Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Takeaways From The Congressional Delegation To Germany, India, Pakistan, And Israel

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor and shared takeaways from his first Congressional Delegation as Senate Majority Leader. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

While meeting last week with leaders in Europe, India, Pakistan, and Israel, the nine of us on our CODEL, two takeaways became clear:

First, the U.S. should deepen our relationship with India if we want to outcompete the Chinese Communist Party in this century.

Second, democracies must unite in increasing aid to Ukraine.

I was glad Prime Minister Modi got the message during our meeting with him in India. My colleagues and I made clear the two largest democracies in the world—the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest—could be a powerful check against the CCP.

That doesn’t mean just cooperating with India on defense and security, though that is essential. It means we must take an all out, all-of-the-above approach, because that’s precisely what the CCP is doing.

The CCP wants to outcompete America not just on defense, but also economically, geopolitically, technologically, in terms of our fundamental values, and more. Just as our transatlantic partnership matters immensely, so too will our partnership with India.

The U.S. and India must therefore keep working to strengthen our economic ties, expand our trade, and make it easier to recruit talented workers from abroad to work in our country.

While meeting with foreign leaders, we also made clear the importance of standing shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine. We made it clear to the leaders of Europe, India, Pakistan, and Israel that they must increase their aid to Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion is now a year old, and as difficult as the road has been we made it clear that the worst thing we can do right now is waver in our support. The Ukrainian people and Ukrainian armed forces are fighting valiantly, but they need more material and it's our job to give it to them. A Russian victory will not quench Putin’s hunger for expansion. On the contrary, it would escalate his desire for more territory.

So, the right answer is for the transatlantic partnership—and all the free nations of the world—to continue supporting the Ukrainian people.

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