occurs quickly. madam president, i yield the floor. mr. barrasso: madam president.

the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. barrasso: madam president, i rise today to talk about america's wide-open southern border. i want to add my voice to that of the senior senator from kansas, who just made eloquent remarks right here on the floor of the senate about the disaster, the democrat disaster, at the southern border. as he pointed out and as i will add my voice to his, it is a clear and present danger it our national security what is happening at the southern border. and national security starts with border security. the senior senator from kansas and i were just meeting with other republican members of the senate to review yesterday's numbers at the southern border, the number of illegal encounters, illegal immigrants coming into this country, an all-time record high of over 12,000 illegal immigrants coming into this country from all over

the world. that's the crisis that people all across the country who tune in to their tv's, see what's happening at the southern border, see what is happening in our nation and to our nation. so here we are on the floor of the senate, and senator schumer, the majority leader, wants to vote on $100 billion in national security assistance, and he wants to do it today and we're going to do it today. that request lacks serious and significant changes that are needed to secure the southern border. without serious and significant changes, this bill will not pass, mark my words. republicans will vote against it. republicans and democrats have very opposing views of what's needed at the border. republicans want to stop the flow, and it is actually a flood of illegal immigrants coming

across the border. democrats want to just wave them on through. republicans want border enforcement, border security, real policy changes to keep people out and to keep communities safe. we don't have that today in democrat, in joe biden's-run america from the standpoint of the white house and the democrats in this body. what do democrats want to do? oh, they want lots of money for sanctuary cities. big slush funds, give it to the mayor of chicago, give it to the mayor of new york, and of course they want guaranteed benefits for illegal immigrants. that's what they're asking for. not going to get a republican vote for that at all. not a single one. republicans know that border security must be a key element of any bill that we talk about on this floor that deals with

national security. well, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who may ask why, madam president, let me clarify. our southern border is now the most dangerous border crossing in the world -- in the world. under president biden, our border has become a magnet for criminals, for drug dealers, for terror suspects. the department of homeland security and the fbi are warning all of us -- democrats may want to cover their ears and not want to the hear any of these warnings, but we are being warned by the department of homeland security and the fbi and the fbi director said it yesterday in the senate, cartels are smuggling fentanyl in from mexico, it's killing hundreds of

americans every dame the number coming on the terrorist watch list continues to increase. i think it was the secretary -- the head of the fbi yesterday said since october 7, all lights are flashing red for a terrorist attack in america. joe biden's border policies are the deadliest, the most destructive, and the most disastrous in american history. the cost of this crisis is too large to bear for families, for communities, and even for law enforcement. that's why republicans are so focused. when there was a bill on the floor and we had a briefing on this yesterday on national security, that's why republicans are so focused on border security. democrats have not put a single bill on the floor of the united states senate this year that would stop the flood of illegal

immigrants. democrats want to welcome this national security crisis at the southern border. it's wrong. it must change. the biden administration hides behind terms, terms such as asylum and parole, and they use those to release millions and millions of people onto our streets, into our communities,ing into our neighborhooded. and they're bringing with them drugs and crime. and they're killing americans. the biden administration wants to turn the other way. every single american feels the harmful impacts of these policies. here's what's happening thousands of times each and every day on our southern border, and yesterday it was 12,000, the highest in the history of the country. and they're coming from all over the world. the night that i was there on border patrol about three or

four weeks ago, who did we see? people from all over the world, including a group from mall dove have a. you know how many -- moldavia. you know how many countries they had to go through? democrats don't go down there. they're not interested in actually seeing first spanned what's happening on the river during the night or during the day. oh, no. democrats never show up. not one. so individuals enter the u.s. illegally, and they immediately turn themselves into border patrol. these are the ones that aren't trying to get away. there's over a million of those, too. and what they do when they give themselves up, they claim they're in danger at home and then what happens? well, they're released into the streets of the united states. okay, you may be in danger? you got the magic words. oh, okay, you got the magic words. come right on in. the 10,000 times a day you -- 10

times day you and 12,000 times yesterday t joe biden encourages it. some democrats have finally started to admit that biden's policies are actually harming our country. so president obama's homeland security secretary, jeh johnson, he told fellow democrats that the manipulation of our asylum laws -- that's what it is -- is one of the root causes of illegal immigration. at one time jeh johnson said a thousand a day would be overwhelming. well, it was 12,000 yesterday. why aren't the democrats waking up? senator schumer, who sits at that desk right there, stands at that podium, later today, his hometown mayor, new york city, eric adams, said the flood of illegal immigrants is destroying new york city. destruction of new york city and

democrats stand by. now, they do want to give a lot of money there, but they sure don't want to enforce it the law at the border. chicago is another one of these cities. democrats are fearful of having next summer's democrat national convention in chicago. wonder how many members of this body are actually going to go? because democrats across the country are afraid of doing it because chicago is being overrun right now with illegal immigrants, overrun and overwhelmed. we want to make our country safer -- and republicans do; i'm not so sure about democrats at this point with regard to the way they're behaving with regard to the border. we need to pass serious border security changes. republicans know we must end the incentives that are fueling the biden border crisis. and more money to these sanctuary cities and more government benefits to illegal immigrants is not solving the

problem; it is inviting more illegal immigrants to come. this is a deadly serious situation. i'm not so sure the democrats it who were in the secure briefing yesterday, all understood that. i'm not sure the senate majority leader understands that. real border security is a top national security need. republicans have solutions to make our communities and our country safer. these measures must be included in any national security bill. h., anything that goes to the president's desk, because without them, there will not be a national security bill. the republicans are ready to vote against what chuck schumer is bringing to the floor because it fails to defend our borders and to keep our nation secure. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. mr. graham: madam president.

the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. graham: thank you. i'll just pick up with where my colleague left off. there are four parts to the supplemental appropriations sent over by president biden. one deals with ukraine, and count me in for ukraine, robust aid to ukraine really helps us here at home. helping israel, no-brainer, count me in. beefing up taiwan makes perfect sense. there was money in the supplemental for border security. but it really didn't address the problem we have. and here's what i want to body to understand. here's what happened yesterday. the fbi director testified before the senate judiciary committee about the level of threats we face as a nation. and he said, while there may have been times over the years where individual threats could have been higher here or there than where they might be right now, i've never seen a time where all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated

all at exactly the same time. this was yesterday. what did he say? post october 7, the horrible attack on our friends in israel, you've seen a veritable rogues gallery of terrorists organizations calling for attacks against us. he said that yesterday. the threat level has gone to a whole other level since october 7. this is what the fbi director said yesterday. are any of us listening? i see blinking lights everywhere i turn. i asked him about blinking lights regarding 9/11. apparently they were blinking and we missed them. do you see any blinking right lights? and he said, i see blinking lights everywhere i turn. he said that yesterday. now why are republicans apparently more than anybody else insisting that the supplemental package not only help ukraine, not only help

israel and taiwan but actually help us? you got to change the policy because what we got is not working. yesterday -- yesterday 12,000 encounters at the border, the highest ever yesterday. two days before, 10,000. we're marching in the wrong direction. as these numbers go to new levels and historic levels, the fbi director yesterday told us, he's never seen more threats against our homeland than he does today and since october 7, every terrorist group in the world is calling for an attack on america. asked him about the border. he's very concerned about the status of the border. so we're on track, if this continues, to have 3.6 million illegal encounters that we know of at the border. that is like beyond unsauce stainable. -- unsustainable. all-time highs every day.

from 2023 to 2020, the encounters at the border are up 3688%. why? because the policies of the biden administration make people believe that they get to our border, they stay in america and never leave. if you don't change that, you're never going fix the problem. 6 million people have already come to our border in the first three years of the biden administration. we're on track to do 3.6 million in fy 2024. the day that the people think trump is is going to be the nominee and could win the white house, you're going to see a run on the border like you've never seen because people want to get the last good deal under the biden administration. because when trump wins, if he doess all this is is going to change. there are two problems that have to be fixed. you make a solemn claim in america at the border, you pass the initial credible fear

standard, which needs to be elevated, you're released into the country to go to your hearing regarding your asylum claim three to five years later. that makes people believe they're released and they never will show up. once you're here, you are never going to leave. we have to change that. while you're waiting for your hearing, you need to rate outside the country. that will stop a lot of the illegal immigrant flow because when people realize you can't wait in america, you're home free once you made you'd asylum claim, they'll be less likely to pay $10,000 or more to wait in mexico or some other country for four or five years. the second thing is this administration abusing the law. the secretary of dhs has the ability on a case-by-case basis to allow urgent humanitarian parole for urgent humanitarian

reasons or significant public benefit. they are using this concept, the biden administration, to have blanket humanitarian parole for 230,000 people from four different countries. that's an abuse of the law. this law is being used to flow people through and that needs to change. so if you put a cap on how many people can come through the country through humanitarian parole, getting back to the intent of the law, and tell people if you're applying for asylum but you have to wait outside the country until your hearing is held, you will have a dramatic reduction in legal immigration. it gives us control at an out of control border. to my democratic colleagues, i have been negotiating with you for 20 years on how to fix an immigration system that is it broken, you need a pathway for

citizenship. i get that. this is not about an immigration froerm negotiation, this is -- reform negotiation. there are 172 people on the terrorist watch list we know of have been caught. god knows how many we missed. this run on the border is processing people, fentanyl poisoning of americans is at an all time high because fentanyl is coming through a broken border. to my democratic colleagues, this is not about immigration, it's about national security. there are ways to fix this problem. i want to help ukraine, taiwan and israel. but we've got to help ourselves. there will never been a bill i'll vote for that will help other countries that are very deserving until we control our own border that is completely broken. you need to understand that and the public is with us. most americans would like to have more control at the border,

not less and what we're doing is not working. with that, i yield. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

in the u.s. senate. send it over. let's vote on it. so i put a hold on admirals and generals and civil nominees. a few months went by. a few months being 11.

