation of multiple treaties recognizing ukraine's borders and promising to respect its sovereignty. start out with the united nations's charter that guarantees the sovereignty of individual countries. but beyond that, the united states and russia plus the

united kingdom all signed the budapest memorandum in 1939 # in which ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons inherited from the soviet union in return for a guarantee of sovereignty and territorial integrity. if you believe in the rule of law that budapest memorandum ought to mean something. just like in 2014, if russia gets away with any territory it took by force, it will send the message that force pays off. before long russia will be back for far more territory. and who is to say that they would stop with ukraine? anyone claiming that there is no threat to the rest of europe is

choosing to ignore comments by people's in putin's inner circle, threatening nato allies like poland and the baltic countries. i think putin made it very clear back in 2005 when he said, quote, the demise of the soviet union was the greatest geopolitical disaster of the century. we all hear putin talking a lot about peter the great and restoring the russian empire. the russian empire grew and grew throughout history irrespective of national, ethnic, religious or cultural border. that provides the context when

putin repeats the phrase, and i quote, russia's borders do not end anywhere, end of quote. i believe in the lessons that we took from world war ii for the cold war, that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. when we see the flame of aggression, we ought to stamp it out before the whole world is engulfed. neville chamberlain bet everything on the hope that let hitler take land from czechoslovakia would satisfy him and there would be, according to his own words, peace in hard time. it's not 1938, but it could be.

and hopefully no world war confronts us like it did in 1938 when prime minister neville chamberlain made that trip to germany and had that meeting that ended with the word peace in our time. we all know that hitler took the rest of czechoslovakia. then in a short period of time invaded poland. we stayed out of that war until we were attacked at pearl harbor, and then world war ii was raging both in the pacific and in europe. so can we learn from history? today we have to decide again whether to respond to aggression with strength while the threat

is manageable or opt for appeasement and hope against experience that it will not lead to a wider war as it did in the late 1930's. think about how much was lost in world war ii not just in dollars, but in american lives. now think about how much it would cost in american blood and treasure if russia is emboldened to attack a nato ally, and article 5 of the nato treaty would kick in, and all 31 countries would be involved in that effort, and the united states would likewise be involved.

the united states has been spending about 5% of our annual military budget to arm ukraine, and u.s. intelligence believes the war has severely degraded russia's military power and its ability to threaten nato allies. ukraine has taken back about half of the territory russia occupied in 2022. but without american aid, ukraine is out of ammunition, and russia sees an opportunity. europe has spent more than twice as much as the united states on aid to ukraine in total dollars. think of the humanitarian aid that europe lend to all those

ukrainians that have sought refuge in other countries. now compared to europe, when you look at it as a share of the economy, the united states ranks number 32. number-one ranking estonia has provided more than 12 times as much assistance as a share of its economy because estonia knows what it's like to be occupied by the soviet union from 1940 to 1991. europe has stepped up big time, keep finding ways to do more. you read daily in the newspapers about european leader wondering whether the united states congress is going to step up, and they've tried to fill in the

vacuum while we dither here waiting to make a decision on more help for ukraine. the czechs and the estonians led two efforts to patch the gap left by the united states while congress dithers on this issue. but the czechs and estonians do not have the military industrial base that we do, so they cannot do it all. opponents of ukraine aid started talking down our industrial base ability to produce everything needed to stop russian aggression while also preparing for china, which may just follow russia's example against taiwan

if russia is successful in ukraine. these people argue that ukraine can't win, so we should cut our losses and worry about china. i disagree. the fact is russia has lost much of its experienced military and advanced equipment. russia does have a vast population and has put its economy on full war footing, so it has been able to reconstitute. however, russia's soldiers are fully trained and morale of these russian soldiers is in the toilet. russia has resorted to its old tactic of meet assaults wherefore hundreds of poorly

trained infantry tried to overwhelm ukranian defenses with sure numbers and great deaths. russia has only been able to make incremental advances while taking huge casualties in the face of superior ukrainian morale and equipment. russia's economy is feeling the strain. word has gotten out about how freely russian commanders sacrificed the lives of their soldiers. the war will only get lot harder to replace the tons of thousands of russian soldiers sent to their death in ukraine. russia is pinning its hopes on u.s. military aid not coming and ukraine running out of ammunition.

i, for one, am happy to help dash putin's hopes. the good news is that our defense industrial base is ramping up. that includes the iowa army ammunition plant, which has more than doubled its production using its current facilities. it is also undergoing a major modernization program, accelerated by previous ukraine supplemental bills. in the near future, it will have a brand-new facility that will be able to produce many more 155-millimeter shells and do it much faster. those arguing that the united states is no longer up to the task of producing the necessary military equipment are underestimating our economy. i am reminded of president

biden's famous 1979 malaise speech where he identified a crisis of confidence among the american people. that was 1979. in 1980, ronald reagan came along with his signature optimism that america's best days are ahead, and he worked to overcome the challenges that we faced, including the lagging economy and an underresourced military. just recently the japanese prime minister spoke to our congress and delivered a message as a very good friend. he said he detected an undercurrent of self-doubt about americans. the japanese prime minister, quote, movingly about the role

of american leadership and championing freedom and fostering the stability and prosperity of nations like japan. that japanese prime minister explained that while american leadership is indispensable, americans are not alone in this world. with allies like japan and many countries in europe stepping up, the free world has never been stronger or more united. so this is hardly a time for a crisis of confidence. in fact, i'm shocked to hear some people in my own party, the republican party, accepting american decline and advocating a return to the obama head-in-the-stand policy towards

russia. remember back then obama was so afraid of escalation that he tried to appease putin after russia's 2014 invasion of ukraine. look at that mistake we made. do we want to overdo it again? obama refused to provide any lethal aid, not one bullet, for ukraine under obama. he pushed ukraine to negotiate with a gun to its head. president trump came in, reversed the obama policy, and provided equipment and training to the ukrainian military. thank god trump did that. the javelins provided by the united states played a major role in stopping the russian advance towards kyiv. take it from this senator

elected to this body alongside preyed reagan, the conservative position is to believe in america, to invest in our military, and to support freedom. like the senate-passed bill, most of the money in this package goes straight to our military to replenish stockpiles spent in the united states using american labor. it will allow for more drawdowns to send vital military aid to ukraine. this includes patriot interceptors that can take down russia's most advanced missiles and save lives at the same time. ukraine will get more iowa-made howitzer shells that are far

more accurate and reliable than those that russia has begged from north korea, and an improvement added by reagan republicans in the house is a requirement for the biden administration to provide the long-range atacm missiles needed to take out russia's supply lines. i have been calling for these atacms to be provided for a long time. i think the reason they have not been provided by the biden administration is due to the holdover of the obama fear of escalation. that fear has proven to be misguided. the only way to lasting peace is strength. that is what ronald reagan showed americans. strength is what we need now in

the face of aggression from russia and iran and threats from china. i don't buy this notion that it is conservative or republican position to abandon the american leadership that has kept the piece since world war ii, meaning no world war iii. i certainly do not think it is conservative to advocate a return to a weak and failed obama policy. i make no apol geez for supporting -- i make no apol geez for supporting chemical, ukraine, and taiwan. now instead of the axis of the 1940's germany, italy, and

japan, it's now the axis of the 21st century -- russia, iran, china, north korea. they have their sights set upon replacing the united states as leaders of the -- of this earth. it is an investment worth making to prevent the united states getting sucked into world war iii. it is also the right thing to do. i yield.

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the presiding officer: the senator from alaska.

mr. sullivan: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. sullivan: like my good friend from iowa, senator grassley, i want to come to the senate floor to talk with the national -- talk about the national security supplemental we are voting on today. i commend the senior senator from iowa, he's a great u.s. senator. that was a really good speech. i'm going to reinforce some of what he said on the importance of this bill. but mr. president, importantly, the broader context of how we actually got here, and where we need to be going in terms of our nation's defense. my view, the current occupant of the white house, president biden, has gotten a free pass on his numerous, huge national security missteps that have been undermining our nation's security and have forced the congress of the united states to actually take action. that's the whole point, mr. president. we're taking action. i'm a supporter of this

legis legislation. but we're doing it because of the failures of the current occupant of the white house. so i'm going to encourage my colleagues, particularly my republican senate colleagues, to vote in favor of this bill. but i think it's important to put it in a broader context of what's going on in the world. i've made a couple speeches on this before. i'm going to reiterate some and add to some of the challenges we're facing because of the biden administration. first, mr. president, i think it's pretty obvious to everybody, anyone watching, we're in a new era of authoritarian aggression led by this dictator. that's xi jinping. look at him, he gets in his cammies, threatening his neighbors. by the way, china is going through the largest peacetime military build-up in the history of the world. that doesn't make you a little nervous about what's going on in the world? it should. this guy is a brutal dictator.

it's led by him, putin, the ayatollahs in iran, the terrorists in iran, largest state sponsor of terrorist, the mini me, the dictator, the north korean dictator. they're all working together. they want to undermine our interests and our allies'. they're driven by historical grievances. they're paranoid about their democratic neighbors. they're more than willing to invade them, as we're seeing across the world, whether israel or ukraine. again, they're working together and spending boatloads of money on national security issues, military build-ups. it's actually led by this guy. he's the big one that we've got to keep a close eye on. that's number one. we're in a real, real dangerous era. this is one thing i do agree with the biden administration on -- we've had the secretary of defense, chairman of the joint

chiefs coming in, saying, hey, we are in the most dangerous time since probably the end of world war ii. okay? dictators on the march, invading their enables, they're massively building up their military, and they're all working together. sounds a little like the 1930's to me. the second reason, mr. president, we need a defense industrial base supplemental is our own industrial base, our ability to produce weapons for us, for america, has completely atrophied. i could give a speech for hours. this again is part of the biden administration 's fault. but we can't build navy ships. we can't build navy subs. every component of our industrial base is shrinking, it's brittle, it's atrophied, and yet we're in this dangerous period. so that's pretty alarming.

by the way, mr. president, it's our responsibility, article 1 of the u.s. constitution, the senate, the house, to raise an army, to provide and main nane a navy. in my view -- maintain a navy. in my view, the number one constitutional duty we have, securing this nation. yet, we are behind. the navy just put out three weeks ago this alarming report saying the u.s. navy is behind on every ship platform that they're building, three to five years behind. carrier subs. almost 40% of our attack s subfleet is in maintenance. not out to sea. what's he doing? cranking out ten to 12 ships, high-end navy ships a year. the chinese communist party's that i have is bigger than the u.s. navy.

