Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Ahead Of White House Meeting On The Need To Pass A Bipartisan National Security Supplemental

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the immediate need to pass a national security supplemental. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, I will join with Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle – both Houses – to meet at the White House with President Biden and discuss the importance of passing a national security supplemental.

I expect the meeting with President Biden will reinforce something I’ve been saying all along: it’s a matter of the highest national urgency that both parties keep working together to pass the supplemental.

The vast majority of members on both sides know we must do something on Ukraine. The eyes of history are upon this chamber. We’ve made a lot of good progress over the past two weeks, and I remain hopeful that things are headed in the right direction.

Reaching an agreement on the supplemental, of course, is very complex. Republicans have demanded that border provisions be included in exchange for Ukraine. Everyone knew that was never going to be easy.

Nevertheless, President Biden has made clear that he’s willing to work with Republicans on border security. But as everyone knows, including Republican leadership, this has to be bipartisan.

The hard right – typical of them – in the House have insisted on passing a highly partisan bill, H.R. 2, word-for-word. That is not bipartisanship. Any agreement on an issue as complex and contentious as the border is going to have to have enough support from both sides.

The work is not done on the supplemental, but I remain very hopeful that negotiations continue heading in the right direction. Democrats are trying very hard to keep this process going, and I want to acknowledge the efforts of my Senate colleagues who’ve been at this for weeks.

Passing the supplemental is one of the hardest things that the Senate has done in a very long time, but we must do everything in our power to finish the job. At stake is the security of our country, the survival of our friends in Ukraine, the safety of our friends in Israel, and nothing less – nothing less – than the future of Western democracy.

We cannot come up short in this pivotal moment. We must stay the course until the job is done.

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