and we've had that hold ever since they put this policy in place. somebody had to stand up to what was going on. so i did it. i stood up knowing that i am 100% military appeared my dad my dad was in the military. i was a military brat. i believe in our military. it's a number one mr. lankford: thank you. 12,080. it's not just a random number. this is the highest number of crossings ever in a single day across our southwest border. that's the record, 12080, never had a day more than 12080 crossing our southwest border.

you might ask, when did we set the number for the most crossings across the southern border, and my answer would be yesterday. yesterday was the high just number of legal crossings in the history of the country. september was the highest september ever in the history of the country for legal crossings. october was the highest october ever in the united states in the history of legal crossings. november was the highest november ever in the country in the history of our nation for legal crossings. and there's the highest number nfr the history of the -- number in the history of the country yesterday. what's really happening? the numbers continue to skyrocket. if we look at what is actually occuring with the number of legal crossings, they continue to accelerate day after day, month after month unchecked.

we face very real threats in our nation, and it's not just me saying that. people may recognize the fbi director christopher wra who was asked about the threats we're facing in the united states after october 7th. he asked what he saw with that and he said, i see blinking red lights everywhere. the threat level has gone to another level since october 7th, in the united states. yesterday, of those 12,080 people who legally crossed the border, the vast majority of them were released into the country today. they had no criminal background check, they didn't have to prove their i.d. of what country they were from because the soft-sided facilities that are housing migrants all along the southern border are running at 400%

occupicy. so the -- occupancy, so the goal is to get them through and hand them a piece of paper and literally ask them to promise to turn themselves in in the future at some point. just go because we need your space because there's more people coming. at the same time, the fbi director is saying, i see blinking red lights ever where. we're literally releasing thousands of people day after day, no criminal background check, no evaluation of their history, many of them, we don't even know what country they're from and releasing them into the country. in the last two years, this white house has designated on our southwest border 70,000 people that they designated as special interest aliens. they are coming from areas known for terrorism, but we have no

background information on these individuals. what happened to those 70,000 individuals sfl they were -- individuals? they were released into country with a piece of paper saying pleas return -- please return because we have no room to house you here. am i the only one who noticed this? the mayor of el paso has said we have 0 only -- we have only so many resources and we are coming to a breaking point. and the mayor of new york city said that this issue will destroy new york city because they are over capacity in every spot that they've got. the mayor of chicago has called this an international crisis that he's actually experiencing in chicago to try to be table to manage this. and as the stories come out on this over and over again, this is a "new york times" story that came out, migrant smuggling is

now a $13 billion mission. this is from "the new york times." so my question is, what are we going to do about this? currently, it has been nothing. so what are we going to do about this? about six weeks ago the white house sent over a request for supplemental funding. they labeled it a national security supplemental, they asked for funding for israeli, for ukraine, for the indo-pacific, and for border security. what's interesting is the second-highest request they put in the entire piece was for border security. and within days the administration put out an op-ed that said the funding request

for border security is a tourniquet. what we really need is a change in policy. that same day mayorkas, president biden's homeland security director, was at a hearing i was involved in. i asked him some specific questions, what are the things that need to be table to change in our system. he responded, senator, we need to remove individuals who do not qualify for asylum with efficiency and speed. secretary mayorkas said the asylum system needs to be reformed from top to bottom. i asked him again. are policy changes needed? secretary mayorkas responded, yes, policy changes are needed. the issue is not is the need there. the issue is not it is there a problem with the immigration system? the problem is not is there a

crisis? everyone knows there is a crisis. literally people working at the border have no tools at their hands to be able to stop this issue. this needs a slaugs from congress. -- needs a solution from congress, and it requires all of us having the determination to say, 12,080 people that crossed our border yesterday is not sustainable. so what's the request? it's pretty straightforward. it's what anyone would look at and quite frankly what dhs has talked about for years, not just this dhs, the trump dhs, the obama dhs have all asked for thighs issues many they're looking for very basic things. they want to be able to know how to manage the asylum request that took off in the late half of the obama administration. if i can go back to ancient

history, in 2010, there were 21,000 people that asked for asylum a year on our southern border. 21,000 people a year in 2010. that is every two days now. what the request was at the end of the obama administration was how to not change the rules of what asylum means, but when we change the screening, do it there to be able to manage those issues so people who qualify for asylum under our law are able to come into our country lawfully and people who do not qualify for asylum cannot come into our country unlawfully. we know what is happening. every administration has identified it. this body hasn't acted on it. every day the cartels run our

southern border. they're a ruthless criminal organization that we faced firsthand in my state. they're drug smuggling. they're huveng trafficking and what they have done to millions of people they've trafficked from around the world. we need to take control of our border, not give control to the cartels. i would challenge anyone in this body to be able to go to our southwest border and ask any border patrol agent do we have control of our border. most every one of them will respond the same way because i've heard it over and over. there is situational control of our border, it's just on the south side, not on the north side. because the cartels are managing who's actually coming in and what order and how it's actually done. and they're paid as "the new york times" article detailed, billions of dollars to be able to traffic people into our country. they're the ones that are managing it. so the simple, straightforward issue is the united states of america, are we going to manage

our border or are the cartels going to manage our border? are we going to be able to have a system where we allow people that qualify for asylum to actually get a hearing on a timely bafrs or are we going to -- basis, or are we going to take people, take them into the country and people who don't qualify for asylum and we all know it disappear into the country and live underground. this is the decision that we've got to come to. president biden asked for a national security supplemental, and included into that border funding and then a request for policy changes. it is time to be able to address this issue. and i would tell you we'll have a vote later on today. republicans are going to speak clearly to say we will not move to a national security bill that does security for other nations and ignores our own.

we will not do it. we believe the american people regardless of party -- i don't find many people who want chaos on our southern border. they want an orderly process. i also don't find people that are opposed to immigration. they're just opposed to illegal activity on our border. unchecked activity on our border. so let's get back to an orderly process. let's have a system that actually works for everybody in the process. and let's not put the national security for other nations ahead of the national security of americans. let's do it together. with that i yield the floor. a senator: madam president the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota ms. klobuchar: first i want to say as this is the initial vote today and i support the president's package including the work of border security, i do appreciate the senator from oklahoma's work in trying to reach an agreement.

so many of us want to see an agreement on border security. i rise today to highlight another part of that agreement that is very important, and that is the importance of the critical humanitarian aid in the supplemental funding request. and to urge my colleagues to include it in the final bill. throughout history, the united states has been a leader. when hitler sought to conquer europe, america's lend-lease program assured -- it was the marshall plan that gave our european partnerers the resources they needed to rebuild after the war. when the iron curtain fell, american aid kept communism at bay. and to this day, agencies like usaid give nations across the globe the support they need to alleviate poverty, become stronger trading partners with our country, and recover from

disasters. we know that humanitarian aid, yes, saves lives in such a big way. but it's also important for our own country. it is our own security that we make friends. it actually helps us to spend less on military when we spend more on humanitarian aid. today armed conflict is tearing apart families and neighborhoods in the meldz east, and the largest land war in europe since world war ii rages on. ripples from these conflicts are felt around the world. we are at a pivotal amount in not just american history but the history of humanity. israelis, innocent palestinians, and ukrainians are looking to us for support, and the whole world is watching. it is during moments like these that leaders are called to step up. so the question before us today that so many of those that came

before us in this chamber, democrats and republicans have gropled with -- grappled with is will we step up. will america step up? my answer? we must. just as we have time and time again throughout history. that, of course, includes providing swift humanitarian aid to people across the world, including innocent civilians in gaza. like so many in this chamber, including the presiding officer, i strongly condemned hamas' terrorist attack immediately. in the strongest terms. it was a massacre of innocent israelis. and i am heart broken by the devastation and the loss of life. but we must remember that the violence of this terrorist group

hamas does not represent the will of all of the people of gaza. not by any means. that's why i joined my colleagues in calling for a short-term cessation of hostilities in order to allow for the hamas-held hostages to be released and ensure that humanitarian assistance could reach innocent civilians in gaza. i welcomed as so many did the announcement almost two weeks ago that israel and hamas had agreed to release more than a hundred hostages during the cessation. that would also allow, of course, for increased aid for food and the like into gaza. tragically late last week a continued agreement could not be reached, and the hostages, including as we now know, so many young women with very troubling and concerning reports coming out on their conditions are still being held hostage by

the terrorists. the fighting has gun again. the united states has provided significant aid to both israel and the palestinian people now and in years past. but we know we cannot shirk from our duties. we cannot turn our backs on what is happening. in discussing the need for foreign aid, we must not forget the continued importance as we will discuss later today of standing with ukraine as ukrainians fight back against vladimir putin's inhuman bash rich. oo barbarism. for almost two years the ukrainians have shown the world what it truly means to fight for freedom and america has been with them as have so many of our allies. beyond critical military aid, the u.s. continues to support ukraine through a humanitarian assistance for both internally

