[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 35 (Tuesday, February 27, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S992]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Ukraine

  Mr. President, on Ukraine, today at the White House, I will also make 
a strong case to congressional leaders--especially to Speaker Johnson--
about the immediate need to pass the national security supplemental.
  I just got back from Ukraine a couple of days ago. What I saw there, 
what I learned there will stay with me for the rest of my life.
  The people of Ukraine, for all their courage, for all their spirit, 
for all their ability to defend their homeland, are dangerously close 
to running out of supplies. Ukraine is low on ammo, on anti-air defense 
systems, on munitions, on long-range artillery. This shortage is 
creating asymmetry on the battlefield: Russia can fire and take out 
Ukrainian targets but Ukraine, increasingly, can't fire back. They 
don't have the weaponry that has the length of the Russian weaponry.
  As President Zelenskyy has said to us, if Ukraine gets the package of 
aid they need, they will win the war. But if they don't get those 
armaments, they will lose.
  The Senate has stepped up to the plate. We have passed a strong, 
bipartisan supplemental--70 votes. The Speaker must likewise put the 
supplemental on the floor for a vote. I believe that if the 
supplemental were voted on in the House right now, it would pass with 
similar bipartisan support that we saw here in the Senate.
  I hope, I pray--for the sake of values, for the sake of our country, 
for the sake of the brave people in Ukraine and those who have died in 
the war--I hope Speaker Johnson recognizes that history is watching us 
and watching him. Failure would be the best thing Vladimir Putin could 
hope for.