[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 184 (Tuesday, November 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5371-S5372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Business Before the Senate

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in the next 2 weeks, Congress must work 
together to avoid another pointless, damaging, unnecessary government 
shutdown. We also must work together to defend America's national 
security around the world by standing with Israel, standing with 
Ukraine, and increasing our defenses in the Indo-Pacific. And we must 
provide critical humanitarian assistance, including to civilians in 
Gaza, who have nothing to do with Hamas, who need food and water and 
shelter.
  None of this will be easy to do. None of this is guaranteed to 
happen. The outcome of the next 2 weeks will hang on the same thing I 
have emphasized all year long--bipartisan cooperation.
  If Republicans are willing to work with Democrats in good faith on 
issues where there is real overlap--and there are many--then we can 
move forward on the things we must accomplish. But if Republicans 
inject partisanship into otherwise bipartisan priorities, that is only 
going to make it harder to avoid a shutdown, pass Israel aid, pass 
Ukraine aid, pass humanitarian aid for Gaza, and all our other 
priorities.
  Yesterday, a group of Senate Republicans released a proposal for 
border security that they want in exchange for Ukraine funding, and 
they know full well what they came up with is a total nonstarter. 
Instead of putting together commonsense border policies that can pass 
in divided government, Senate Republicans basically copied and pasted 
large chunks of the House's radical H.R. 2 bill, and that is their 
asking price for helping Ukraine.
  Making Ukraine funding conditional on the hard-right border policies 
that can't ever pass Congress is a huge mistake by our Republican 
colleagues. By tying Ukraine to the border, Republicans are sadly 
making it harder--much harder--for us to help Ukraine in their fight 
against Putin. It sends a terrible signal to both our friends and 
adversaries. It will be a moment that history will remember, if Ukraine 
aid is tied to this.
  Large segments of both parties in the Senate support Ukraine. Large 
segments of both parties in the Senate

[[Page S5372]]

support Ukraine. So why on Earth do some Republicans want to torpedo it 
by tying this H.R. 2 anchor to Ukraine funding? This move is only going 
to endanger Ukraine assistance in the long run.
  If Senate Republicans' open bid for border is an amalgamation of hard 
right policies, then, sadly, the two parties are far apart, and we have 
a lot of work to do to bridge the divide.
  Now, I want to be clear, I would like to bridge the divide. Our 
caucus would like to see some kind of commonsense border policies done, 
and the President would like to get something done, as his supplemental 
proposal shows. If we can come together in a bipartisan fashion to stop 
the flow of fentanyl and give our frontline officers the resources and 
tools they need to do their jobs and stop fentanyl, all while staying 
true to our values, that is what we should be doing.
  So, today, we are going to keep working with our Republican 
colleagues to see if there is a chance for compromise, but Republicans 
need to actually work with us on realistic border policies, even if it 
is not everything they want. You can't get just a few Republicans who 
are pretty much on the hard-right side of their party to say: Here is 
what we want. Take it or leave it.
  That won't work. Senate Republicans should not repeat the mistake of 
the House GOP when they tried to push H.R. 2. Their H.R. 2 bill is 
going nowhere, and this Senate GOP proposal is very close to H.R. 2.
  I have always been clear that I am ready to have open, good-faith, 
bipartisan negotiations. I was one of the authors of the Senate's 
comprehensive immigration bill from 2013. It was led by John McCain and 
me. I know what it is like to have a hard conversation about these 
issues. I know through firsthand experience this topic is not easy, 
but, nevertheless, I am willing to have conversations about the border 
again if Republicans are willing to meet us halfway.
  We have so many shared bipartisan priorities to protect our Nation, 
our national security. I hope partisanship doesn't tarnish our shared 
purpose. I hope we can work in the coming days to bridge the gap.
  Again, when Republicans willingly inject partisanship into issues 
that could have some bipartisan overlap, they make it extremely hard to 
get anything done. I urge my Republican colleagues to stop using the 
same approach again and again of taking bipartisan issues and injecting 
them with corrosive partisan measures that help sink them.