displaced ukrainians and those forced to flee their home country. we know where we have taken in some of these refugees, including my home state of minnesota who has a huge population of ukrainians, many of them are now working. many work in our ukrainian restaurant in minneapolis. we also have european countries taking in these refugees in unprecedented numbers. millions and millions of people. when i voifted poland -- visited poland with a group of our colleagues, bipartisan basis, just weeks after vladimir putin launched his brutal invasion, there were more than two million ukrainian refugees. today that number is more than six million. i will never forget talking to those refugees, women, children, seniors, kids with nothing but a backpack on their back with a stuffed animal in it. we heard their horror stories about homes lost, families ripped apart, and live,

destroyed. -- lives destroyed. we know that polish people don't have to imagine what it's like to live through a full-scale invasion. their history is marked by invasions by prussia, the nazis, and, yes, russia. as our ambassador to poland mark told us, they are chiefing the dream our grandparents weren't able to realize. we value freedom and respect your democracy. we value you so much that we will take you into our homes and into our hearts. we will open our doors and not shut you out. just as our polish allies and those small countries that i met with yesterday, the baltic nations of estonia and latfiya and lithuania, they are there for ukraine on the ground and being on the front line and putting an extraordinary percentage of their own

resources of their spending into defense, into nato. america must be there for ukraine by providing, yes, topnotch military assistance as we have that has enabled ukraine to retake half of the territory that vladimir putin took in his initial invasion. but we also must be there for them with critical humanitarian aid. our ukrainian friends continue to persevere against all odds, against one of the largest armies in the world, and this aid is critical to that effort. as we all know, the consequences of putin's unprovoked, unlawful, unjust fieshl war extend beyond ukraine's border. ukraine is one of the world's top suppliers of grain, and russia's illegal blockade of ukrainian ports has put millions of people across the globe in places like africa at risk of starvation. by providing critical support for the state department's refugee aid program, including

food assistance, the administration's funding request will support displaced people around the world. our nation has earned its reputation as the leader of the free world due to its unwavering commitment to democracy and helping nations when they need it knowing they come out of it, knowing they become major trading partners and friends of ours on the security front, on the democracy front, and on the economic front. so now it's on us to decide if we want to keep that reputation. if we want to keep that leadership. as we negotiate this bill, the supplemental, i'm reminded of what president zelenskyy said just hours after vladimir putin launched his barbaric invasion. everyone counted him out. everyone thought he was going to run. instead he stood on the steps of kyiv with just a few people and looked straight into the camera and delivered a simple message

that was all at once a rallying cry to his people but a statement of defiance in the face of evil and a call to action for democracies across the globe. three words. we are here. so that's our decision over the next two weeks. are we going to be here for democracies? are we going to be here for our ally in the mideast and our allies around the world? are we going to continue toll feed the world? are -- to feed the world? are we going to continue to stand up against terrorism and barbarism and help innocent people like those in gaza, those in ukraine, and those around the world that depend on us? moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, kids and grand kids are depending on us. we must be there. we must say we are here. madam president, i yield the floor. ms. warren: madam president the presiding officer: the senator -- the senator from

massachusetts ms. warren: two months after hamas launched brutal attacks on israel, we continue to grieve for those who were killed. we also pray for the return of loved ones taken hostage. and for those who have been injured for rape victims and for those who survived by hiding themselves among dead and dying friends, we offer love and support. october 7 was the deadliest day for jewish people since the holocaust. i've seen video of hamas' attack and their terrorists' contempt for israelis' lives. as i have said before, israel has both right to defend its citizens from hamas' terrorist attacks and an obligation under the laws of war to protect innocent palestinians civilians in gaza. palestinians are not hamas and they should not be punished for hamas' terrorism. i want to be clear about how i

see the war that israel is currently waging in gaza. prime minister netanyahu and his right-wing war cabinet have created a humanitarian catastrophe killing thousands of palestinian civilians and risking a wider conflict in the middle east. the gaza health ministry estimates more than 15,000 people in gaza have been killed and more than 40,000 injured. the vast majority of those killed and injured have been palestinians civilians, many of them women and children. this level of civilian harm is a moral failure. it is why for weeks i have called on israel to stop bombing gaza. a hope and gave hope that negotiations would

continue as the party's work toward an enduring end to this fighting. i applauded this cease-fire and urged its extension so is that the parties could secure a lasting peace. when cease-fire lapsed, i urged the parties to get back to the negotiate being table and build on the prior agreement so that the cease-fire could resume. but instead the fighting ramps up. so i will say it again -- hamas must release the hostages and stop firing rockets at civilians in israel. the israeli government must stop the bombing in gaza and deliver humanitarian aid. and all of us must do everything possible to resume the cease-fire and extend it for as long as possible. the long-term goal must be peace. two states for two people. today the senate will vote on legislation to provide military funding to ukraine, israel, and

taiwan. i will support this legislation because ukraine is on the front lines fighting back a brutal russian invasion that would destroy its existence as an independent nation. a few months ago i visited ukraine and saw firsthand the courage of the ukrainian people, who are literally putting their lives on the line to keep democracy alive. this legislation also contains $10 billion in humanitarian aid for families around the globe, including in gaza. it also provides emergency shelter funds for migrants who are new arrived in the united states. and it includes money for mosques and synagogues that are dealing with threats here at home. i strongly support those provisions. in fact, i fought hard for those provisions. but i want to be clear that when it comes to u.s. military aid to israel, american support cannot

be a blank check to a right-wing government that has demonstrated a gross disregard for the lives of palestinian civilians. u.s. military aid always includes conditions, and there is no exception, even for our allies. the united states regularly conditions military aid on compliance with u.s. law and international humanitarian aid, and in the case of israel i've long argued that the united states should use all of the tools at its disposal, including placing conditions on u.s. military assistance to move the parties closer to permanent peace and a two-state solution. prime minister netanyahu's actions are not moving closer to a two-state solution. instead, his actions set conditions for endless violence. since october 7, extremist settlers in the west bank have

deliberately hunted down and killed palestinians and, according to the united nations, displaced more than a thousand people. in gaza, israeli forces have struck hospitals and refugee camps killing scores of civilians in pursuit of its military targets. israel has ordered palestinians to evacuate for safety and then bombed the safe zones e -- safe zones. the videos from gaza of dead parents and wailing children are chilling. it document tz the israeli government's humanitarian failures and it now appears that israel is prepared to impose in southern gaza the same staggering level of civilian death that it carried out in the north. that is wrong. i lay these actions at the feet of prime minister netanyahu. if the prime minister insists on

conducting military operations with little regard for civilian life and in a manner that moves the region deeper into perpetual war, then he does not deserve america's blanket financial support. i understand the desire to help israel and the people of israel, but given the actions of the prime minister, congress should condition any military funding on an agreement that civilian lives will be protected, that palestinians will receive the humanitarian aid they need, and that international law will be fully respected. over the past two months, i've had many conversations with people across massachusetts about the path forward. this conflict is horrific and it is deeply personal. i've talked to israelis who have lost beloved friends and family. i've held parents who have had children violently taken as

hostages. i've talked to palestinians who have had family members killed. i've held hands with people conducting a desperate long-distance search for missing loved ones and i've joined the sometimes frantic efforts to help palestinians who are desperately trying to get out of gaza but can't. the pain runs deep for all of them. this conflict has also sparked a wave of hate here in the united states. the center for american islamic relations in massachusetts has received a record number of calls reporting van damnism, violence, and -- vandalism, violence, and retaliation. a man was arrested for attacking the holocaust museum. i've had muslim and palestinian constituents talk to me about being pulled over for extra

screening at the airport while their white travel companions sailed right on through. i've heard stories of how hard it can be to land a small business loan or get a credit card application approved, even when they meet all of the criteria. anti-palestinian hate is endangering our neighbors. three college students in burlington were shot on their way to dinner. i've had moms tell me they're now afraid to say that they are palestinian, and they are now afraid for their children to leave the house. anti-semitism is endangering our neighbors. halal leaders tell me -- halal leaders tell me their afraid to walk on campus or speak up in classes. mothers worry about bringing their toddlers to activities at their synagogue because it could be the target of an attack. but in these moments, each of us has an obligation to speak out

clearly and loudly against hate. each of us has an obligation to actively oppose hate in all of its forms. anti-semitism must be rejected. islamophobia and anti-palestinianism must be cast off. we should make our intentions clear. we should work toward those goals until they are finally true. no one should be afraid. no one should be feel unsafe. and it is on our shoulders to build an america where there is no place for hate. but there is more for us to do. we cannot give up on peace. hamas leaders make their goals clear -- perpetual war and death. but, as i've said earlier,hamas is not the palestinian people and the palestinian people are not hamas. in the midst of the chaos and pain of this terrible war, i

hold fast to the possibility that people of good will, both palestinians and israelis, can build a lasting peace. i have long believed that a two-state solution is the best path, is the only path for israel's long-term security and the only way to ensure that palestinians have the rights, the freedom, and self-determination they need to build a secure future for themselves and their chin. -- and their children. in the short term, the needed work is obvious -- resume the cease-fire, accelerate humanitarian aid, protect innocent civilians, and release the hostages. and in the long term, the hard labor, the labor that ensures that we won't be here again and again and again to mourn the deaths of the people we love and have lost to an endless cycle of