danger in our industrial base. can't produce weapons the way it could. the third reason we need a national security supplemental is given how weak the biden administration has been on national security. the current budgets of this president shrinks the army, the navy, and the marine corps. you think xi jinping is impressed by that? he's not. neither is putin. neither are the ayatollahs. that's what they're doing. this president every budget he submits to congress for the military during these real dangerous times, what does he do? he cuts it. cuts the military. i'll get more to that, mr. president. these are the big three reasons that i've been support every of this bill. but here's the thing, mr. president, when you read the bill and look at it, and dig into the details, it's less of a foreign aid bill and much more of of a bill to enhance our industrial capacity. not a perfect bill. i'm going to get into that in a

minute. there's no such thing as a perfect bill, by the way. but almost 60% of this national security supplemental bill we're going to be voting on goes directly into our industrial base. directly into our ability to build submarines. by the way, like $6 billion for submarines. $6 billion with the aukus agreement. $5 billion for 150 millimeter artillery shells. over half a billion for cou counterups systems is. tomohawks, toe missiles, bevelled by americans for -- built by americans for our own defense. that's in this bill. it's in the bill, mr. president. so, that's a really important component, almost 60% of this bill goes into that. and it has other things in it,

$3 billion for our troops in the centcom area of responsibility right now who are in combat. right now, taking incoming missiles from the houthis. uss carney almost took a hundred different missiles and drones, salesors in -- sailors. this helps our troops in combat. by the way, my view, just that element alone is enough to support this bill. you got american troops in combat in the middle east. of course, this bill does go to help our allies and partners, israel, taiwan, ukraine, who are facing existential threats lite literally, from their very aggressive neighbors. again, mr. president, a lot of this is going to stay home. we're not sending subs to any of those countries. we're building submarines to be ready if we have to in a

conflict with china. xi jinping, that dictator i was showing you there, he's scared to death of the nuclear subcapability of the united states. so this is mostly about us protecting our country and our industrial base to produce weapons for america. yeah, it's going to put a lot of workers to work, but this bill primarily, if you read it, is about protecting our nation. now, as i said, mr. president, it's not a perfect bill. i had some amendments we debated a couple months ago on the senate floor. i think the direct budget support, the economic aid, that should go to our european allies to help the ukrainians with that. that should go to the gulf arab allies who want to support gaza in terms of economic aid. we should be providing the lethal aid, but i will say, mr. president, speaker johnson

definitely improved the bill from what the senate sent over a couple months ago. i applaud his impressive leadership. there's a number of improvements. the direct budget support and economic aid is now in the form of forgivable loans. that was a president trump idea. i think it's a good idea. the repo act. senator risch has been pushing on that hard. he's done a great job on that. that would enable us to seize russian assets to help to pay for the ukraine war. there is a requirement that makes the biden administration lay out a much more detailed strategy on ukraine, forces them to provide ukrainians atacm weapon systems. focuses on fentanyl, focuses on tiktok, the improvements there, breaking the tie between the chinese communist party and control of this popular app.

the house tried to take up some border security issues, mr. president. i certainly wish those would have passed. not sure my senate democratic colleagues would have voted on them, but that would have made it better. many improvements. the speaker did a good jobben to that. we've had some critiques on the left and right of this bill. i want to just address a few of those, mr. president, as we're getting ready to vote on this. some are quite serious. some of my republican colleagues have said, hey, the europeans need to do more, particularly when it comes to ukraine. i actually agree with that, mr. president. as a matter of fact, no one in this chamber has worked harder on the issue of making sure our nato allies meet their 2% obligation in terms of defense spending. i had an amendment to the sweden and finland accession treaties we voted on here, that said it's

the sense of the senate that all of these countries have to meet their 2% of gdp obligation on defense as a nato member. that passed 98-0 here in the senate. i had an ndaa provision that is law that said the secretary of defense shall prioritize training and troop deployments for countries in nato, with u.s. forces that meet their 2% obligation. so, i agree with those critiques. but some of the critiques from some of my colleagues, mr. president, let's just say they weren't serious. you might remember one that this national security supplemental was some kind of secret trap for a future impeachment of president trump. i'm pretty sure that's not what speaker johnson was working on the last two months. that this national security bill will quote strain our industrial base. it will do the opposite. i think that's clear, make

generational investments in our industrial base that hopefully will continue for years. they will continue for the years. that the national security supplemental sends, quote, the wrong signal to what the war fighter in america needs for actual threats we face. well, i find that really curious, mr. president. let me give you one example. i work directly with the indopacom commander on exactly what he needed, he thought he needed for american, our forces to help taiwan in the taiwan straits. that's in the bill. the original bill from the biden administration had very little on that. we made it a lot better, a lot stronger. but working directly with indopacom and the admiral, there's no better expert in the world on what they need to fight in the taiwan strait. so, again, that criticism seemed really off base. a lot of serious critique. if you actually are one of the senators doing the homework on

what our war fighters need. but, mr. president, the biggest issue i have with some of the arguments and critiques of this national security supplemental that's actually coming from the left and the right in the house and in the senate is their claim that deterrence is divisible. deterrence is divisional. what do i mean by that? their argument, and i've heard it a lot, is that you can let, you can cut off aid to ukraine, let putin roll over them, roll over that country, move up to the border of the baltics and poland -- nato allies, by the way -- but somehow we can still be strong in the taiwan strait with regard to xi jinping and the ayatollahs in iran. dete deterrence is divisible. you can show weakness with

regard to putin but strength with regard to xi jinping and the aye tow las. that is not how it works. deterrence is not divisible. how do we know that? i think we know because of this debacle. joe biden's failed attempt at national security has shown that defense is not divisible. what am i talking about? when this happened, the botched afghan withdrawal, biden's debacle, put on the front cover, many predicted, many in this chamber, democrats and republicans, by the way, myself included, predicted that given this botched afghanistan withdrawal, dictators around the world are going to be emboldened to press us other places. stand by, putin, xi, are going to invade somewhere else because of this. and, mr. president, i didn't only hear that from people here. i've talked to world leaders who said there is no way putin would have invaded ukraine if it

hadn't been for this biden debacle. so deterrence is not divisible, mr. president, and that's exhibit a, which brings me to my final point. the press and members of the media as usual are missing the bigger story of what's going on on this national security supplemental. all the focus has been on the house and how republicans in the house have delayed the senate bill for two months. that we republicans in the k congress are not taking foreign policy seriously. but, mr. president, this bill's passage and that this bill's passage is some kind of victory for president biden's foreign policy leadership.

but here's what i think is going on, mr. president. this national security supplemental bill actually exposes even further the weakness of the biden administration's approach to ukraine on foreign policy that has only brought the world chaos. i was at a sunday talk show the other day and made the point, a very simple question. is the world a safer place for america and its allies today relevant to four years ago? i think everybody knows the answer is no, it's not even close. there's chaos all over the world. and i think what's really important is to focus on how we actually got to this point, why we need in defense supplemental in the first place. and the reason we do is the failure of the current occupant of the white house's policies with regard to foreign policy and national security. that is the entire reason we have to bring this bill, this

national security bill to the floor and why it is so urgently needed now. this bill is not some kind of exhibit of joe biden's foreign policy triumph. it's a needed correction of joe biden's foreign policy failure. first, as i've noted, mr. president, the afghan debacle certainly emboldened putin to invade ukraine. i think that's a view that's commonly held. secondly, our own border debacle has been something that has made it so republicans who would normally support strong national security were, with a lot of good reason, saying let's take care of our own open borders and national security at the southern border first. the president has not done that. we have an open border that has a humanitarian and national security fiasco in america.

third, mr. president, this president, with regard to ukraine, has not been in it to win it. what do i mean by that? every major weapon system that the ukrainians have said they need, they have delayed and delayed and delayed because they are fearful of, they were fearful of putin. let's just call it like it is. the list is long. himars, stingers, javelins, abrams tanks, even f-16's, forcing the president saying we're going to get this long-range artillery to the ukrainians. this is the number one issue we heard from president zelenskyy a couch months ago -- a couple of months ago when we were in munich. imagine in the biden administration had gotten all those weapons systems i just mentioned to the ukrainians a year and a half ago. and what has happened every time? this body, democrats and

republicans, have gone to the president to say mr. president, give them these weapons. we're going to dlachlt we don't want to -- we're going to delay. we don't want to escalate with putin. escalate with putin? he invaded a country. they're not in it to win it. the president called an lng with our allies. not in it to win it. finally, mr. president, this president has never explained the stakes of why this is so important. he's given two speeches on ukraine. two. two major speeches. and you know what he does? he attacks republicans in his speeches. that's not leadership. that's not leadership. especially on a big national security issue, you want to bring people together, explain the stakes. speaker johnson has done more to explain the stakes in a calm, reassuring manner in the last two weeks than president biden has done in three years. and then, mr. president,

finally, again, in terms of lack of seriousness on national security issues, i think the most damning issue is the lack of serious with regard to our national defense, as i mentioned. the president puts forward budgets to cut defense spending every year. i've asked the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs, three hearings in a row on the armed services committee, if this is the most dangerous time since world war ii, why are you cutting defense spending? why are you going to bring defense spending in america next year to below 3% of gdp? we've only been there four times in the last, well, since world war ii. why are you dramatically undermining readiness? they don't want to do that. the secretary of defense doesn't want to do that. the chairman of the joint chiefs doesn't want to do that. so why are they doing it?

the answer to that, mr. president, is this is where our democratic colleagues always are. since vietnam, since vietnam, just look at what every president who is a democrat who has occupied the white house has done -- carter, clinton, obama, now biden. they come in and they cut defense spending, and they cut readiness. this is in the dna of the national party. republicans have a different tradition. it's this tradition. peace through strength. peace through strength. that's our tradition. to my republican colleagues and friends in the senate, our tradition is much more serious. it's prouder. and i will tell you this, it's much more supported by the american people.

