[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 19 (Thursday, February 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Supplemental Funding

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it is not often that the U.S. Senate is 
called to act on a multitude of national security issues all at the 
same time. But right now, that is precisely the task at hand.
  Vladimir Putin has waged war against Ukraine and against Western 
democracy for nearly 2 years. Israel suffered its bloodiest day last 
fall at the hands of the terror group Hamas, and millions of innocent 
Gaza civilians are in desperate need of aid. The Chinese Communist 
Party threatens to increase tensions in the Indo-Pacific. And our 
southern border is in urgent need--in urgent need--of fixing.
  These are daunting challenges. They are time-sensitive challenges. 
And in the era of divided government, the only way--let me repeat--the 
only way to pass a national security supplemental is through 
bipartisanship--bipartisanship.
  Over the course of this week, Democrats and Republicans have 
continued serious negotiations on the supplemental package. But there 
are still some pieces remaining to be settled.
  Democrats have been exceedingly clear that we are willing to treat 
these negotiations with the seriousness they deserve. We have worked 
with Republicans on border security and on a vast range of issues and 
on coming to an agreement, and we want to finish the job.
  The negotiators' tasks have not been easy because the more progress 
they make, the louder voices get on the outside who want to kill these 
negotiations in their tracks. There are always going to be some who 
prefer to exploit the issue of the border instead of fixing it. So the 
real question is whether Senators can tune all of that noise out and 
focus on reaching an agreement. Opportunities like this one are 
extremely rare when it comes to border security, so we owe it to the 
American people to seize this opportunity, and that is what Democrats 
want to do.
  Senate Democrats remain committed to seeing this bipartisan process 
through. For the sake of our friends in Ukraine, for the sake of 
security on our border, for the sake of the future of Western democracy 
in the 21st century, we will keep working to get the job done.