war. the hard labor is to drive toward a just and lasting peace for both israelis and palestinians. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. mr. ricketts: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mr. ricketts: thank you, madam president. i am going to say something that i don't think ought to be controversial. that hamas should receive no u.s. taxpayer dollars. but apparently some people think that is controversial. on october 7, hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to the destruction of israel and to killing jews you broke the cease-fire and attacked israel. now, this was not a military attack. these were terrorists who came across the border to kill

civilians. they killed 1,200 israelis and 33 americans. last week, along with my senate colleagues, i watched an uncensored video taken from hamas body cameras, cell phones, on surveillance television, intercepts of radio and telephone everything cans. it was horrific. this atrocity was perpetrated by barbaric savages. we witnessed them shoot unarmed civilians. we saw the evidence of young girls raped. we saw the dead bodies of children, some burned beyond recognition. we watched as a hamas terrorist

decapitated an israeli soldier. it was truly horrifying. hamas started a war. they are responsible for every person who died on that day and every person who has died in gaza since. they are a terrorist organization dedicated to destroying israel. in fact, we heard some of the phone conversations from hamas terrorists who called back to their parents bragging about how many jews they had killed. it's absolutely horrific. we must stand with israel until hamas is destroyed utterly. humanity will have been done a favor by the state of israel when hamas is destroyed. we also must examine the biden policies that are supporting

hamas. i know -- yes, i said that. it's crazy, but it's true. the biden administration has already given $730 million and wants to add another $260 million to it. you see is there's this organization called the united nations relief and agency -- relief agency for palestinian in and the near east and it has been long documented that they have been infiltrate by hamas. this organization also known as unra has hired hamas agents. their teachers have been preaching about killing jews. their textbooks glorify

martyrdom. they demonize anti-semitism. there is a u.n. report that shows unra schools have launched attacks against israel. on october 7, unra employees applauded the attack, including 14 is unra teachers. now we have a report that an unra teacher held one of the hostages in that teacher's attic, barely feeding the hostage. this is an organization that has been described as essential will i branch of hamas. -- as essentially a branch of hamas. the trump administration knew this, and so they cut off funds, with president trump saying the organization, unra, was irredeemable. and inexplicably you the biden

administration resumed funding and wants to continue resuming funding. we must not let our tax dollars go to support hamas. and that's why i've introduced the stop support for hamas act. this act would make sure no economic development dollars go to gaza or the west bank until israel verifies that hamas has been dismantled. it would ensure the palestinian authority is not hiring hamas or their affiliates. it would strengthen the force act to make sure the palestinian authority does away with this horrific pay-to-slay policy. and it would ensure that any other ngo that is working would not hire hamas or hamas affiliates. what we saw on october

-- october 7th was inhumane, it was barbaric, it was horrifying, it was an atrocity committed by hamas. we must stand with israel until hamas is utterly destroyed and we must ensure that no more funding from american taxpayers goes to hamas through unwra. 118 of the terrorists that attacked israel on october 7th were educated in unwra schools. these schools are part of the problem. the trump administration knew it, and i ask all of my colleagues, support my bill that will end this terrible policy. thank you, madam president.

the presiding officer: the senior senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that following senator menendez, i be recognized for 20 minutes prior to the scheduled roet. -- roll call vote. the presiding officer: without objection. the senior senator from new jersey. menendez menendez madam president -- mr. menendez: as our allies and democracies around the world face compounding geopolitical challenges, the world is watching what we do or fail to do here in the united states senate, and the stakes could not be any higher. ukraine is rapidly running out of arms to fight russia's legal invasion and the war crimes it has perpetrated against the ukrainian people, israel is in an existential war against hamas

a terrorist organization funded by iran's brutal regime with one singular mission, to wipe out israel and every jew on the face of the earth. moreover, our allies in the indo-pacific like taiwan remain on high alert as china flexes its military might there and around the globe while at the same time taking careful notes on how democracies around the world respond when one nation violates the sovereignty of another by attemptingto take its -- attemptingto take its territory. now is the time to come in defense of america's allies in their hour of need. we have a strategic security, economic, and moral imperative to meet the moment. and that's exactly what democrats in the senate are ready to do. right now democrats are prepared to take up and pass the national security and border act of 2024,

a comprehensive package that provides aid to israel, ukraine, the indo-pacific, taiwan, as well as addresses ongoing challenges at our southern border, including the flow of migration and fentanyl into the united states. democrats are willing to put politics aside and defend our allies and our values with real dollars, real military aid, and real solutions. we are ready to secure our southern border against the most dire threats we face, especially the relentless flow of deadly fentanyl fuelling our nation's opioid epidemic. now, to be crystal clear, some aspects of this supplemental package, which closely mirrors the supplemental request president biden sent to congress raises serious concern for me and others, for one, i'm concerned about funding another 1300 border patrol agents, the

u.s. border patrol is the largest u.s. border patrol agencies and it gives me pause to expand it further. i have serious hesitations about funding to expand our detention capacity by over 45,000 beds. detaining migrants en masse, including entire families is never the most humane or effective solution to managing our border. supporting a supplemental package that includes these items would not be an easy vote for me and several of my colleagues. it would be quite difficult because these funds come with concerning policy consequences. however, in the name of getting a reasonable, thoughtful package across the finish line for our allies in need without gutting our asylum and humanitarian parole laws, i certainly am willing to consider them.

but where are republicans, americans might ask? where are our colleagues from across the aisle who have championed them as defending freedom and democracy around the world. where is the party of reagan, the pare of self-proclaimed defense hawks who supposedly never bat an eye when it comes to supporting our allies. in an incomprehensible turn of events, republicans have decided to hold hostage vital aid to our closest allies in a life and death struggle over completely unrelated, hyper partisan demands on bothered policy, and they are insisting on these changes without any willingness to compromise. no, you didn't hear that incorrectly. senate republicans have declared that they are ready to tank this national security package, one that would help our allies

defend themselves so that we don't have to send america's sons and daughters into harm's way and take the battle themselves when the next set of countries -- nato countries are invaded by countries like russia. i'd rather have the ukrainians fight for their freedom and provide them the resources to do so instead of sending america's sons and daughters abroad. why are they doing this? because they are using the immigration issue, in my view, to hide behind the embarrassing fact that a significant number of republicans in both chambers don't want to vote for aid to ukraine. and because democrats refuse to exceed to far-right immigration policy demands that have nothing to do with the existential crisis threatening our allies. it is the height of irresponsibility for republicans to claim that the price for assisting our international allies is gutting our asylum and

humanitarian parole laws, which i would add as someone hoos been on this -- who has been on this issue for element a quarter of a century would do nothing to mitigate the flow of migration and deadly flow of drugs into our country. think about the dangerous signal that sends, america cannot put aits domestic disputes to confront the freedom around the worm. such a signal would be cripplingto those who look to the united states for our leadership when confronted with the evils of tyranny and terrorism. such a signal would amount to a shameful retreat from america's singular place on the world stage and would leave us with fewer allies willing to stand with us. whos going to stand with you -- who is going to stand with you if you're going to cut and run? what makes this all so much worse is that republicans are willing to gamble on national

security interest, indeed our ability to conduct foreign policy, over half-baked, failed ideas that do nothing to solve the problems they claim to solve. let's just take -- look at a few of the demand republicans are making on immigration an asylum policies. i heard one of our colleagues speak before, we only just want to have the asylum question be dealt with quicker. well, that's not the case. republicans say, for example, that they want to heighten the initial credible fear standard that asylum seekers must pass and have been passing for decades in order to make it to the next stage of the asylum process. well, news pallasch. no matter -- news flash. no matter how much the credible fear is heightened, it will do nothing to address the root problem of asylum seekers to flee their home countries in the

first place. if i'm in one of these countries and live or die or see my daughter raped by gang or to be forcibly forced into a gang, i will flee. that's why we have 20 million people in the western hemisphere who are displaced, presently in other countries in the western hemisphere. unless we deal with that root cause chal he eng and -- challenge and help those people, those 20 million people who will come northward. constricting access to asylum would only encourage more legal attempts to -- legal attempts to make it into the united states through other avenues that would enrich smuggling networks in fiscal year 2023, 99.5% of asylum seekers appeared -- appeared -- 99.5% of asylum

seekers appeared for their hearings before an immigration judge. so only about.5% of a percent were of -- were not there. and then at that point they no long-range have a right to be present. pushing migrants outside of the asylum system is not in the interest of anyone who an orderly immigration system or professes to fair about reducing the number of migrants encountered throughout the border. republicans say, for example, they want to dramatically limit the president's statutory authority to grant individuals humanitarian parole into the united states in response to major crisis such as wars and invasions. here's another news flash. shrivenging -- shrinking

humanitarian flow reduces illegal immigration to our border. think about the wake of russia's invasion of ukraine, if the united states did not have a robust humanitarian parole system screening tens of thousands of afghans and ukrainians for refuge through an orderly process, it would have been utter chaos with unknown numbers unscreened, unvetted individuals into these countries potentially seeking entry through our borders. the united states is in the driver's seat determining which individuals can obtain protection in the united states and which cannot. it also serves our national security interest by sending a clear message, if you stand with us, if you fight for freedom and there comes a life and death moment, we will provide you with rough refugee. so -- with refuge.

this shouldn't be about sticking it to president biden and the democrats. there will one day be another democrat or republican administration that will need to rely on this law, and by fumently eroding the laws, the republicans would hamper the ability of future administrations to respond to crisis. gutting this would only -- what these and other demands reflect is the now dominant and dangerous strain of republican thinking that believes that our asylum humanitarian parole and refugee systems are fraudulent allowing undeserved individuals into enter into our country. years of anti-immigrant fearmongering by former prum appear to -- president trump have clouded this.