peace through strength. not american retreat. so, mr. president, as i'm encouraging my republican senate colleagues to vote on this national security supplemental, this is in line with the peace through strength tradition we have in this party. think about it. teddy roosevelt, eisenhower, reagan of course, the bush presidencies, and very much in the tradition of peace through strength, the trump presidency. mr. president, i was here, heck, i ran for the u.s. senate in 2014 primarily because the second term of the obama administration cut defense spending by 25%. readiness plummeted, plummeted. shocking how badly ready our troops were. when the trump administration came in, worked with senate republicans when we were in majority, we reversed it. peace through strength.

so, mr. president, through arguments, facts, understanding history, a serious view of the world, peace through strength, my republican colleagues, we need to keep this tradition going especially during these dangerous times. we certainly can't rely on our democratic colleagues to support that. we certainly can't rely on this white house, president biden who cuts defense spending every year, to support that. and that is a really important reason why i encourage my colleagues to support this national security supplemental, imperfect bill, yes, but needed during these very dangerous times. i yield the floor. mr. sanders: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: the senate will soon vote on a $95 billion supplemental spending package. $95 billion, that's a lot of

money, especially at a time when many americans are unable to afford their rent or pay their mortgages, pay their bills, afford health care, struggling with student debt, or many other needs. $95 billion, a lot of money. all told, this package includes tens of billions of dollars in additional military spending and major policy changes, many of which are controversial, many of which are disagreed with by the american people. yet, unlike the house of representatives, the senate will not have the opportunity to hold separate votes on the various components of this bill. i have heard from many of my

democratic colleagues, and i agree, who talk about the dysfunctionality taking place in the house of representatives. in fact, i'm not quite sure we'll know who the speaker of the house will be in a couple of weeks, whether the extreme right wing is going to get rid of mr. johnson. but what we can say about the house is they at least gave their members the opportunity to vote yes or no on funding for ukraine, yes or no on aid to israel, yes or no on tiktok, yes or no on aid to asian countries. that is more than can be said for the u.s. senate right now. and i remind my colleagues that this is supposedly the greatest deliberative body in the world, except we don't very many

iterations around here. we've got p one bill up or down. mr. president, we need to have a serious debate on these issues. i think the american people want us to have a serious debate on these issues, and that is why i am trying my best to secure amendment votes which, in my view, will significantly improve this bill. as it happens, i strongly support the humanitarian aid included in this bill which will save many thousands of lives in gaza, sudan, ukraine, and many other places, strongly supp atacms. it. i strongly support military aid for ukraine to defend itself. i support the iron dome to protect israeli civilians from missile and drone attacks.

but let me be very clear. i strongly support ending the provision which will give $8.9 billion in unvetted offensive military aid to the extremist israeli government. a government led by prime minister netanyahu, who is continuing his unprecedented assault against the palestinian people. i also strongly oppose language in this legislation that would prohibit funding for unwra, the u.n. organization that is the backbone of the humanitarian relief operation in gaza and the

only organization that experts say has the capability to provide the humanitarian aid that is desperately needed there. and i have filed two amendments to address these issues. these amendments would not touch funding for the iron dome and other purely defensive systems to protect israel against incoming missiles. mr. president, as we all know, hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with a proefshg attack -- horrific attack on israel that killed 1200 innocent victims and took over 200 captives. as i said many times, israel has and had the absolute right to defend itself against this terrorist attack, but israel did not and does not have the right to go to war against the entire

palestinian people, which is exactly what it is doing. mr. president, regarding offensive military aid to israel, what we will be voting on is pretty simple. first, has netanyahu and his government violated u.s. and international law in gaza, which if he has should automatically result in the cessation of all u.s. military aid to israel. that is a pretty simple question. second, maybe even more importantly. as u.s. taxpayers, do we want to be explicit in netanyahu's unprecedented and savage

military campaign against the palestinian people? do we want to continue providing the weapons and the military aid that is causing this massive destruction? do we want that war in gaza to be not only israel's war but america's war? on the first question, the legal issue, the answer is very clear. netanyahu and his extremist government are clearly in violation of u.s. and international law, and because of that, should no longer receive u.s. military aid. international law requires that warring parties facilitate rapid and unimpeakeded passage -- unimpeded passage for

humanitarian need. that is international law. israel has clearly not done that. only in the past few weeks, because of pressure by president biden, has aid access begun, though it is still grossly insufficient given the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe. maybe more importantly is that u.s. law on this subject is extremely clear. there is no ambiguity. the foreign assistance act says that no u.s. security assistance may be provided to any country that, quote, prohibits or otherwise restricts directly or indirectly the transports or delivery of united states humanitarian assistance, end of quote. that is the law. israel is clearly in violation

of this law. for six months it has severely limited the amount of humanitarian aid entering gaza. the result has been a catastrophic humanitarian disaster with hundreds of thousands of children facing malnutrition and starvation. israel's violation of this law is not in debate. it is a reality repeatedly confirmed every day by numerous humanitarian organizations. israeli leaders, themselves, admit it. mr. president, at start of this war, the israeli defense minister declared a total siege on gaza saying, quote -- this is

the israeli defense minister -- quote, we are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly. there will be no electric, no fuel, no good. everything is closed. end quote. and they kept their word on that. in january netanyahu himself said that israel is only allowing in the absolute minimum amount of aid. for months thousands of trucks carrying lifesaving supplies have sat just miles away from starving children. trucks with food miles away from children who are starving. and israel has kept these trucks from reaching people in desperate need. israel's blockade pushed the united states -- and this is rather incredible -- to extreme

measures, including airdropping supplies and the construction of an emergency pier in order to get food to starving people. in other words, the president and the united states did the right thing. children are starving, we're trying to do air drops, build a pier. in other words, we are now in the absurd situation where israel is using u.s. military assistance to block the delivery of u.s. humanitarian aid to palestinians. if that is not crazy, i don't know what is, but also a clear violation of u.s. law. given that reality, we should not today even be having this debate. it is illegal to continue current military aid to israel, let alone send another

$9 billion with no strings attached. mr. president, let me take a moment to describe what is happening in gaza right now. to further explain why these amendments are absolutely necessary and why we must end u.s. complicity in netanyahu's war in gaza. mr. president, more than 34,000 palestinians have been killed and 77,000 wounded since this war began, 70% of whom are women and children. 70% of whom are women and children. that means some 5% of the 2.2 million precedents of gaza have been killed or wounded in

six and a half months. 5% of the entire population in six and a half months have been killed or wounded. that is a staggering rather unbelievable number. mr. president, 19,000 children in gaza are now orphans -- 19,000 children are orphans, having lost their parents in this war. and i might add, for the children of gaza, the psychic damage that has been done to them will never cease in their lives. they have witnessed -- little kids, and gaza is a young community, a lot of children -- they have witnessed unbelievable

carnage, destruction of houses. they have experienced hunger, thirst, they've been thrown out of their homes. what is being done to these many hundreds of thousands of children is unforgivable. and the killing has not stopped. over the weekend, 139 palestinians were killed and 251 were injured. of these, 29 were killed in and around rafah, including 20 children and six women, one of whom was pregnant. mr. president, roughly 1.7 million people, over 75% of the population, have been driven from their homes in gaza. satellite data shows that 62% of homes in gaza have been either

damaged or destroyed, including 221,000 housing units that have been completely destroyed. 221,000 housing units completely destroyed. that is more than 1 million people made homeless by israeli bombing. mr. president, not only housing, it is gaza's entire civilian infrastructure that has been devastated. in gaza today there is no electricity, apart from generators or solar power, and most roads are badly damaged. more than half of the water and sanitation systems are out of commission. clean drinking water is severely limited and sewage is running through the streets spreading

disease. mr. president, israel has not only destroyed the housing in gaza, not only destroyed the infrastructure, they have systematically destroyed the health care system in gaza. 26 out of 37 hospitals are completely out of service in a country which now has tens and tens of thousands of people who are sick and wounded. 11 hospitals are partially functioning, but they are overwhelmed by the many, many people who are sick and injured, and they are all short of medical supplies. doctors have had to perform countless surgeries without anesthesia or antibiotics, only three hospitals are providing

maternal care in gaza where 180 women are giving birth every day. overall 87% of health stilts have been -- facilities have been damaged or destroyed in gaza and over 2400 health care people have been killed. it is not only the hospitals or houses, schools have been destroyed. the last of gaza's universities was demolished in january. some 625,000 students now have no access to education. mr. president, i really do not understand what the military utility of destroying a university is. mr. president, above and beyond

the destruction of homes, the destruction of the infrastructure, the destruction of the health care system, the destruction of schools, universities, and the occasional system -- educational system, unbelievably there is something even worse taking place in gaza, and that is more than 1 million palestinians, including hundreds of thousands of children face starvation. people in gaza are foraging for leaves. they're eating animal feed or surviving off the occasional aid package. at least 28 children have already died of malnutrition and dehydration, and the real number is likely much, much higher, but

without sustained humanitarian access throughout gaza, it is impossible to know. recently, usaid administrator samantha powers said that famine was already present in northern gaza. without food, clean water, sanitation, or sufficient health care, hundreds of thousands of people are at severe risk from dehydration, infection, and easily preventable diseases. mr. president, when i keep hearing discussion from the pundits and the experts about the day after in gaza, when the war is over, but what kind of day after can there be? amidst this incredible destruction?

gaza today can barely sustain human life. mr. president, hamas started this war, and that is true. but this war stopped being about defending israel a long time ago. what is going on now is the destruction of the very fabric of palestinian life. it is impossible to look at these facts and not conclude that the israeli government's policy has been quite deliberately to make gaza uninhabitable for palestinians. and clearly, they are pour voices in israel's extreme right-wing government who have been quite open about their desire to drive the palestinian people out of both gaza and the west bank. this is not the israel of.

