Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Following Senate Passage Of The Bipartisan National Security Supplemental

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the Senate passing the bipartisan national security supplemental, which was approved by a vote of 70-29 this morning. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

It’s been a long night, a long weekend, and a long few months, but a new day is here and our efforts have been more than worth it.

Today, we witnessed one of the most historic and consequential bills to have ever passed the Senate.

It’s certainly been years, perhaps decades, since the Senate has passed a bill that so greatly impacts not just our national security, not just the security of our allies, but the security of western democracy.

As I have said, if we want the world to remain a safe place for freedom, for democratic principles, for our future prosperity, then America must lead the way. And with this bill, the Senate declares that American leadership will not waver, will not falter, will not fail.

With this bill the Senate keeps its word to Ukrainians in desperate need of supplies and ammunition, to innocent Palestinian civilians in need of relief, to Israelis in need of support, and to U.S. service members on patrol in the Indo-Pacific, the Red Sea and around the world.

Today, we make Vladimir Putin regret the day he questioned America’s resolve. And we make clear to others like China’s President Xi not to test our determination.

And we send a clear bipartisan message of resolve to our allies in NATO.

With the strong bipartisan support we have here in the Senate, with this vote, I believe that if Speaker Johnson brought this bill to the House floor, it will pass with the same strong bipartisan support.

I thank all of my colleagues—Democrat and Republican alike—who supported this bill. Thank you to Senators Murray and Collins, Murphy, Sinema, Lankford, thank you to Leader McConnell, and thank you to all Senators and staffs, including my own great staff, who worked through Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years and even the Super Bowl to get this done.

Finally, these past few months have been a great test for the US Senate, to see if we could escape the constant centrifugal pull of partisanship and summon the will to defend Western democracy when it mattered most.

This morning, the Senate has resoundingly passed that test.

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