the type of conversations we had when we passed comprehensive immigration reform in this chamber with a gang of senators of republicans and democrats of which i was a part of with an overwhelming vote. that was a level-headed discussion. as a result, their policy ideas now are driven more by stephen miller's demagogue ri than by reality. here are some facts worth reminding my republican friends about. immigrants wield nearly $1.3 trillion in spending power in the united states. they contribute tens of billions of dollars in taxes every year. a repeat study found that a 25% reduction in the number of asylum seekers in the united states would cause an economic loss of over $20 billion over five years. immigrants disproportionately make up our essential workforce. the other ones are taking care of our sick, putting food on our

table, taking care of our workplaces. they were the ones when we were all home sheltered, out taking the risk of their lives in order that the rest of us could be sheltered. immigrants are 80% more likely to become entrepreneurs than native americans. indeed, nearly 45% of fortune 500 companies, 45% of fortune 500 companies, which employ tens of millions of americans were founded by immigrants or their children. these migrants, asylum seekers have changed and shaped our nation and the world more broadly. ever hear of albert einstein? a refugee who changed our understanding of science forever. sergea bryn? cofounder of google, a refugee who changed technology forever.

gl gloriaest effan, a refugee -- gloria estefan shaped our mooukal landscape -- our musical lands scape. or madeline al-brit. does that -- madeleine albright, does that name ring a bell? the list goes on and on and on. the hard, undeniable reality is this -- our nation's prosperity, power, and greatness are inextricably intertwined with our identity of a nation of striving, hardworkingism grants. no wonder our systems have received overwhelming support over the decades. they're an essential source of our strength. let's be perfectly clear about something else -- welcoming asylum seekers, paroleeses and refugees is far from just an act of compassion. these systems directly support our national security and strategic economic interests at

home and abroad. imagine a world where the united states and other countries did not have systems to provide refugee to dissidents, journalists, lawyers, and others taking on tyrants and defending liberties in their countries. would they have the same level of courage to enact change in their country if they did not think they could protect themselves and their families if they gamed liv-and-death persecution? to my republican friends, i say this, it's time to free yourselves from the trumpian demagoguery that envelopes your current world view on immigration. join us in good faith to deliver inclusive, humane, and orderly immigration reform that will secure our borders, provide relief to the undocumented community and strengthen our strategic posture in the world. however, attempting to force this conversation here and now, when our allies have their backs against the wall, fighting on the front lines to protect u.s. interests and when innocent people's lives hang in the

balance is the height of recklessness and irresponsibility. we can continuing serving as the wo world's last, best defender of freedom and democracy without sacrificing one of our greatest strengths, our eye dentity as a nation -- our identity as a nation of immigrants. we are the united states of america. let's start acting it. i yield the floor. mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. we have a lot of work to get done before january 19, the next deadline to pass the funding to avoid a shutdown. the american people are looking for serious leadership and results. i come to the floor today to be clear about what the standard for success is here. we need to pass regular, f full-year funding based on the bipartisan spending agreement from earlier this year that actually responds to the challenges before us. anything less means missing considerity cal opportunities

and -- critical opportunities and worse. a date change full-year c.r. as proposed by house speaker johnson would be unprecedented and reckless. why is that? because the speaker's proposal would lock in outdated spending plans and devastating across-the-board cuts while locking all of us out of any kind of thoughtful decision-making process for our nation's future. all of which should be absolutely unacceptable to everyone here. it's one thing to have a short-term c.r. so we have additional time to negotiate in good faith and pass full-year bills that strengthen our nation. it is another thing entirely to do a year-long c.r. because we have no intention of doing our job. we cannot just throw up our hands, act like nothing in the world changed in the past 12 months, abdicate our

responsibility to our constituents, and box in our nation's future by putting the government on autopilot. when you puppet the government on -- you put the government on autopilot without direction or consideration of changing needs, you are functionally causing year-over-year funding cuts, without any rhyme, reason, or recalibration for new and changing priorities, causing huge uncertainties and inefficiencies across our federal government and seriously impairing every single one of our agencies' ability to fulfill their mission and move our country forward. that, by the way, is all before taking into account the incredibly steep, across-the-board cuts that come into play under this scenario, is under our fiscal responsibility act. this runs way deeper than numbers at best stagnating on a page and agencies cutting

hardworking staff and crucial services. we're talking about missing opportunities on issues where the clock is ticking, pulling the rug out from our families who are struggling, and undermining our national defense and security in front of the whole world. i think we all understand now is a dangerous time to signal america's global leadership is faltering, but that is exactly the message a yearlong c.r. sends. a year of america's military falling behind and a year of our diplomat and humanitarian efforts falling behind. when we put our government on autopilot, we're telling the world congress is asleep at the wheel and incapable of responding to the growing threats of an ever more dangerous world. in practical terms for defense, as my colleague, the senior senator from maine, vice chair of the committee said here recently, it means the pentagon freezing 330 new programs or

production increases. it means falling behind in building ourships and subs and much more, and doing so by the way at a time when china already has a larger navy. it means essentially no new progress in our efforts to strengthen our military and diplomat footprint in the indo-pacific so we can forge strong partnerships and deter aggression from the chinese government. this is something we devoted significant thought and resource to across our bipartisan spending bills, with new funding for our indo-pacific strategy and the countering prc influence funds. not to mention other global things like the new economic resilience initiative, and that will weaken the financial pressure our competitors exert on key u.s. partners. all that goes out the window

with a full-year c.r., particularly under the construct proposed by the speaker of the house where he simply changes a date and quits. change a date and quit. can you imagine a leader, one of the highest ranking officials in this country, if not the world, seriously proposing that as an answer right now? under the yearlong c.r. we would not have critical funding increases to support our servicemembers, to support their families, from troop readiness essentials like recruitment and training, to family support like child care and bear acs. to other -- barracks. to the shipyard opt i amization plan. a full-year c.r. would not just hurt our national security, it would be devastating for our families and communities across the country and our country's future. when it comes to keeping our economy strong, there are simply

too many missed opportunities to even list. we would lose out increases in bolstering trade and u.s. business competitiveness, we'd lose out on strengthening our supply chains and building innovation hubs. we would lose out on research funding for manufacturing, a.i., agriculture, clean energy, cures and treatments for cancer and alzheimer's and other terrible skieses -- diseases and more. we would lose ground in our plans to send americans back to the moon while the chinese government is full speed ahead. when it comes to fighting the opioid pandemic, resigning our nation to a yearlong c.r. means the increased investments that we did include in our senate bills to keep fentanyl out of our country by stopping drug cartels and get help to patients and families won't happen. instead, stagnant funding means furloughs at our border and thousands of pounds of illicit

drugs reaching our communities. a c.r. also will not include any funding to reform cosmetic safety or retirement security or the organ donation and transplant system. let's talk about wic. wic is the lifeline for moms who need a formula, nutritious food and essentials for their babies. it is at risk of being severely underfunded by a c.r. i grew up in a family that knew what it meant to fall on hard times and have a government that had our backs. i will not let our country pull out the rug from folks in their time of need. if we put spending on autopilot for the next year, we will be kicking struggling families off benefits and onto wait lists. it's not just wic that's going to see these painful shortfalls that will hurt families. it is programs that keep families warm in the winter, cool in the summer and safe from extreme temperatures, like liheap.

it's programs that give people health care like community health centers and the new suicide prevention lifeline. it is programs that make sure families have a roof over their head, rental assistance, affordable housing, homelessness prev prevention, programs that already can't meet the needs in their communities. it's the social security administration for crying out loud. the c.r. would for them to reduce hours and lay off staff. you want to sign up for new benefits, see how to fix a problem, no one to answer you, long wait times. let's not forget, it's programs for folks trying to improve their situation, get a better job and further their career. a c.r. means no increases for apprentice ship funding -- apprenticeship funding, workforce training or the maximum pel amount. what else do parents need to work? child care. we're in a child care crisis. with a full-year c.r., this is only going to go from bad to

worse, because we will be resigned to across-the-board cuts to our nation's child care programs. our public schools also will face tight budgets. kids are still recovering from this pandemic and we can't afford to provide our schools less funding when our students deserve and need more support. it is that simple. look, i've been going on for a while, but the truth is i've barely scratched the surface on what we will lose with a full-year c.r. increases throughout our bills to support tribal communities, gone. over a billion dollars for faa modernizations efforts, gone. housing for wild land firefighters, improvements in our rail system, next generation weather satellites, gone, gone, gone. here's the kicker -- i have only been talking so far about half the equation, because the fiscal responsibility act would force absolutely devastating across-the-board

cuts on virtually all domestic programs that could be as much as nearly 10%. let's be clear about the damage here. immediate hiring freezes and furloughs at just about every agency, millions of women and kids would lose wic benefits. wait times at ports of entry would quadruple. wait times for new business permits, from the alcohol tobacco tax and trade bureau would increase five-fold. nearly 1,000 fewer full-time food safety inspectors. 2500 fewer national park employees. and less staff and equipment for our federal firefighters. 5,000 scientists, students, and technical staff no longer receiving research support at our national labs and universities. 130,000 fewer small businesses getting training and counseling