netanyahu's government is beholden to outright and religious fanatics who believe they have an exclusive right to dominate the land. mr. president, that is why we must end our complicity in this terrible war. that is why we should support the amendment i am offering to end unvetted military aid to netanyahu's war machine. let's be clear. cutting military aid to netanyahu's government is not my view. it is what the american people believe and are demanding. the american people in fact are fed up with netanyahu and his war. they do not want to see their taxpayer dollars support the

slaughter of innocent civilians and the starvation of children. a recent gallup poll showed that just 36% of americans approve of israel's military action with 55% disapproving. a quinnipiac poll showed that u.s. voters oppose sending more military aid to israel by 52% to 39%. an earlier hugo poll also showed that 52% of americans said that the united states should stop sending weapons to israel until it stops its attacks in gaza. maybe -- and here's a very radical idea -- maybe it is time for congress to listen to the american people. and i would urge strong support for my amendment. mr. president, my second amendment would remove the ban on funding for unrwa, a u.n. organization with 30,000

employees that is delivering essential humanitarian aid in gaza and supporting basic services in other neighbors countries, including jordan. millions of people rely on those services. israel has said that 12 unrwa employees were involved in the october 7 terrorist attack. these are serious charges. and obviously any involvement with hamas by unrwa employees is unacceptable. and that is why every year unrwa provides israel with a list of its staff and goes to great lengths to cooperate with israeli authorities. unrwa learned about israel's accusations from the media and immediately fired the accused employees while the u.n. launched an investigation. thus far israel has refused to cooperate with the u.n. investigation.

i should add importantly that most donors have now restored funding to unrwa, are satisfied by the agency's protocols to withdraw independence from hamas. the u.s. national intelligence council meanwhile said that israel's claims were plausible but could not be confirmed and noted that israel has tried to undermine unrwa for years. in the last six months israel has harassed unrwa employees, blocked shipments of supplies, including medicines, frozen its bank accounts, and killed 181 u.n. staff. mr. president, unrwa plays a critical role both in gaza and across the region. whatever the investigation shows in the end, it is my view that you do not deny humanitarian aid to millions of people because of the alleged actions of 123

unrwa -- 12 unrwa employees out of a workforce of 30,000. and by the way, mr. president, when we talk about investigation s, maybe, just make we should not just be talking about investigating unrwa. maybe we should also investigate what's going on in the west bank. last weekend after an israeli teenager was killed, large groups of armed israeli settlers, virginia antes -- vigilantes, rampaged through 17 villages shooting dozens of people and burning homes. israeli soldiers watched the attacks unfold doing nothing to stop them. no arrested have been announced. maybe we need an investigation there as well. this past weekend the israeli military killed 14 more palestinians in the west bank

and an ambulance driver was shot and killed as he tried to recover people wounded in another violent attack by israeli settlers. since october 7, israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 470 palestinians on the west bank, including more than 100 children. but for some reason, i don't know why, i just don't hear my colleagues calling for an investigation of that. mr. president, we are at a critical moment, not just in terms of what is happening in gaza but many ways what is happening right here in america and what is happening here in the u.s. senate. given the fact that a majority of the american people now want to stop funding for netanyahu's war machine, i find it incomprehensible that we are not

going to be able to vote on that issue. i find it outrageous that at a time when netanyahu's government has clearly broken the law, members of this congress are not -- members of the senate are not going to be able to vote as to whether or not they want to continue providing billions more of unvetted military aid to netanyahu's war machine. mr. president, i would hope that we would have the decency to allow a little bit of democracy here in the united states s senate. i hope we allow the members to vote on some of these very, very important issues. and i certainly hope that we will pass these amendments. thank you. and i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. my colleagues, we live in a dangerous world. fellow americans and kansans, we live in dangerous times, and the world is a real challenge. national security crisis abroad and here at home are increasing. they're ever increasing. iran launched a full-scale attack on israel. hamas has stated its intent to

wipe israel off the map. russia continues its brutal aggression in ukraine. and china is rapidly modernizing its military and using companies to spy and track on americans. each of these conflicts are interconnected, and it would be naive to send aid to israel but take a pass on supporting ukraine, taiwan, or other allies. it's vital to the united states to be a steadfast and reliable partner in the midst of so many dangers that threaten the world and our own nation's peace and prosperity. in a joint fox news op-ed with former secretary mike pompeo, we stated, the preservation of freedom requires enormous effort, indeed liberty demands the martialing of every resource necessary in its defense against those who would see it destroyed. vladimir putin has chosen to pursue the reconstitution of the russian empire according to his

own vision of russian history. he's made clear that his aspirations go beyond ukraine and views nato as russia's enemy. and under putin's leadership, russia is increasingly collaborating with other nations who oppose us. iran and our most pour adversary, communist china. allowing the war in ukraine to fester will only prolong and deepen the instability already wrought and puts at risk the hundreds of thousands of servicemembers defending nato's borders, including those from fort riley, kansas. very said from the beginning the world is better and a safer place if ukraine wins and russia loses. ending the war on terms favorable to kyiv will leave ukraine and the nato's front in a stronger and better position to deter further russian aggression. just a week ago iran lost -- launched a full-scale attack on israel from its own soil.

though an impress -- through an impressive and coordinated effort with the u.s. and other countries, israel successfully defended itself from the barrage of missiles fired at it. it was a victory for israel but iran has demonstrated that it's cable and willing to act on its desire to eliminate the state of israel. standing with israel and ukraine also means standing with our pro-indo-pacific partners. we cannot be tough on china and weak on defending ukraine and israel. the pentagon describes china as the most comprehensive and serious challenge to u.s. security. the japanese prime minister stood before congress just a few days ago and reaffirmed that japan is already standing shoulder to shoulder with the united states. the u.s. must send the message that we are committed, that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with or allies in the

indo-pacific. the bill that we are about to debate, discuss, and presumably vote on allows the u.s. to respond to immediate needs as china increases its military provocation of taiwan while also modernizing our own u.s. fleet to compete in the pacific. it is in america's, it is in america's vital national interest to assist ukraine in repelling russian invasion, assist israel in driving out terrorism, and assist our indo-pacific partners in standing up to china's threats. we must project strength. failure to do otherwise undermines our credibility. and that undermining of credibility, unfortunately, resonates around the globe. that credibility was already damaged after the administration's disastrous and chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. additionally, in this funding package, a majority of those funds provided to ukraine and

those provided in previous packages will be directly injected back into the u.s. economy. there's been a significant amount of misinformation on this bill, and it's important to clarify. 70% of the funding in the ukraine bill, $42 billion of the $60.8 billion will be used to replenish u.s. stockpiles and develop, produce, and purchase u.s.-made weapons, including weapons from production facilities in kansas and the kansas city area. this package also requires the administration to develop a strategy for ukrainian victory. our interests as it relaets to this war, the costs of not satisfying those interests and the estimate of the resources that are needed. the supplemental will deliver on all these aspects. there is no path forward for ukraine, there is no path forward for israel or taiwan if

the united states of america disengages in the world. the price tag is significant, but in the absence of taking a stand now, we have to take a stand tomorrow. do what we need to do today or pay a price later. and later will be even more costly. but these costs must be shared with our nato allies and our partners elsewhere in the world. i commend nato and the european nations that have, up to now, pledged more support to ukraine's cause even than our own country has. europe has pledged more money than the united states, yet, it is critical to rapidly fulfilling these commitments,to help crane with -- ukraine withstand russia's onslaught.

i'm reluctant to spend more money or to be engaged further in the world, especially with the crisis add our own intoed. i -- at the border. we were unsuccessful with border policies in this package. the crisis at the southern border is a grave national security. lots of reasons to be concerned about people coming across our borders, but i would highlight in this conversation it's a security threat. the administration's continued inaction at the border is frustrating when the administration has many tools that it needs to improve this situation. i will continue to work to protect the border but at the same time we must work to bolster national security in the areas that we can agree upon. we can't wait for a new administration or a new congress to try and pass perfect border

legislation, if such legislation exists. some of this reflects the changing nature of what conflict is, what does conflict mean today? our adversaries use technology companies to collect data information about americans, it can be used to control or influence each of us often without us realizing it is happening. this takes the first step to protect u.s. data, but there needs to be a federal comprehensive data secure law. this will not just go away and it will not resolve efts on its own and the preservation of freedom requires effort. i've always believed an am american -- our greatest responsibility as an american citizen, that those who follow us, live by the liberties --

many of them who sacrificed their own lives. this week we have an opportunity to deliver on that effort, to do, to live up to our responsibility as americans. to be a steadfast and reliable partner. i'm grateful to my colleagues in the house for their work in getting -- in getting the national security supplemental passed and sent back to the senate. i underscore to my colleagues in the senate the importance of doing the work we were elected to do. americans, who will be directly impacted, they're paying attention but so are adversaries and allies. i hope we are successful if fighting for and defending the liberties and freedoms of america and americans and protecting and help secure the remainder of the world. it's in our benefit -- in america's benefit to do so. madam president, i yield the floor.

mr. durbin: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois is recognized. mr. durbin: madam president, i feel fortunate to, of course, serve in the senate and equally fortunate to represent the state of illinois and the city of chicago. what an amazing gathering place for america. -- america chicago has been over the years and still is to this day. when we talk about issues here in washington, many times i can relate them not just to neighborhoods but to people in chicago who feel so intensely about the land of their birth or causes of the countries. i've gone through that same experience, my mother an immigrant from lithuania, i was fortunate to witness the freedom struggle in lithuania when they finally broke from the soviet union. if you go down chicago avenue, west of michigan avenue, you go

into an area known as ukrainian village. that know man clat tur -- nomenclature speaks for itself, there are schools, families, who are watching the war in ukraine with personal intensity, to them it is a land where their fathers and mothers were born, where many of them were born. and they have prayers and pleas to politicians not to forget. you can also step rightout side of this chamber -- right outside this chamber and find a group of ukrainian americans who have been demonstrating for the cause of ukraine for as long as this war has gone on. i saw them this morning, as we go by, the typical greeting in ukraine, long live ukraine, to which they reply that they agree with me. it's a great feeling to these

these demonstrators peacefully demonstrating for a cause that means so much to them and to realize as a senator i will have a vote today or tomorrow that can make a real difference in whether ukraine prevails against vladimir putin or whether they don't. my ukrainian caucus cochair hosted the ukrainian prime minister. you were this. woe were joined by several colleagues from both sides of the aisle. it was a truly bipartisan turnout. the prime minister's point was simple. with continued u.s. and allied support, ukraine can with defeat russia's brutal war and help security in europe. i agree, that's why the weekend vote in the house and the vote this week in the senate are so important. we've always had an isolation sentiment in the united states, if you're a student of history,

you know that we've had to overcome that sentiment in both world wars, but in the case of ukraine and the larger national security supplemental bill, which we're considering, it was not only in our interest to stop wars of aggression, but also to maintain the international world order that reflects our values and benefits here at home. russia's unprovoked invasion of ukraine and its earlier seizure of land in georgia and moldova, has threatened peace and stability, make no mistake china and iran are looking to see if we and our allies allow russian's aggression to stand. doing so would not only embolden vladimir putin but would also raise the risk of our allies in the indo-pacific and the middle

