[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 185 (Wednesday, November 8, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S5408]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Global Issues

  Mr. President, now on global issues and challenges. The global 
community is facing a great number of challenges these days: Israel and 
Hamas are at war, with Iran itching to join the fray; Russian 
aggression in Ukraine challenges the stability of the Western alliance; 
the Chinese government threatens Taiwan's independence.
  The United States is uniquely positioned and, I would argue, needed 
to play a role in ensuring the peaceful existence of the people of 
Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, and Taiwan. I believe that most Members of this 
body would agree with me. However, some Members on the other side of 
the aisle--not all--seem to prefer that the United States sit on the 
sidelines or, in other words, put their heads in the sand as we face 
these global battles.
  Some Members on the other side of the aisle seem to prefer that 
Putin, Xi, and Hamas pursue their ambitions unthwarted.
  I state right here and now that I do not agree with those Republican 
colleagues. I believe that the United States of America must make a 
stand against totalitarianism and terrorism. I would hope that everyone 
would agree with me. But here in the Senate, it seems that some of my 
Republican colleagues are siding with Putin and placing unrealistic 
conditions on aid to Ukraine.
  But we are not giving up. We are going to keep pushing, and we will 
succeed. Whether it is aid to Israel or aid to Ukraine or aid for 
Taiwan or humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza or keeping the 
government open or avoiding default, Republicans must shun doing the 
thing that some hard-right Republicans want them to do: take issues 
that, on their own, have strong bipartisan support and inject them with 
toxic provisions that make it impossible to get anything done. That is 
what happened last week with the House Israel bill. It is what is 
happening this week with a Senate GOP immigration proposal.
  At a moment when the world is in crisis, when our friends abroad need 
our help, when our troops face increased attacks in Iraq and Syria, and 
with a government shutdown looming over us, this moment calls for 
bipartisanship. This moment calls for Republicans and Democrats to be 
realistic and clear-eyed about what we can pass through both Chambers 
on immigration, border, and all other issues.
  Israel, Ukraine, civilians in Gaza, the Indo-Pacific, all of these 
things have bipartisan support in both Chambers. All of them deal with 
our national security. None of them should be turned into bargaining 
chips for hard-right policies. We must win on all of them.
  Now, it has been over a month since Israel endured the deadliest 
terrorist attack in her entire history. There are still over 250 
hostages held by Hamas, including American hostages and women and 
children. We promised to send Israel aid as soon as we could, and we 
will work hard--hopefully, in a bipartisan way--to get this done.
  In the last 2 days, I have spoken with senior officials in the 
Israeli government--including President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister 
Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, Minister Gantz, and Opposition 
Leader Lapid--and reiterated that the United States has Israel's back 
in this dark hour. I made clear that 1 month after Hamas' attack, 
America's commitment to Israel and to the Israeli people is ironclad, 
and America will always be Israel's strongest ally. I assured them that 
I am doing everything to pass the President's assistance package ASAP.
  In my conversations, I stressed to Israeli leaders that as Israel 
works to radically reduce the threat of Hamas, which they must do, they 
also have a responsibility to protect innocent Palestinian civilian 
life. We know this is not easy, but it must be done. We must likewise 
work together to send critical humanitarian aid to innocent civilians 
in Gaza who have nothing to do with Hamas.
  I also strongly urged the Israeli government to quickly clamp down on 
settler violence against and displacement of Palestinian civilians in 
the West Bank. Violence and displacement against these Palestinian 
civilians are not just wrong, it risks spreading the current crisis 
beyond Gaza at a time when Israel and America are working hard to deter 
other actors from taking advantage of the situation. In the long run, 
it also makes it much harder to achieve a two-state solution, which I 
support and which the vast majority of Americans support, and which 
Hamas does not.
  We also talked about my meetings with the families of the hostages. I 
shared how I was moved by the stories of families of hostages held by 
Hamas whom I met in Israel and in the United States, and I discussed 
the need to locate and secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas 
through all means possible.
  Finally, I encouraged Israeli leaders to do all they can to support 
the Senate's comprehensive packnage, including robust humanitarian 
assistance for Gaza, so that innocent civilians, who have nothing to do 
with Hamas, can get the food, water, and necessities they need.
  At every point during my conversation with Israeli leaders, one idea 
remained constant: We will stand strong with Israel. We will support 
Israel's right to defend themselves, and we will work hard to pass 
emergency assistance for Israel and Ukraine and humanitarian assistance 
for Gaza and the Indo-Pacific as soon as we can.