from the small business association. nearly 700,000 households losing federal housing assistance and being pushed towards homelessness. 2.5 million patients across indian country hurt by a $235 million cut to the indian health services, hospitals, and clinics. that, mad am chair, is the tip of the iceberg. we're talking tens of billions of dollars slashed to programs that keep our country competitive and our economy strong and our families safe and sound. so this is really no run-of-the-mill c.r. outcome, which would be bad enough as it is. the bottom line here is this -- we have a job to do. we have a job to do. our constituents expect us to come to work, to listen to them, respond to the challenges in their lives, and write the bills and solve our problems and deliver results. at a minimum, they expect us to

try, not threaten as the speaker is doing to change a few words and give up. a long-term c.r. wouldn't just shut out their voices. it would cede ground to our adversaries, let america fall behind and cut off vital resources that families cou counteron each day. if we want to make sure america continues to lead, if we want a strong, competitive economy, if we want a safer world, if we want a real future for our families, we cannot just throw our hands up and hope for the best. we have to come together, do the hard work of governing, hammer out bipartisan spending bills that actually reflect what we think our nation needs, not that starts with getting back to the bipartisan spending agreement the house republicans wanted -- or getting back to that, they demanded it, and agreeing extreme bipartisan riders have no place in our spending bills. in the full senate here, as the presiding officer knows, we

wrote 12 bipartisan spending bills that follow the full terms of the bipartisan spending agreement. but now we need house republicans to hold up their end of the bargain. and that means sticking to the entire agreement and using the full resources it provides for defense and domestic programs. we cannot move forward if house republicans are busy trying to go back on their word, especially for a deal they pushed for and negotiated in the first place. because let's all remember. house republicans were the ones who chose to hold the debt limit hostage until they secured this agreement. let's also remember it was their leader who negotiated this deal directly with the president. they cut this deal. when you negotiate a deal, you don't then bargain over how much of your word you're going to keep. deals are built on common ground and mutual trust, not shifting sand. so, madam president, i'll be clear. i'm not calling on republicans to do anything extreme here or

anything i wouldn't do myself. i get that no one ever gets everything they want, especially in divided government. in fact, as i have said many times, i believe the cuts that were enacted by the fiscal responsibility act set us back. but that was the deal. that was the deal that we voted on. so here in the senate, we did write 12 bipartisan bills to those terms. that's the job. that's what legislating looks like in a divided government. and if we're going to avoid an unnecessary shutdown or an absolutely unacceptable inflexible year long c.r. for the first time ever, we need to get everyone to get real about just what is at stake if we give up on writing serious full-year funding bills. and that's what it's going to take to get that done. so i call on everybody let's do our job. madam president, i also want to take a few minutes to talk about the supplemental funding package that we're going to move to vote on shortly. the clock is ticking.

and the eyes of the world are watching to see how quickly and how completely the u.s. responds to urgent challenges across the world. we cannot afford delays that tell our adversaries they can just wait us out. we cannot afford half steps that tell our allies we will only stand by some of them some of the time. and we cannot accept the notion that there is a quote, unquote, price to be paid in order to stand by our allies. that is why we're voting today to move forward on a bill that will respond to the pressing security challenges. it is past time for senators to show they appreciate the urgency of this moment. now, i've heard some republicans criticize this package for what is not in it. the extreme partisan policy changes to our nation's immigration laws that they have been pushing. well, here's how i see this. when you have a bill like this one with funding that is urgently needed for issues that

have really broad bipartisan support and you face a moment like this where civilians are suffering, our allies are under attack, our adversaries are watching for signs of weakness, and american leadership and our country's long-term security is on the line, you vote -- you don't vote down the bill because you weren't able to attach your partisan wish list to it. and you don't tie aid for allies you believe is vital to their safety and security to passing partisan nonstarters. you work to find consensus and get that aid across the finish line. now let's talk about that aid and the funding that is in this bill and why it's so crucial to pass it without delay. first, this package extends essential support for our allies in ukraine, something we have been discussing even longer than aid to israel and have already been forced to delay too many

times. ukraine has fought bravely to push back putin's bloody invasion. and our support for their efforts has been indispensable. but it is now, right now at a critical juncture. we are about to leave the tank empty while putin continues his attacks. if you are stopping us from getting this done, you are choosing to leave ukraine with fewer resources and put russia in a stronger position. those are just the plain facts of the matter. this is not high perly -- hyperbole. that is the military reality on the ground. ukraine's success on the battlefield depends on its air defenses. and those defenses depend on u.s.-made interceptor missiles which they will not get without this package. so if we don't get this done quickly, we will, as just one example, give russia an opening to potentially destroy ukrainian

air defenses and achieve air superiority. that would mark a catastrophic turning point in the war, in the region, and in the balance of power between the free world and brutal dictatorships. a u.s. ally weakened if not beaten not due to lack of courage on their part but a lack of commitment on ours and that would send a dangerous and disgraceful message to our adversaries and our allies alike about just how serious to take america's commitments. we cannot let this get pushed off again. we have to send a clear message to dictators you cannot wait the u.s. out and trample democracies. we stand firm by our allies. and that's what this package does with aid to ukraine. it also includes security assistance for israel in the aftermath of the horrific hamas attacks. the latest activity from houthi rebels against u.s. forces underscores the importance of

supporting our allies and promoting stability in the region. and critically, this package provides humanitarian aid for gaza and elsewhere to get the civilians the food and water and medical care and other essentials that they desperately need. this is not just the absolute right thing to do but another key part of combatting hopelessness and the extremism that it can breed. this bill also includes much needed investments in the indo-pacific so we can strengthen our allies and bolster our presence in the region and deter our adversaries. and let's be clear. this bill also does include resources for the border and to stop the flow of fentanyl. if you truly, honestly believe we need to do more on the border, i don't know how you decide to do nothing and think it's br than something sub-- it's better than something substantial. let's cut to the chase here. this bill is made up of basic

bipartisan priorities. supporting ukraine, supporting israel, getting humanitarian assistance to civilians, stopping fentanyl, making commonsense investments to humanely manage our border, and they all have broad support here in the senate. so let's take this opportunity, this vote today, to get things moving, to get on to this bill so we can do the hard work of legislating and debating and considering amendments to it. instead of pitting allies and crisis against each other as political bargaining chips. so i urge all of my colleagues vote yes. show they are serious about responding to all the crises before us, and then let's get right back to work in a bipartisan way on our annual spending bills, like i just talked about, and other urgent issues like child care. because let's be clear. this is another crisis that is growing worse every day. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: all time

is expired. the question is on the nomination. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman. mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd.

the clerk: ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons.

mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin.

ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper.

ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king. ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee.

mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul.

mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. reed. mr. ricketts. mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders.

mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan.

mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville. mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock.

ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young.

senators voting in the negative -- baldwin, brown, heinrich, klobuchar, murray, reed, rosen, schumer, van hollen, warnock -- senators voting in the negative -- nraing, hawley -- hagerty, hawley, vance, risch, young.

the clerk: ms. smith, aye.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, no. mr. scott of florida, no.

mrs. britt, no. mrs. gillibrand, aye. mr. padilla, aisle.

-- mr. padilla, aye. mr. whitehouse, aye. the clerk: mrs. fischer, no. mr. wicker, no. mrs. shaheen, aye.

mr. fetterman, aye. mr. ossoff, aye. mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. cramer, no. mr. kaine, aye. mr. grassley, no.

the clerk: mr. durbin, aye. ms. hassan, aye. ms. ernst, no.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye. mr. daines, no. the clerk: mr. johnson, no.

the clerk: mr. hoeven, no. mr. cotton, no.

vote: the clerk: mr. hickenlooper, aye. mrs. capito, no. mr. graham, no. ms. butler, aye. mr. lee, no. mr. merkley, aye. mr. sanders, aye.

mr. lankford, no. mr. ricketts, no. mr. romney, no.

mr. welch, aye.

the clerk: mr. cassidy, no. ms. sinema, aye.

the clerk: mr. marshall, no. ms. warren, aye. mr. budd, no. mr. carper, aye. mr. barrasso, no.

mr. crapo, no. the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

the clerk: mr. casey, aye. ms. duckworth, aye. mr. menendez, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no. mr. thune, no. mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: ms. hirono, aye. mr. schatz, aye. ms. murkowski, aye.

ms. stabenow, aye. the clerk: mr. cardin, aye. mr. cruz, no.

mrs. hyde-smith, no. mr. rubio, no. mr. warner, aye. mr. bennet, aye. mr. tillis, no.

mr. cornyn, no. ms. collins, aye.

the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye. mrs. blackburn, no. mr. kelly, aye. mr. moran, no. mr. wyden, aye.

mr. murphy, aye. mr. tuberville, no.

the clerk: mr. boozman, no.

the clerk: mr. rounds, no. vote:

the clerk: ms. cortez masto, aye.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no.

the clerk: mr. coons, aye.

the clerk: mr. booker, aye. mr. schmitt, no.

the clerk: mr. mcconnell, no.

the clerk: mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: mr. manchin, aye.

the clerk: mr. paul, no.

the clerk: mr. king, aye.