east. that's why i'm to pleased this supplemental including assistance for our key allies in those regions of the world as well. it includes humanitarian aid for those with humanitarian needs including gaza, sudan and drought-stricken areas of the world facing food insecurity. what we do today has consequences, global historic consequences, nato said if vladimir putin wins in ukraine, there is a real risk that his aggression will not end there. putin will continue to wage his war beyond ukraine with grave consequences. stoltenberg reminded us, our support is not charity, it is an investment in our own security. i want to remind my republican colleagues that president ronald reagan understood this 37 years ago when he said at the

brandenburg gate dividing east and west berlin, quote, mr. gorbachev tear down the wall. the euphoria felt by the people of berlin was palpable. i remember groups coming to the brandenburg gate bringing hill hammers to chip off parts of the wall to save for their children and grandchildren of. not long after, the soviet union collapsed ushering freedom and prosperity into eastern europe. vladimir putin called this historic wave of liberation from the shackles of communism the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century, what he wants to reverse to this day. and my friend and former colleague john mccain who i will never forget walking through the

square saw this battle of ideas and freedom so clearly. reasonably -- recently house committee chair mike mccaul aptly noted that our adversaries and history is watching, that's why i ask my colleagues, do you want to be chamberlain or churchill? we need to send a clear message to putin that he cannot prevail in ukraine and that we uphold basic international norms. "the washington post" called the house approval of the supplemental, the hope heard around the world, let's hope the actions in the senate are also heard around the world. this contains more than aid to ukraine, it provides $2 billion in weapons for taiwan and $3.3 billion for a submarine base and provisions related to

the humanitarian aid to gaza, sudan and other vulnerable populations around the world will make a difference between life and death. we want to crack down on the fentanyl trafficking. i recently had ann milgraham head of the drug enforcement agency to give me a briefing on the crisis in this country. one pill can kill. that has to be communicated to our children and families across the united states. we lost over 100,000 americans last year to fentanyl. some of them had no idea what they were ingesting and what they did of course was to take a fatal dose of fentanyl which can be very small. i was in o'hare airport in chicago and was taken on a tour on what is being done to

intercept tablet pressers coming into this country and killing so many innocent people who have no idea of the danger. a young person, teenager in chicago felt that he was ordering a perko set -- percocet pill on the internet, it was laced with fentanyl and he died. the enforcement of law against drug trafficking. we have new sanctions on iran, russia, and china, and of course there was a controversial issue on the sale of tiktok is included this. my greatest fear is that netanyahu and right-wing coalition once they receive the american be funds will act irresponsibly. i'm afraid they will revert to their devastating attacks in gaza. they could resort to tactics

that kill many innocent people, many women and children, palestinian women and children who have no place to turn, no place to escape. these innocent people living in gaza should not be victims in this war. there are requirements for all civilized nations in war time when it comes to protecting individuals and civilians, and they certainly should apply in this situation. there is no question that bears repeating every time we talk about this topic. israel has the right to exist, it has the right to defend itself and strike back at hamas after the atrocities of october 7. but the humanitarian crisis unleashed in gaza is unspeakable, indefensible, and we cannot be party to it. there are provisions in the law for those who receive aid from the united states and that would include all of the countries that i mentioned here. provisions of the law which require them to -- adhere to

international standards when it comes to protecting the innocent and when it comes to facilitating the delivery of humanitarian aid, we must hold israel and all recipients of u.s. aid to those standards to make certain they are doing everything in their power to protect the innocent. madam president, this is an important vote and, as usual in the senate, we find that it's not a single issue that we'll be voting on but in fact perhaps a dozen key issues, any of which could be a major bill debated at length on the floor of the senate but time is wasting. we passed the defense supplemental the first time in september of this year. it is time to get this done for the relief and support of people in ukraine and for the good of american values all around the world. i yield the floor.

mr. thune: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota is recognized. mr. thune: thank you, madam president. madam president, are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are not. mr. thune: thank you. madam president, less than two weeks ago, iran attacked israel with a barrage of more than 300 missiles and drones. the attack was a notable escalation on iran's part since the weapons were fired not just

by iranian proxies but also directly from iran. and it was a reminder of two things. first and foremost, the attack was a reminder of the need for the united states and the free world to make it clear to iran that we are not going to stand idly by while iran attacks israel and continues to foment terror in the middle east. iran's malign activities have been allowed to go on for far too long. and it's past time not just for the united states but for the nations in europe, the middle east and elsewhere to call a halt to iran's activities. a larger scale, madam president, iran's attack on israel was a reminder that bad actors and hostile powers are going to feel any -- fill any space they think they can fill. if the united states and other free countries abdicate leadership or telegraph weakness on the global stage, bad actors are going to be happy to step in

to fill the vacuum. i would not be surprised if the biden administration's all too frequent posture of appeasement toward iran and lack of clarity the administration has telegraphed about u.s. support for israel has emboldened iran to reach further and engage in the kind of escalation that we saw this month. madam president, bad actors around the world are flexing their power right now. iran in the middle east, russia in europe, china in the indo-pacific and beyond. and these powers are forging alliances with each other to advance their activities. iran has provided russia with weapons to use in its war on ukraine and is working with russia to produce drones at a russian facility. meanwhile, russia has committed to supplying iran with fighter jets and air defense technology,

assets which as a recent "washington post" article noted, and i quote, could help tehran harden its defenses against any future air strike we israel or the united states. end quote. when it comes to china, the secretary of state recently reported, and i quote, we see china sharing machine tools, semiconductors, other dual-use items that have helped russia rebuild the industrial defensive base that sanctions and export controls have done so much to degrade. end quote. madam president, in the face of increased aggression from these powers, the united states response needs to be one of str strength, and that includes not just having a strong military and a strong economy, but engaging on the global stage. as i said bad actors will fill any space they think they can fill. and when the united states and other free countries abdicate

leadership on the global stage, bad actors will step in to fill the vacuum. the foreign aid contained in this bill is an important part of telegraphing america's refusal to see the global stage to hostile powers. it will help demonstrate to iran our support for israel and help our ally rid itself of the threat of hamas on its border. it will help make it clear to russia that the united states is not going to give russia free reign in eastern europe. it will help replenish interceptors that we've used in the red sea. and it will let china know that while taiwan may be small, its backing is not. madam president, sending these messages is important. it is in our nation's interest to ensure that a newly victorious and embolden putin

isn't sitting on the doorstep of four nato states who we are bound by treaty to protect. it is in our nation's interest to assure -- russian victory in ukraine doesn't decide that it's time to invade taiwan. and it's in our nation's interest to ensure that israel is equipped to defend itself from iran and its terrorist approximate jiys. -- proxies. madam president, i'm pleased that in addition to the funding for israel, taiwan, and ukraine, we've considered before the bill before us today includes some new measures. notable among them is legislation to ban tiktok if the company is not purchased by an entity unaffiliated with the chinese communist party. currently the chinese communist party is able to gain unlimited access to the account information of tiktok users if it so chooses. and the news that emerged last week that the chinese embassy

has actually lobbied congressional staff against legislation to force the sale of tiktok was a stunning confirmation of the value the chinese government places on its ability to access americans' information and shape their tiktok experience. and so i'm very pleased that the bill before us today would ban tiktok if it is not sold to a company without ties to the chinese communist party. i'm also pleased that this legislation includes the rebuilding economic prosperity and opportunity for ukrainians act or the repo act which would direct frozen russian assets to rebuilding efforts in ukraine. russia has caused a horrifying amount of destruction in ukraine. it is right that russian assets should go toward its rebuilding. this bill also contains additional accountability measures for our support for ukraine, including a provision

that would turn some of the funding into loans to be repaid by ukraine when it is back on its feet. madam president, does this bill cover everything we should be doing on the national security front? either at home or abroad? no, it doesn't. but it will provide essential support to our allies. it will not only help them preserve their freedom but will advance u.s. interests around the globe. and so i look forward to the senate's passing this legislation this week and sending a clear message about american resolve and about american strength. madam president, i yield the floor. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the clerk: ms. baldwin.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from maryland is recognized. we are in a quorum call. mr. cardin: i would ask consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: it will be. without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i would ask consent that my comments in regards to earth day be -- appear in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: madam president, i come to the floor to talk about the pending business, the supplemental appropriation bill that came over to us from the house of representatives. in february of this year, i was in munich for the security conference. and the question that was asked to me the most just -- by just about every world leader, whether the congress would pass the ukraine supplemental appropriation bill. our colleagues around the world understood how important the supplemental appropriation passage was to the security of

ukraine and its ability to defend itself. now, madam president, i want to tell you, when i was asked that question by the world leaders, i said yes, we would pass it. i don't know if they were so convinced that we would get it done, and i'm not so sure how convinced i was at that time that we would be able to reach a point where we would be able to keep the supplemental intact and be able to pass it. the aid in that sup pj is to critical to the defense of ukraine. ukraine is literally running out of ammunition. u.s. leadership is absolutely indispensable. also of course includes the humanitarian assistance and some of the other important issues, but it also represents u.s. leadership, the ability for us to keep the coalition of the democratic states and the west together in our campaign to make sure that mr. putin does not succeed in taking over ukraine and then moving to other countries in europe. but now we can definitely answer

the question by our actions in this body. we can tell our friends around the world that, yes, the supplemental appropriationation -- appropriation will pass and be signed by president biden and the aid will be flowing to ukraine to defend itself. so much depends on the passage of this supplemental. first and foremost it's the defense of ukraine. incredibly brave people in ukraine that are holding up the defense against a great, mighty russian army. and they've been very, very successful. but they need to have the ability to defend themselves. and that's what they're asking the united states to do. not to provide the soldiers but to provide the wherewithal so we will not have to send our soldiers to europe. it's the front line for defense for democratic states for we all know that russia will not stop with ukraine if they're successful.

