>> .. that. but all week long senate republicans have looked more and more like their house counterparts and transformed themselves into the chaos caucus. republicans have said they can't pass ukraine without border. now they say they can't pass ukraine with border. so today i'm giving them a choice. they can show america where they stand and what they stand for. which way will it be? today i have laid out both options for republicans to do the right thing. democrats certainly want to fix

the border. it is extremely important, and we have shown our willingness time and time again to take big steps to secure the border. but we will move forward today with either option. first, i have scheduled a vote on the supplemental that includes strong bipartisan border reforms that republicans have demanded for months. negotiators on both sides worked themselves to the bone putting this border package together. i was heavily involved. i saw the work, the blood, the sweat, the tears that went into it. why did we do it? because that's what republicans wanted. they said can't do ukraine, can't do israel, can't do humanitarian aid without border. i made sure negotiators had enough time to do their work. i gave them the space to keep going, even when it seemed like a deal was out of reach. because, again, democrats want to secure the border because it's extremely important, it is

urgent, it can't wait. we must act, and we are ready to move forward on this bill now. today when we vote, it will be clear as day who is serious about fixing the border and who is not. i urge republicans to take yes for an answer. now, if republicans block this national security package with border legislation that they dem demanded, later today i will give them the opportunity to move forward with a package without border reforms. this package will otherwise be largely the same. it will have strong funding for ukraine, funding for israel, help for innocent civilians in gaza, and funding to the indo-pacific. the legislation on the floor today is one of the most important security packages the senate has considered there a very long time. so the onus is on senate

republicans to finally take yes for an answer. it would be an embarrassment for our country, an absolute nightmare for the republican party, if they reject national security funding twice in one day. today is the day for republicans to do the right thing when it comes to our national security. now, mr. president, it must be -- a senator: mr. president, would my friend from new york yield. the presiding officer: no, i will not. a senator: just for a question about -- mr. schumer: not now, i'm in the middle of my speech. mr. president, it must be said that the 180-degree turn republicans have done on border is the most stunning thing i've seen congress in a long, long time do. the damage done by republicans to their credibility cannot be understated. after all, how many times have we heard our republican colleagues give speeches here on

the floor about the emergency at the border? how many times have we heard republicans say year after year that congress must act? the legislation, that legislation is the only long-term solution. they've said that, legislation is the way we have to go. how many times have we seen republicans take field trips down to the border, like eagle pass or laredo, and take pictures with the fence towering behind them, while bemoaning that the problem at the border is only getting worse? well, apparently, that was all for show, apparently republicans aren't actually serious about fixing the border, because you cannot, you cannot claim to be serious about fixing the border while voting against the kind of border package we have before us today. you cannot claim to truly care about fixing asylum if you're going to vote against the biggest updates to asylum law in decades. you cannot claim to care about

our border patrol agents while depriving them of the very tools and funding they're asking for. remember, the union of border patrol agents, a very conservative, almost always pro-republican group, wants us to pass this bill. why are we doing all of this? why are they going to kill, in one fell swoop, this agreement that has taken months to piece together? the own, why have republicans backed off on border when they know it's the right thing to do? two words -- donald trump. donald trump doesn't like that the senate finally reached a real partisan border deal, a real bipartisan border deal, so he has demanded republicans kill it. let me say that again, because it's plain as -- it's as plain as could be. donald trump doesn't like that the senate finally reached a bipartisan border deal, so he

has demanded republicans kill it. he thinks it's far better to keep the border in chaos so he can exploit it for personal political gains. and senate republicans, vertebrae nowhere to be found, are ready to blunder away our best chance at fixing the border in order to elevate what they see as the interests of donald trump above the interests of the country. i expected the kind of -- this kind of cynical nonsense from the far-right house maga republicans. but it is shameful and embarrassing to see maga radicalism take hold here in the senate. no matter how today shakes out, i hope republicans end up doing the right thing when it comes to national security before the day is done, and agree to move forward on those things they do support. because, mr. president, if there's one other person besides donald trump who is rooting for chaos in the senate, it is

vladimir putin. if we fail in this moment, if we abandon our friends in ukraine to vladimir putin, history will cast a shameful and permanent shadow on senators who block funding. it is a matter of the highest national urgency that we get this right. remember what putin said two months ago about american aid to ukraine, quote, the free stuff is going to run out someday, and it seems it already has, unquote. that, mr. president, is vladimir putin taunting the senate, dementing america -- taunting america. we have a chance today to make him regret those words. republicans of decades past would have never hesitated to support funding for nations like ukraine. in previous generations, both parties would have bent heaven and earth to stand up to russian dictators. i can hear ronald reagan giving a speech, passionately asking the senate to vote for aid to

ukraine. we spent half a century safeguarding the free world against the malicious spread of communism, against tyranny, against those who have tried to undermine our values. those very same issues of western democracy, of the sovereignty of free nations, of the safety of our troops, our citizens, are on the line yet again in the 21st century. they are the very things that stitch this supplemental together. it is why we are here with this bill before us in the first place. there is only one right answer for the senate today to address the great challenges we face. there is only one path forward to fulfill our obligations to the american people. there is only one way senators, democrats and republicans, both sides of the aisle, should vote today, and that is for us to move forward on the package of national security. i yield the floor. amendments. thank you, mr. president.