the presiding officer: the yeas a 53, the nays are 47. the nominee is confirmed. under the previous order, the

motion is reconsider is made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. schumer: madam president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: madam president, the question before us is simple -- will senators rise to defend western democracy, protect our fundamental values, and support our friends abroad fighting for their lives? are we willing to stand up to autocratic brutes and respond to our adversaries with strength, not weakness? will we help the people of ukraine fight against vladimir putin, like we promised? this is a moment in history. this is a moment history will

record. the answer to all these questions should be an emphatic yes. at stake is america's safety, the survival of democracy, and the future of the war in ukraine. as we've always done in our history, the senate should rush to the defense of democracy and stand up to autocratic brutes. madam president, you can be sure vladimir putin is watching closely to see if the senate will approve more aid to ukraine, whether or not we approve an aid package will likely sway the outcome of the war the. we must act. to the show our republican colleagues that we care about this issue deeply and are serious about moving forward in a bipartisan way, we are willing to give them an amendment here on the floor on any border proposal of their choice at 60 votes. we will not interfere with whatever policy they want to

present. it is vital we move forward and that we are willing to work and to show that we are willing to work with our republican colleagues to be reasonable. this, again, is a moment of truth for the senate, for the country, for the fight for democracy and western values and again history will record this moment. we must rise to the occasion. we must stand with ukraine. we should all vote yes. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 30, h.r. 815, an act to amend title 38 united states code and so forth and for other purposes, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense

of the senate that debate on the motion to proceed to h.r. 85 a15 an act to amend title 38 united states code to make certain improvements relating to the eligibility of veterans to receive reimbursement for emergency treatment furnished through the veterans community care program and for other purposes shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. baldwin. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. mr. booker. mr. boozman.

mr. braun. mrs. britt. mr. brown. mr. budd. ms. butler. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz. mr. daines. ms. duckworth.

mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. mr. hagerty. ms. hassan. mr. hawley. the clerk: mr. heinrich. mr. hickenlooper. ms. hirono. mr. hoeven. mrs. hyde-smith. mr. johnson. mr. kaine. mr. kelly. mr. kennedy. mr. king.

ms. klobuchar. mr. lankford. mr. lee. mr. lujan. ms. lummis. mr. manchin. mr. markey. mr. marshall. mr. mcconnell. mr. menendez. mr. merkley. mr. moran. mr. mullin. ms. murkowski. mr. murphy. mrs. murray. mr. ossoff. mr. padilla. mr. paul. mr. peters. mr. reed. mr. ricketts.

mr. risch. mr. romney. ms. rosen. mr. rounds. mr. rubio. mr. sanders. mr. schatz. mr. schmitt. mr. schumer. mr. scott of florida. mr. scott of south carolina. mrs. shaheen. ms. sinema. ms. smith. ms. stabenow. mr. sullivan. mr. tester. mr. thune. mr. tillis. mr. tuberville.

mr. van hollen. mr. vance. mr. warner. mr. warnock. ms. warren. mr. welch. mr. whitehouse. mr. wicker. mr. wyden. mr. young. the clerk: senators voting in the affirmative -- blumenthal, booker, butler, cardin, coons, duckworth, hickenlooper, hirono, king, manchin, menendez, merkley, murray, schatz, schumer, spla,

stabenow, warner, and warnock. senators voting in the negative -- capito, collins, cotton, crapo, cruz, hagerty, hoeven, hyde-smith, mcconnell, moran, ricketts, rounds, rubio, schmitt, scott of south carolina, thune, tillis, vance, and wicker. mr. reed, aye.

the clerk: mrs. britt, no.

the clerk: mr. tester, aye.

the clerk: mr. grassley, no. the clerk: mrs. gillibrand, aye.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye. ms. lummis, no. the clerk: ms. smith, aye. .

mrs. fischer, no. ms. cortez masto, aye. mrs. blackburn, no. mr. wyden, aye. mr. ossoff, aye.

the clerk: mr. padilla, aye. mr. mullin, no. mr. tuberville, no.

the clerk: mr. carper, aye.

the clerk: mr. kaine, aye.

mr. graham, no.

the clerk: mr. scott of florida, no. mr. cassidy, no.

the clerk: mr. budd, no. mr. durbin, aye.

the clerk: mr. van hollen, aye.

mrs. shaheen, aye. ms. warren, aye.

the clerk: mr. kennedy, no. ms. ernst, no. mr. barasso, no. mr. risch, no.

the clerk: mr. casey, aye.

mr. romney, no. mr. lujan, aye. mr. welch, aye. mr. daines, no.

the clerk: mr. marshall, vote: the clerk: ms. cantwell, aye. mr. boozman, no.

the clerk: ms. baldwin, aye.

mr. murphy, aye. mr. lee, no. mr. johnson, no. mr. cramer, no.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, no. mr. paul, no.

the clerk: mr. whitehouse, aye.

the clerk: mr. markey, aye. ms. murkowski, no.

the clerk: mr. lankford, no.

mr. braun, no.

the clerk: mr. sanders, no. mr. cornyn, no.

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.

mr. kelly, aye.

vote:

the clerk: ms. klobuchar, aye.

the clerk: mr. hawley, no.

the clerk: mr. young, no. mr. heinrich, aye.

the clerk: mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. brown, aye.

vote:

the presiding officer: the majority leader. the clerk: mr. schumer, no.

the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 51. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affairive texas the motion is not agreed to. mr. schumer: madam president, i enter a motion to career. -- to reconsider. the presiding officer: motion is entered. mr. schumer: now, madam president, tonight is a sad night in the history of the senate and in our country. republicans just blocked a very much-needed proposal to send funding for ukraine, funding for israel, humanitarian aid for innocent civilians in gaza, and funding for the indo-pacific.

if there is a word for what we most need now, it is to be serious. if republicans in the senate do not get serious very soon about a national security package, vladimir putin is going to walk right through ukraine and right through europe. this is an historic moment for the senate. are we going to do something about the threats to democracy happening around the world? are we going to hold the line against autocrats and dictators and the enemies he was our way of life? -- of our way of life? we had before the senate a proposal for not only national security but one that included significant funding for border security that president biden requested. we also made our republican colleagues an offer to get something done on border by allowing them to vote on an amendment on any border package they wanted, any one they

wanted, and all they'd need is 11 democratic votes. unfortunately, republicans refused to move forward. even with the offer to vote on a border amendment that would have required only 11 democratic votes. they couldn't come up with a solution. nevertheless, democrats remain committed to working very hard to find a solution to this impasse. i understand that republican negotiators are preparing another package of border policies they soon, and i hope they come up with something serious instead of the extreme policies they presented thus far. democrats have always supported commonsense, real list stuck solutions to -- realistic solutions to the border. we wish republicans would have taken us up on our offer to have debate on the floor an offer to the republicans of an amendment -- our offer to the republicans of appear amendment still stand -- of an amendment still stands

and we hope we can break this impasse soon. madam president, this is a serious moment. it will have lasting consequences for the 21st century. if ukraine falls, putin will not stop there. he will be emboldened. president xi will be emboldened. our adversaries will keep undermining us at every turn. western democracy will begin to enter an age of decline if we aren't willing to defend it. this senate, this republican party must get serious. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: madam president, the clock is ticking. aid ford our allies in ukraine has run dry and the whole world is now watching to see if the u.s. is still capable of standing by all of its allies in times of needment there is a lot at stake here. now is is the time for choosing whether the u.s. will continue

to being a leader in the world and a champion for democracy. so i hope senate republicans think carefully about whether they truly want to abandon our allies in ukraine over draconian far-right immigration policies that will never become law or if they will work with us to stop conditioning this aid on partisan nonstarters and get this vital funding over the line. if they can put forward a commonsense, bipartisan proposal regarding the border, we will consider that. they had a real opportunity today to do just that and debate those policies here on the senate floor, but let's be clear. we do not have time to give up and call it a day. we have too much at stake to settle for half-steps that tell the world the u.s. is no -- no longer knows how to stand with its allies or stand up to dictators. votes matter. blocking consideration of today's supplemental sends a real and dangerous signal to the entire world, to you are a

allies and our adversaries alike. but it is not too late for us to come together and send a different message, a message that says america is united when it comes to leading on the world stage and keeping our country and our friends safe. let's talk to one another. let's understand that compromise has to happen. and let's act quickly and completely to deliver the national security resources that are so badly needed. i am ready to get to work with my colleagues and do just that. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. i ask unanimous consent that the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. mr. marshall: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: madam president, twice before republicans have come to this floor and attempted to pass by unanimous consent the

house-passed stand-alone aid package to israel that would provide $14 billion in military assistance for their fight to destroy the hamas terrorists and send a loud message to iran and its proxies. madam president, i'd like to yield the floor to the senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, first i want -- the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, i want to thank the senator from kansas for his continued effort to make sure we get israel aid. the united states must always stand with our great ally, israel, and with the jewish people. israel is fighting against hamas for its existence. the iran-backed hamas terrorists have murdered thousands with the intention to destroy israel and the jewish people. hamas terrorists have beheaded babies, burned them alive, raped and murdered young women. we have seen the news reports of the sexual assaults committed by hamas terrorists, all too

graphic to speak of here. here are some headlines. abc news -- new signs emerge of widespread sexual crimes by hamas. as netanyahu alleges global indifference. "the washington post," israel investigates an illusive enemy, rape has a weapon of war. the jewish chronicle. girls raped next to their dead friends at rave massacre. we cannot turn a blind eye to these barbaric acts. the world must know what these animals did to innocent jewish men and women and girls. just yesterday the presidents of harvard and mit were asked under oath if calling for the general oweside of jews violates their university's code of conduct. all rules of bullying and harassment. a simple yes or no question.