that moldova and georgia, the baltic states, poland are all very much in the view of what mr. putin wants to take over. but there's more to the supplemental than just ukraine. there's the financing for the middle east, israel's defending unprecedented iranian drone attacks. we saw that last week. they need our assistance to make sure that they can protect against these missiles and drones. we know the leaders of taiwan looking to passage of this supplemental because they have to look across the taiwan straits, at the people's republic of china, and their aggressive language and their concerns about whether china will use force against taiwan. the passage of this supplemental gives great hope to taiwan that the united states is with them. as i mentioned earlier, the humanitarian workers that are

did hes -- desperate to work in the sudan. the passage of the supplemental will help the humanitarian workers deal with the humanitarian crisis that we have in the sudan, that we have in gaza, that we have in ukraine and so many other areas around the world. so, yes, it's been -- it's been difficult to understand the delay in getting this done, and it's been -- it's actually -- it's affected ukraine's ability to defend itself, the delay in eliminate going the supplemental to the -- the delay in getting the supplemental to the finish line. so it is absolutely essential, as senator schumer said, that we complete our work as quickly as possible and to remove any doubt about earthquake in's support for ukraine -- any doubt about america's support for ukraine and if there was any doubt, madam president, the vote in the house of representatives on the ukraine package pass by a strong bipartisan vote of 311-112.

now, the entire package enjoys strong bipartisan support, and that's critically important for our success of our foreign policy. $ 60 billion for ukraine, $26 billion for israel, $8 billion for taiwan and our indo-pacific partners, $9 billion for global humanitarian assistance. but in addition to the appropriations that was in the bill that we passed in the senate months, a the house added some additional provisions, which quite frankly, madam president, will strengthen the bill. it provides a way to hold russia accountable for the damages that it has caused. that's a positive addition. it strengthens our sanctions against some of our most extreme adversaries. that's also strengthens the bill. and i was pleased that there was a reauthorization of the elie wiesel and aprocessties prevention act, a bill that i authored, that is deals with

trying to avoid conflicts turning into genocides or aprocessties, so -- atrocities. we need to invest in prevention and he the. lex i wiesel act does that. i want to recognize president biden on his leadership globally in keeping the coalition together in support of ukraine and our foreign policy objectives in the free world and also for what he did here in the united states, staying true to the principles, connecting the dots for the american people, and dealing with the a strategy so that we can get this bill to the finish line. so i congratulate the biden administration for saying with this and helping us reach this moment. we're on the verge of passion the supplemental appropriation act. it reinforces our foreign policy that's rooted in our values that promote human rights and defend policy, a foreign policy drawn

by basic decency. that's what the united states foreign policy is about, and this supplemental reinforces our objectives in each one of those categories. this gives the world a credible vision of the future, a future that discourages dictators and autocrats, a future for europe whole and free, a future for a thriving indo-pacific, a future for a thriving and prosperous middle east, a future that prioritizes civil society movements appeared human rights around the world. i think know that the challenges we -- i know that the challenges we face today on the global stage seem immense. they are. anyone can see that. russia is relentlessly bombing ukraine's oil and gas sector. ukraine is running out of ammunition. but shortly we will take an historic vote, a vote that, as president zelenskyy say, gives ukraine a chance of victory. so i urge my colleagues to join me in voting for the

supplemental that passed the house of representatives. i urge a vote yes, yes to fund america's foreign policy and national security priorities, yes to supporting the war-stricken people of the world who will not give up hope for democracy, yes to standing up with our allies and partners across the globe, yes to a future american leadership on the global stage as based on our values. with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: role roll. -- the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. baldwin.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona is recognized. mr. kelly: i ask unanimous consent to dispense with the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kelly: madam president, these are dangerous times for our national security, and the actions that we take here this week will shape the world that our kids and our grandkids grow up in. putin continues to wage a brutal

war to annex ukraine and has been making gains as ukraine runs low on ammunition. israel is under threat from not just iran's proxy terrorist groups like hamas and hezbollah, but iran itself just 10 days ago we saw them launch hundreds of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones against israel. and china continues its aggression towards its neighbors in asia as it renews its threats to take taiwan by force. our partners and allies and the democratic values weigh hold dear are -- we hold dear are in real danger. that should be enough to compel us to act. but it's bigger than that.

iran, china, even north korea are helping to supply russia's desperate war machine. china's president xi is watching to see if we can hold together the coalition supporting ukraine. he is judging what the costs would be if he were to invade taiwan. our adversaries are testing us, and they see instability and dysfunction as an opportunity. that creates a real risk that one or more of these threats could boil over into a wider conflict that would be much more costly for the united states. and potentially put more americans in harm's way. i spent yesterday at the naval air station in patuxent river, maryland, with u.s. naval

academy midshipmen. they shouldn't have to go to war years from now in europe, the middle east, or the pacific because of a failure of leadership in the washington, d.c., this week. that must be avoided at all costs. so, madam president, what do we do? we get our allies and partners -- ukraine, israel, and taiwan -- the weapons and ammunition to help them defend themselves. we modernize our own forces so our adversaries know they will lose any fight they pick with us. and we provide humanitarian support to those harmed by these conflicts, including innocent palestinians in gaza. the senate is once again

preparing to vote on appear national security bill -- on a national security bill that will accomplishes these goals and meet the dangerous moment that we find ourselves in. but let's get something straight here. we should have gotten this done shortly after the president proposed it in october. the senate spent months negotiating before we ultimately passed it with 70 votes, and then the house, well, they let it sit for more than two months before sending it back us to with 311 votes. it should disappoint all of us that partisanship and obstruction meant it took six months -- six months for congress to pass something that clearly the vast majority of us -- in fact, 71% of us in the

congress -- agreed on. ultimately, bipartisanship will win the day. it'll win the day in the house and in the senate. but the delays have come at a real cost, especially on the battlefield in ukraine. there are a lot of factors that go into winning a war. russia is a massive country, and even with its heavy losses, it can throw a lot of manpower at the problem to overcome and cover up its incompetent leadership. its culture of corruption, and its underperforming weapons systems. at the same times, i've seen in my two trips to ukraine since the war broke out that the ukrainians have a remarkable

spirit that can only come from a unified country fighting for its own existence. they are literally fighting for their own lives. but because of delays in getting this bill passed, ukraine's fighters are desperately low on artillery shells, on missiles, and even on small arms ammunition. that's tying the hands of their commanders at the same time that russia is revitalizing its war effort, with increased domestic military production and a lot of help from china and iran. with the right equipment and enough of it, ukraine can win this war. passing this bill will allow us to transfer them more of the

weapons, armored vehicles and ammunition from our stockpiles that ukraine needs to turn the tide, and then we will be able to replenish our own stockpiles with modern equipment to deter our adversaries from testing us any further. this is a win-win for us. at a very dangerous time, this is what we must do to prevent further destabilization and conflict that will cost us more in the end. i know that a majority of my colleagues agree with me. well, let's not wait any longer. let's not wait a day longer. let's get this done right now and show the world that the united states continues to lead, continues to stand by our allies, and continues to be the

strongest force for peace and stability in the world. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor.

. the presiding officer: the senator from maine is recognized. ms. collins: thank you, madam president. madam president, i rise to urge my colleagues to strongly

support the national security supplemental appropriations package before us. this important legislation, which was approved overwhelmingly by the house of represe representatives, reflects in many ways the bipartisan bill that chair murray and i negotiated and the senate passed in february by a vote of 70-29. madam president, this bill would strengthen our military's readiness, rebuild our defense industrial base, and assist our partners and allies at a volatile and dangerous time in world history. the national security package before us totals $95 billion.

71% of that funding, $67 billion, is defense funding. it will be used to continue vital u.s. military support to europe and the middle east, where our partners and allies are under attack by authoritarian regimes, rogue states, terrorists, and other extremists. it will expand and modernize u.s. defense production capacity. it will replenish our own stockpiles with updated, more capable weapons and equipment. and madam president, it will strengthen the u.s. submarine industrial base. in the past few months i have received briefings from two combatant commanders, general

kurilla of the u.s. central command, and admiral aqu arch nila of the u.s. -- aquanila of the u.s. indo-pacific command. each has told me this is the most dangerous global environment that they have seen. one said in 40 years, the other said in 50 years. the point, madam president, is the threats that the united states faces from an aggressive iran and its proxies, an imperialistic russia, and a hegemonic china are interc interconnected. how we respond to one affects how the other will operate. they require a strong response. the package before us provides the resources to address each of

those threats. and let me take just a few moments to highlight some of the bill's key components. with regard to iraning and its proxies, earlier this month, as we are all painfully aware, iran attacked israel with more than 300 drones and missiles. thanks to the u.s. navy's heroic response in assisting israel, as well as the great coordination and response from our allies and partners, fewer than 1% of iran's weapons reached their targets in israel. in all, more than 80 incoming drones and at least six missiles were intercepted by american forces, including the cruise of two destroyers, i'm proud to say, that were built in bath,

maine, the uss carney and the uss arleigh burke. but let us make no mistake about what was going on with this attack. iran fully intended to kill as many israelis as possible and to cause horrific damage. it was only the skill, the bravery, and the precision of israel, the united states, the united kingdom, france, jordan, and saudi arabia that prevented that from happening. madam president, this national security package includes $2.4 billion to support the ongoing u.s. central command operations in the middle east, such as those that i've just ment mentioned, but also to keep open

vital shipping lanes and to protect commercial ships from all over the world from attack as they are transiting. it also includes $4 billion to replenish iron home and david's sling air defense systems, which have proven to be so critical to is israel's self-defense, as well as $1.2 billion for iron beam, a promising new air defense capability. this legislation would also provide vital assistance to ukrainians battling a brutal, unprovoked russian invasion, and i know how strongly the presiding officer feels about this issue, as do i. it includes 15.4 billion to help

ukraine purchase american-made weapons to use in its defense, and 11.3 billion to support our servicemembers in poland and germany who are helping our allies equip and train ukrainian forces. but let me underscore an important point. it is not our troops who are dying on the ukrainian battlefield. it is the ukrainians who are bravely defending their country. if, however, putin is allowed to succeed in ukraine, he will continue to pursue his goal of re-creating the former soviet union. he's made no bones about that. he has said that repeatedly.

