[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 17 (Tuesday, January 30, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Supplemental Funding

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, all through the weekend, negotiators 
continued their work on the national security supplemental. We are 
approaching the finish line, but the work is not done. We will continue 
to finish the supplemental. We will do everything we can to get the 
supplemental done because, for all the day-to-day intrigue, the big 
picture has not changed: This is an inflection point in history, where 
the balance of power in Europe, the future of Israel in the Middle 
East, and the fate of the Indo-Pacific hang in the balance. And, for 
the first time in over a decade, we have a golden opportunity to make 
meaningful, lasting changes to the southern border--the best chance we 
will likely have in a good while. So we have an obligation to the 
American people to get something done.
  Now, Republicans in the House and Senate have insisted for years that 
Congress must make border security a top priority. The speeches, 
statements, op-eds, and tweets that Republicans have issued on border 
legislation could fill entire libraries. And we Democrats agree. We 
want to get something done on the border. We have negotiated with our 
Republican counterparts for months to get something done.
  Look, it is entirely unsurprising and truly disappointing, at the 
same time, that many on the hard right, including Donald Trump, are now 
trying to thwart this bipartisan effort for the sake of electoral 
politics. But here in the Senate, both sides have an obligation to tune 
the partisan noise out and to continue working. Bipartisanship is the 
only way that action on the border is going to happen, that aid to 
Ukraine will be secured, that help to Israel and to the Indo-Pacific 
and aid to innocent civilians in Gaza will happen.
  So for all the noise and partisan posturing, the big picture here 
does not change. The Senate will continue working on the supplemental 
this week. We know this is hard--very hard--but Democrats and 
Republicans in this Chamber have an obligation to tune out the outside 
noise and finish the work of protecting our national security.