their response -- they could not even answer yes. we have to let that sink in. they couldn't say yes. the president of three ivy league schools couldn't answer yes to that simple question. it is clear that we need to use this moment to stand with israel and the jewish people. the house took decisive action by passing this bill. they moved quickly and the measure is fully paid for. this bill was blocked by the democrats once but today the senate could change that error and pass this now. i'm glad to colead the bill in the senate with the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: i would like to yield to the senior senator from tennessee. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you. i appreciate the opportunity to be on the floor this afternoon with my colleague from kansas. it is two months ago tomorrow that hamas carried out these

horrific attacks in israel. now, bear in mind that the jewish state -- and this is the world's only jewish state; it is in a fight for their very survival because hamas has decided that they're going to continue this. they said october 7 was basically the beginning, and they continued to do this over and over and over. now, this is why we have said, let's deal with the aid to israel and do it separately from ukraine and from taiwan, and let's also talk about our border. so there is a reason for what we are doing. now, i know that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle

do not want to have a pay-for. house republicans have chosen to have a pay-for. and yes, indeed, this chamber needs to be working with the house to find a resolution to this issue. and i appreciate that my colleague from washington brought up the fact that we need to work through this issue. indeed, we do. so let's work through these issues separately. when it comes to israel aid, there are some urgent needs that are there. there's $4 billion to replenish the iron dome. this is a wonderful technology that we have worked with israel in creating. it is incredibly effective.

they need $4 billion for replenishment. bear in mind, i said hamas has told us, they did it once, they're going to do it again. they need a billion dollars for munitions, they need $50 million for help to evacuate americans, $150 million to help secure our embassy in jerusalem. and in using the money set aside for additional irs agents, but has not yet been used. that makes sense to tennesseans that we would do that. i'll tell you where tennesseans do have pa problem. they look -- do have a problem. you look at the national debt, $100 trillion, i have a grand baby that will be 4 months old tomorrow. his debt share, $-100,000.

think about what we're doing. think about what effect this will have, 18, 19, 20 years from now when that child draws their first paycheck. and how it's going to limit their opportunity. another thing that doesn't seem to make sense, while we all agree, israel needs to receive their funding, tennesseans don't want this to come attached with billions of dollars for other programs like $10 billion for global humanitarian assistance and more than $2 billion for assistance to resettle refugees. this is something that separately needs our attention. if we want to talk about securing borders, let's secure our border first. when we talk about aid to

israel, let's do it and let's pay for it. i appreciate my colleague from kansas, and i yield my time back. mr. marshall: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: madam president, i'd like to yield some time to the senior senator from alabama. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. tuberville: madam president, i join my colleagues on the floor to support our ally israel. on october 7th, israel was attacked by hamas terrorists. the terrorists attacked innocent people, not military targets. that's very important. they killed thousands of civilians, including dozens of americans. they filmled their own atrocities and put videos on the internet. they were very proud of what they were doing. it is absolutely disgraceful. the united states has supported

israel from the very beginning. the first leader in the world to recognize israel was harry truman. administrations from both parties have strongly supported israel, but now the biden administration is trying to ride the fence. joe biden knows that his voting base does not like israel. the left dislikes israel. in their woke ideology, they say palestinians are oppressed by israel. it's just not true. since the war broke out in october, liberals in congress and around the country have expressed sympathy for hamas. it's been especially bad on college campuses. i'm not even going to repeat some of the things that have been said by democrat members of congress. joe biden has also continued to practice -- to practice appeasement of iran. when joe biden took office, iran was dead broke.

they had access to just a few billion dollars in foreign currencies. today they have ten times that much money. this is because of loosened sanctions and because of oil sales by iran. iran is the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world. iran provides funding for hamas and for hezbollah. joe biden is helping iran to get rich. there's no question that sanctions relief for iran will end up in the hands of terrorists. joe biden wants to ride the fence but we can't ride the fence on this one, not for our ally. this is a battle between good and evil. this is about annal lie of the -- about an ally who fights killing innocent people. hamas would love to kill more

americans, and they will kill more americans if they get the chance. so israel needs to wage a war of extermination against hamas. i'm supporting this legislation to provide $14 billion in aid to israel. unlike the democrats request for foreign aid, this is paid for. we pay for it by canceling out the democrats's plan to supersize the irs. are they more important than israel? last year the democrats cut the irs a check for $80 billion. their plan to hire 80,000 new irs agents. they want to double the size of the irs. they want to shake down the american people for every last dime. the wealthy, they'll be just fine. the wealthy have tax lawyers and accountants, it's families and small businesses who will pay

this price. a report from the joint tax committee said that the democrats's tax bill raised taxes on almost every tax bracket. so last month every senator went on record on this bill to support israel. every republican vowed for it. -- voted for it. every democrat voted against it. now, it's clear for all the american people to see who supports israel. pretty simple. who has other priorities? democrats blocked this bill today, they're just doubling down. democrats care a lot more about the irs, bureaucrats shaking down small businesses, than they do about supporting our ally israel in their fight against terrorism. it's time for the democrats to stop riding the fence. stop playing both sides and let's support israel and ensure that the terrorists are

defeated. i yield back to my colleague. mr. marshall: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: next i'd like to yield to the floor my good friend a staunch supporter of the people of israel, the senior senator from texas. mr. cornyn: madam president. the presiding officer: the senior senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i'm here to join my colleagues in support of israel. we're willing to do more than just speak those words. we're willing to do something about it. something that miraculously the majority leader has been unwilling to do since november 2nd when the house passed a $14.3 billion bill to provide aid to israel. and for some reason, the only person who has the authority to bring a bill like that to the floor to vote has refused to do so. it makes me wonder why.

why in the world would the majority leader, who i know supports israel, refuse to bring a bill to the floor to provide that aid? so far almost five weeks since the house passed an appropriation bill to do exactly that. well, it could be that he doesn't like the pay-for. he doesn't want us to quit adding to our national debt. but if that's the case, he could suggest another offset or pay-for. he could try to bring the bill to the floor and eliminate the pay-for the house provided. i think it makes plenty of sense to keep the pay-for in the bill so we don't add to the debt which is now about 100% of our economy. this last year alone, united states government paid over $600 billion in interest to our

bondholders who own our national debt and apparently the majority leader and our democratic colleagues want to add to that and not stop this march toward bankruptcy or insolvency. so here we had a vote, the majority leader brings a bill to the floor to deal with israel, ukraine, the indo-pacific, and to provide more money to pay for the current broken border policies by the biden administration. you might wonder, why would he bring that bill to the floor with those four pieces, those four components, but yet refuse to bring a bill to the floor to fund israel? you would think, well, at least it's a step in the direction he apparently wants to go. but he's holdinghad this israel -- holding this control

aid for this $106 billion appropriation bill, this supplemental. don't get me wrong. many of us support aid to ukraine but we also are going to insist on policy solutions to help prevent and stop and reverse what we see happening at our border which is historic -- historicly catastrophic. so this is really a very strange way of doing business. here we are almost five weeks after the house passed israel aid bill, you would think, well, the majority leader would say let's pass that and send it to the president and then we can focus on the rest of the bill that was on the floor this afternoon. ukraine, the indo-pacific, and the border. but apparently he wants to use the support for the israel aid to build the vote for the larger bill, understanding that while support for israel is virtually

universal among both parties and in both houses, there are some divisions on the ukraine aid or the terms under which that aid is provided. so it's clear to me that he is holding up aid for israel in order to achieve other objectives. that's his prerogative as majority leader, but i have to ask to our pro-israel supporters around the country whether they think this is a legitimate leverage that could be used in order to achieve a larger objective or whether it would make more sense if you truly are a supporter of israel to go ahead and get this to the president and to get that aid to israel and then come back and do the rest of what i know the majority leader wants to do. so the other part of this is, which is amazing to me, is we

know the speaker passed israel aid because he knows he has concerns and he doesn't if he has the votes in the house to pass the larger package. so why would you not take up and pass the israel aid as opposed to send the house this larger $106 billion package when it's unlikely that the speaker's going to be able to pass that at least based on his experience? doesn't that also delay aid to israel even more by packaging it with other -- other items? frankly, it's mysterious to me why all this time, two months after israel was attacked by hamas, five weeks after the house has passed an israel aid bill, finally here we are coming

to the floor offering to take up and pass the israel aid and we're going to get an objection from the democratic side. it's really mysterious to me. it's very puzzling. why in the world would our democratic colleagues, if they truly support israel, if they truly want to fight -- give israel the tools they need to fight hamas, a terrorist organization, bout and paid for -- bought and paid for by tehran, why in the world would they object to it? well, washington, d.c., in many ways is a parallel universe that is very much unlike the rest of the country. what makes sense here inside the beltway makes no sense to our constituents back home. and this is just another example of that. i applaud my colleague from kansas in taking the initiative here and calling us together in not just saying we support

israel, but actually being willing to do something about it. that's known phenomenon here in washington, d.c.. there are a lot of people who say the right words, but when it comes to actions, they're missing in action. i thank my colleague from kansas. the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. marshall: madam president, i sure appreciate the senator from texas speaking up and -- and the wise words he's sharing, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. funding israel today is worth two of these other issues that seemingly just can never come together as we try to solve this four-readed -- four-headed riddle. this is now my third time to the floor to pass with unanimous consent the house-passed loan aid package to israel that would provide our ally with $14 billion in military assistance. my colleagues on the oth s