in my judgment, he would likely seize moldova next. again, invade georgia as he did in 2008, continue to menace the baltic nations, and threaten po poland. and then our troops would be involved in a much wider european war because putin would be ultimately attacking our nato allies. the funding in this package aims to prevent such an outcome by supporting ukraine as it defends itself against putin's aggression. and madam president, let me debunk a myth that i keep hearing over and over again, and that is that the europeans

somehow are not doing their part in helping to equip ukraine. that is just inaccurate. i have a chart that i used a few months ago when the supplemental was on the floor that ranked our european allies. well, today, madam president, the united states would be even further down on this list, which measures security assistance to ukraine as a percentage of gdp of that nation. today, we rank 16th on that list. in other words, 15 other countries -- estonia, denmark, platt via -- latvia, lithuania, finland, poland, sweden, north macedonia, albania, romania, the

netherlands, norway, germany, the czech republic, and the united kingdom -- are all spending more of their gdp to help ukraine than we are. and i think that is such an important point. yet, we hear over and over again, by those who are opposed to assistance, that the europeans are not doing their part. they are clearly doing their part. with regard to the indo-pacific, this package would help deter a menacing china whose navy now exceeds the size of ours. and in the budget that the president just sent up, that would only grow worse, since the president is requesting the lowest number of new ships in 15 years, and we cannot allow that to happen.

this legislative package also includes 1.9 billion to replenish u.s. military's inventories transferred under taiwan presidential drawdown authority as authorized by last year's national defense authorization act. this is the fastest way for dod to get taiwan the weapons it needs to strengthen its own defense. the bill also includes $2 billion to provide indo-pacific allies and partners with american defense equipment and training, as well as $542 million for the u.s. indo-pacific command's top unfunded requirements. the package includes humanitarian assistance to address global needs, such as in sudan and gaza. it prohibits, however, funding

from being provided to the u.n. relief and works agency, known as unrwa, which employed several terrorists who participated in the october 7 attack on israel. finally, i want to note that this bill includes the fend off fentanyl act, which i am proud to be a cosponsor of. this bill would help disrupt the flow of fentanyl into the united states, including by requiring the president to sanction criminal organization and drug cartels involved in trafficking fentanyl and its precursors. we are losing too many of our family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, to this scourge, and we must be more aggressive in combating it. i thank my colleague, senator tim scott, for his leadership on this piece of the package.

madam president, i once again call on my colleagues to recognize the perilous times in which we are living and vote for this essential national security legislation. we must pass it without further delay. our adversaries are watching. with our vote on this package, let us send them a strong message -- terrorists will not succeed in wiping israel off the map. authoritarian states will not be allowed to invade their free, independent, and democratic neighbors without consequences. and this congress, despite its divisions, will come together to ensure that the united states and its military have what they need to stand tall, firm, and

beside our allies. thank you, madam president. mrs. murray: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington is recognized. mrs. murray: i ask unanimous consent i be recognized up to ten minutes, senator schmitt up to five minutes, senator lee recognized up to ten minutes, and senator sanders be recognized up to two minutes prior to the scheduled votes. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. madam president, i have been warning for months about the need tore meet this moment of global unserenity and kay -- uncertainty and chaos with a robust national security supplemental. not delay, not half steps, but investments that show the world we are serious about standing by all of our allies, providing humanitarian aid, and maintaining america's leadership on the world stage. which is why i'm glad the house sent us legislation that includes every pillar of the package we passed overwhelmingly

here in the senate. i hope now we can all come together to pass these policies once again. we cannot send the message that division has won out against action, that isolationism has won out against leadership, because the challenges that we face and that our allies face are immense, urgent, and interconnected. putin is waging a brutal invasion of ukraine, which is running low on supplies. the war between israel and hamas threatens to escalate into a far more dangerous regional conflict. civilians caught in conflict desperately need food, water, medical care, and other humanitarian aid. and the chine government is making aggressive moves for influence in the indo-pacific. those are the stakes at this moment, as i have reminded my

colleagues time and time and time again, and action cannot be an option. we need to meet this moment, address all the challenges before us, and show the world american leadership is still strong. i believe that strongly, and i know when push comes to shove, a clear majority of members on both sides of the aisle, both chambers of congress, feel the same way. that's why i've come to the floor so many times over the past several months to lay out in painstaking detail how much is at stake, how crucial it is we meet this moment with a robust package that addresses the many interconnected challenges before us. it's why here in the senate we took action over two months ago now and overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan national security supplemental. i and many others, vice chair collins, leader schumer, leader mcconnell, all worked very hard over months to craft legislation

that could pass both the senate and the house, that both democrats and republicans could get behind. so i am glad we are now working to pass the national security supplemental the house sent over, particularly since it is materially identical to the senate package that we cleared with such great support. now i have to say i'm relieved to see speaker johnson finally do the right thing -- ignore the far right and send us what is essentially the bill we wrote and passed months ago. but let's be clear about a few things. this delay has not been harmless. putin's forces have been on the march. his missiles and iranian-made drones have been striking critical ukranian infrastructure. we measure time in hours. ukrainians are measuring it in how many bullets they have left, how many more missiles fall on their cities, and how much closer putin's tanks are getting. that was clear even before i said that two months ago.

and the path forward, the path we are finally now on was painfully clear because unfortunately we've seen this movie before. in debt limit negotiations and in funding the government. i believe congress can actually work together. we can actually hammer out a compromise. not the bill the party would have written on their own but one that gets the job done. and let's be clear, the package before us gets the job done. it gets aid to soldiers in ukraine who are counting their bullets and wondering how long they can hold out. it gets support to israel which faces serious threats on all fronts. it gets support to our allies in the indo-pacific where the chinese government has been posturing aggressively. and it gets critical humanitarian aid to civilians in ukraine, sudan, and gaza, including kids who are caught in the crossfire, who are in desperate need of food and water and medical care. that was a red line for me.

i pushed hard at every stage of this to make sure we provide humanitarian aid. at every sustainable of these negotiations i -- at every stage of these negotiations i made clear congress will not advance a supplemental that fails civilians. i will not let us turn our back on women and children who are suffering and who are often hit hardest by the fallout of chaos and conflict. madam president, at a time when the world is watching and wondering if the u.s. is still capable of meeting the challenges before us, if we are still united enough to meet them, this package won't just send aid. it will send a message. it will show our allies our word is still good, and we will stand by them in times of need. it will show dictators that our warnings are serious, and we will not let their flagrant attacks go unchecked. and it will show the world that american leadership is still alive and well, and we are still

a strong protector of democracy and provider of humanitarian aid. that's a message that's well worth sending now more than ever. so i wish we were able to wrap this up much sooner. i'm glad we're at this final threshold now. i urge my colleagues to vote yes on the final package. and before i wrap up, madam president, i absolutely have to recognize some of the people who have worked incredibly hard to get us here today. it starts with my vice chair on the appropriations committee, senator collins. and our house colleagues, former chairwoman granger, ranking member, d{l1}e{l0}lauro and chairman cole and their staffs for help getting this package through the house. it includes leader schumer and leader mcconnell as well, in the house leader jeffries and speaker johnson. we also would not have gotten here without members from both sides of the aisle coming together, understanding this is a moment we cannot leave our allies behind, and then all pulling in the same direction so

we can deliver support to our allies in ukraine, israel and the indo-pacific, humanitarian aid to civilians and that message to the world. and most importantly, we wouldn't have gotten here without the tireless work of our dedicated staff, the stakes have been high, the nights have been very long, and the men and women working to get this package together and get it across the finish line have absolutely risen to the challenge. from vice chair collins team i want to recognize betsy mcdowned, mat shrew, paul grove, raj mahony and lindsey sidon for their hard work. i owe a few thanks to many members of my team. every one of them deserves recognition and for us to hear who they are. from my team evan schatz, john rider, carly rush, kate calfer,

robert leonard, ryan petit, bridgette kolish, katie hagan, laura forest, alex carnes, drew platt, kelly fairmond, jennifer baker polay, aaron goldner, jim dalmund, jason m{l1}c{l0}mahon, ben hammond, valerie hut ton and dylan stafford. i know there are many others as well including house staffers who have worked tirelessly on this. i want to personally thank each and every one of them. madam president, we hammer out a lot of meaningful bills here. just about every bill we pass touches the lives of the american people directly. every one of. but i have said before, in this moment of global uncertainty, the balance of world power and the strength of american leadership are at stake.

so i am deeply grateful to every member, every staffer, and every person who came together to make sure we pass that test by passing the resources that are so clearly needed. thank you, madam president. i reserve the balance of my time. the presiding officer: thank you. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri is recognized. mr. schmitt: thank you, madam president. as the day goes on, i'm sure we'll have a mutual admiration society of the wilsonan view washington has about foreign policy of this country so i do not wish to speak about that at this time and i believe that view is on a collision course with history and the will of the american people. but i do, i rise to speak about sort of the process of the senate. where we're at, how we got here, and to quote a famous st. louis anio gi bera.

it's like deja vu all over again. senator lee has a motion to table essentially senator schumer's effort to fill the tree. to the american people who are watching or listening or being reported upon, that means that the majority leader of this chamber is boxing out everyone. that's right, the 99 other people who were elected by an entire state to advocate for their interests don't get a say. they don't get to offer an amendment. they don't get to say i would like to build a unique coalition with either somebody from my own party or somebody on the other side of the aisle on something we might agree upon. i think the world's most be deliberative body has been reduced to kabuki theater. there's no uncertainty ever. the only time -- and this is the cold, hard truth, to my friends

in the gallery -- the only time you get to offer an amendment in this place is if it's sure to fail. think about that. senator schumer won't allow united states senators to offer ideas unless he knows they will fail. and so to my republican and democrat colleagues, colleagues who may be watching on tv, or their staff, it doesn't need to be that way. this is perhaps one of the most obstructive measures that the majority leader employs. and i don't pretend it's just him. i think one of the things that all of us have to look in the mirror about is whether or not that's what we want this place to be. if we think that, mr. president, you and i, we have a, we've come together on an issue that

affects both of our states. we should be allowed to offer those things up. we don't get a chance to do that. appropriations bill, i know that the senate appropriators have worked hard on individual bills. chuck schumer didn't allow those bills to be debated on the floor. never happened. we ended up with a few minibuses. that would be a great reform. and how about instead of every hour, maybe you show up, what if we sat in our seats and actually voted on this stuff for four or five hours. we could get through a lot. but the senator from new york is allergic to work unless he can control the outcome. or say unless you object now, everyone has to -- they change their plans last minute. or if you don't support this without an opportunity to affect it, you're against, pick the poison. you want to shut down the government. or you're for putin.

