Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Need To Pass An Omnibus And NDAA To Defend Our National Security And Counter Russian And Chinese Aggression

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the urgent need to pass an omnibus bill and bipartisan NDAA to protect our economic and national security and to counter growing Russian and Chinese aggression. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

As we approach the end of the year, two of the most important priorities the Senate must focus on are passing a yearlong omnibus and approving a bipartisan defense appropriations bill.

We have a lot of work left to do on both fronts, but so far, I am encouraged by the goodwill coming from both sides. While Democrats and Republicans disagree on the details of the omnibus, there is little debate that a CR would be terrible news for our troops and for American security.

Yesterday, I attended a classified briefing on the latest developments in the war in Ukraine. Without getting into any of the details disclosed there, it was obvious sitting in the room that much of Ukraine’s success is thanks to the emergency military and economic aid provided by the United States. Ten months into this war, there is no question, in my judgement, that helping our Ukrainian friends has been the right thing to do.

But the fighting in eastern Europe is sadly far from over. Putin’s human rights atrocities continue – he’s a vicious and brutal dictator: new reports come in daily of mass graves, civilian casualties, entire cities,  men, women, children, civilians, being killed and maimed, and entire cities being reduced to rubble.

Yet even now, the brave and strong people of Ukraine have endured and fought back. They know what Russian aggression is, they remember it from the days of the 30's, when Stalin sought to starve a huge number of Ukrainians to death.

The United States must stay the course helping our friends in need. And by the way, this is not just a matter of standing with Ukraine; it is a matter of American security, because deep down Putin is nothing more than a violent bully who will endanger our own democracy if his influence is allowed to expand. And he will not stop at Ukraine if he succeeds there.

The single worst thing we can do right now is give Putin any signal that we are wavering in our commitment to help Ukraine. That’s precisely what a CR would signal and we cannot afford to go down that treacherous road.

So I hope both sides will work together. We are making good progress. Paper is now being exchanged back and forth. We're not there yet. We've got a ways to go. But we've got to keep working till we get an omnibus done, for the sake of our national security.

Meanwhile, at the same time, both parties must also cooperate on passing a bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act as we’ve done now for more than six decades.

Just as we need to hold the line against Putin and his belligerence, we also have to stand firm against encroachments and aggression from the Chinese Communist Party. A few months ago, the Senate took a major step in that direction by passing the Chips and Science Act, which will boost domestic chip manufacturing and help sever our dependence on foreign-made semiconductors.

But just because we passed Chips and Science does not mean the job is done.

We need to build on our accomplishments by adding even more protections in the NDAA so we can continue reducing U.S. reliance on risky Chinese-made microchips.

So, last month, I joined with Senator Cornyn, my colleague from Texas, to introduce an amendment to the NDAA that would prohibit the US government from doing business with companies that rely on certain Chinese chipmakers that the Pentagon has labeled “Chinese military contractors.”

This amendment would address a very big problem: too many American companies with federal contracts are purchasing chips made by Chinese makers with well-known ties to the Chinese Communist party and the Chinese government. You don’t need to be a national security expert to see how this dependence on Chinese chips presents a serious risk to American cybersecurity, to our privacy, to our defense.

The previous administration, in one of the few areas they went forward that I agreed with, got rid of Huawei because it gave the Chinese government and the Chinese communist party too much influence.

Well, the same thing will happen with these chipmakers, these Chinese military contractor chipmakers, if they're allowed to continue to infuse their chips in our own equipment.

Now, our amendment would help remedy this issue with a simple proposition: if American businesses want to do business with the federal government, they shouldn’t be allowed to turn around and then do business with risky Chinese chip makers.

We certainly need and give ample time for American companies to adjust and get American-made chips or non-Chinese military contractor-made chips. But it must be done. This is national security, once again, as well as economic security, and the idea of keeping America number one, which we took a big step forward on the Chips Act but there is more that has to be done.

So this proposal is one of many sound proposals that I hope to see included in the NDAA. I am, of course, fighting for a whole bunch of other things. On this issue, I thank Senator Cornyn for working with me on the amendment, and very soon the Senate hopefully will take quick action to send a defense authorization bill to the President’s desk.

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