all these ridiculous things that get thrown out here. open it up. and i will tell you why it won't happen. because it's a real threat. it's a threat to him, because the idea that other senators who aren't part of the two that get to make all the calls, that we would find a different way, that's a threat to his power. because right now he gets to say come to me with everything. i'll put it in some omnibus. there won't be time to debate it. they probably won't be able to read it. but if they don't vote for it, you want to shut down the government. so to all the senators, i would like to work with you to dislodge this concentration of power that no doubt our founders would be rolling in their graves over. this diffusion of power,

federalism was meant to spread it out to protect liberty. it certainly was never meant for one person in the senate who could always be recognized and like last week did something that never happened in the history of our republic which was to dismiss articles of impeachment even though we're supposed to have a trial. granted he had accomplices in that. every single democrat voted with him. but he's recognized first, he can fill the tree, there are no amendments. we have to beg to be heard, which is why i objected to that farce last week. i don't think it's becoming of united states senators to say, thank you, senator schumer, for giving me two minutes to speak. anyway, there's a better way. it's playing out again here today because we are essentially taking what the house gives us, the upper chamber is capitulating to the house to say

we can't actually affect this thing. we can't change anything. and if you do it, pick the poison. you're threatening the security of another country, or something ridiculous. with that, mr. president, i would hope this is a clarion call for reform. the senate is broken. thank you, mr. president. i yield back. mr. lee: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, i echo and endorse the wise comments just uttered by my friend and colleague, the distinguished senator from missouri. what we're witnessing here is the destruction of the legislative process in the senate. the senate's here today preparing to vote on one of the most significant pieces of legislation this entire congress, that is on a bill to send nearly $100 billion overseas, and senators are unable even to offer an amendment to that bill. by filling the amendment tree this afternoon, the majority leader has prevented every

single member of this body from offering amendments to the legislation, any efforts to improve it. if we want to have any amendment considered, we have to beg the majority leader to let it come before the full senate for a vote. now you may remember that just a couple of months ago we were in a very similar position on a very, very similar bill. senator schumer promised a fair and open amendment process on the national security supplemental in february of this year, but not one amendment, not a single amendment was considered on the senate floor. republicans filed over 150 proposed amendments to improve the bill, but not one vote on a single one of those amendments, or any other was allowed. why? senator schumer blocked every amendment from being considered by filling the amendment tree. that blocked all of the other 99

senators from participating meaningfully in that process. now, why wouldn't he want amendments? that is, after all, the hallmark characteristic of what defines us as a body and why we call ourselves the world's greatest deliberative body. why would he do that? an amendment could point to some of the defects in the bill or prompt members to slow down and ask if this is a prudent idea to send a lot of humanitarian aid to gaza, up to $9 million, where hamas will seize it to wage war against israel or if the u.s. taxpayer should be footing the bill for quote-unquote, gender advisors in ukraine's military. should they really vote for a bill that does this? that's what an amendment forces

all of us to ask ourselves and decide on one particular question or another. but leadership in the senate wants to avoid these torny questions that might -- thorny questions that might rock the vote. they want to ram this through the senate with minimal debate and perhaps no amendments, because they know that aspects of it, especially the $60 million to ukraine are an issue for whose who pay taxes to fund these efforts. my colleagues and i are working in good faith to reach a unanimous consent agreement to bring forward a handful of amendments and set up a stand alone vote in exchange for expediting passage of the bill. we nearly had that agreement locked in late friday night, an agreement to vote on just two amendments and one stand-alone bill, but a couple of senators on the other side of the aisle panicked and start objecting to

any and all agreements. they panicked because they knew that one of those items set up as part of a u.c., the stand alone legislation to redid heing nature the houthis as a foreign terrorist organization, this amendment offered up by my friend and colleague, the senator from texas, might actually pass. remember, this is the same entity that's been firing on u.s. forces in the region and those of our allies and yet they couldn't let that happen. democrats will agree only to amendments that they find politically palatable or know will not pass. now, it's not always been this way in the senate. when i first joined in body in 2011 as a new member, individual members could call your amendments freely and make them pending and the senate would have to dispose of them, either by voting them in or voting them out, up or down or by a motion

to table or reject them. but members had to vote. they had to take ownership for their opinions in public. they had to let their constituents know where they stood. today the majority leader hides the ball from the public by filling the amendment tree, ensuring that the amendments that he andis party dislike will never see the light of day. this is a certificatus, it's a mad house. filling the amendment tree is not about creating an orderly process, it's about limiting real debate. when members could call up their amendments, it actually sped up consideration of a bill. members knew that they had a fair shot in the debate eventually so they would be more cooperative, they would be more willing to collapse time, wait until the next bill to offer their amendment or take a motion to table as a proxy for their amendment vote. but in today's senate, we do nothing on the floor for hours while members and staff hide in

the cloakroom and argue about what we can and cannot vote for, they twist arms, pressure members in private and make promises they can't and don't intend to keep, saying you'll get an amendment in the base text of the next bill or you will have a chance another time and they will shrug their shoulders when it just doesn't work out. why not have these debates in public? why not allow our senators and constituents to know what's going on? it's because the majority leader doesn't want to give up control. sadly, while the democrats pioneered this change in the amendment process, republican leadership chose to tolerate the practice and even continue it while we were in the majority by filling the amendment tree so no one could offer an amendment without the leadership's blessing. for both sides it is about control. it is about protecting members from voting, the very thing we all came to this body to do.

on the republican side of the aisle, our aspiring leaders need to ask if they want to perpetuate this awful trend. will they tolerate blocking out members, including members of their own party from offering amendments? will they continue to lock down the floor? will they continue to disenfranchise members, and more importantly, those they represent by preemtively blocking them? or will they finally stop this barbaric practice of filling the amendment tree, will they make amendments pending so they can debate and vote. republicans need to ask these questions for anyone desiring to lead our conference. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: i rise in the unusual position of supporting senator lee's effort to open this bill up to amendment votes. i don't often agree with senator

lee. i know that it is a radical idea but maybe in the greatest deliberative body in the world, we might on rare occasion actually have debate and votes on major issues. to that end, i plan on offering two very important amendments to this legislation. members can agree with me on these issues or disagree, but they should be voted upon. my first amendment would ensure that we are not providing anymore offensive military aid to netanyahu's war machine while he continues to violate u.s. and international law. this amendment would not touch funding for the iron dome or other purely defensive systems but it would end aid to a war machine which has already killed 34,000 palestinians and wound

77,000, 70% of whom are women and children. and right now, as we speak, hundreds of thousands of children face starvation as a result of that war machine. poll after poll shows that the american people are sick and tired of seeing their taxpayer dollars support the slaughter of innocent civilians and the starvation of children. and while there is strong republican support for ending aid to netanyahu's war machine, the support i should tell my my democratic colleagues, is overwhelming. the second amendment that i'm offering would remove the prohibition on unwra, and the -- it is the only organization that experts say has the capability to provide the humanitarian aid that is desperately needed. israel has alleged that 12 unwra employees out of 30,000 were involved in hamas terrorist

attack on october 7. that is being investigated. i ask -- unanimous consent for 30 seconds. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sanders: that is being investigated, and it should be. but you don't allow thousands of children to starve because of the alleged violations and actions of 12 people. bottom line, we are debating one of the most serious issues we have faced in a long time. the american people want us to vote and debate these issues and we should be able to do so. with that, i yield. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: a bipartisan majority has been working for months to get this aid across the againish line and after -- across the finish line. any furthered delays -- further delays will waste time we do not have, that our allies do not have. we need to get this bill passed asap. let's remember this bill is essentially the same bill we already passed overwhelmingly

two months ago. there is no reason or excuse for delay, not when bombs are falling aon our allies, not whe civilians, including kids are suffering and starving, not when the world is watching to see if america is still united enough to lead. i urge my colleagues to he vote no on the take motion. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: we heard the astounding claim that it would be, quote, a waste of time to allow senators to come here and do what they were elected to do, which is to offer improvement to a pending legislation. we are not a rubber stamp for the house or either leadership in either chamber, we are united states senators and should be able to vote as such. i ask my colleagues to table the amendment tree so we can have the fair process that senator schumer promised, if we table

the tree, members could call up their amendments on the floor instead of begging senator schumer to give his blessing for the consideration of their amendment. if you want -- you should support my motion to table, this would not create the apock liktic issue, it would be nothing outs of the book of revelations, we will find ourselves in a position to do our job. to that end, mr. president, i table the motion to refer and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler.

ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin.

mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper.

ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez.

mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow.

mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- britt, cornyn, crapo, daines, lee, mullin, sanders, schmitt, scott of south carolina, tillis, vance. senators voting in the negative -- cantwell, cardin, casey, heinrich, kaine, king, lujan, manchin, murray, padilla, reed, schatz, smith, stabenow.

mr. durbin, no. mr. hagerty, aye.

the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, no. mr. barrasso, aye. mr. whitehouse, no. mr. wyden, no.

the clerk: ms. hassan, no. mr. ossoff, no. mr. merkley, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, aye. the clerk: mr. thune, aye.

mr. kelly, no. mr. graham, aye. mr. rubio, aye.

the clerk: mrs. capito, aye. mr. lankford, aye.

the clerk: mrs. blackburn, aye. mr. cassidy, aye. the clerk: mr. young, aye. mr. hickenlooper, no. mr. risch, aye. ms. baldwin, no.

ms. rosen, no. the clerk: mr. romney, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, no. mr. warner, no.

the clerk: mr. schumer, no. the clerk: ms. warren, no. ms. klobuchar, no.

ms. sinema, no. the clerk: mr. johnson, aye. the clerk: mr. fetterman, no.

mrs. fischer, aye. the clerk: mrs. shaheen, no.

the clerk: mr. tuberville, aye. mr. mcconnell, aye. the clerk: mr. tester, no.

mr. boozman, aye. mr. booker, no. the clerk: mr. marshall, aye.

the clerk: mr. rounds, aye. mrs. hyde-smith, aye. mr. peters, no. mr. cotton, aye. mr. cramer, aye.

the clerk: mr. braun, aye. the clerk: mr. markey, no.

the clerk: ms. duckworth, no.

mr. hoeven, aye. the clerk: mr. wicker, aye. mr. brown, no.

the clerk: mr. grassley, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, no.

the clerk: mr. ricketts, aye.