cia w interrogations were nothig like what was depicted. that unites its present and iraq were detainees were abused by american personnel. this of course was false. cia detainees at one facility described as a k dungeon were kt in completear darkness constanty shackled and isolated cells with loud noise or music in only a bucket to use for human waste. the u.s. bureau of prisons personnel went to that location at november 2002. according to a contemporaneous e-mail told cia officers they had quote never been in a facility when individuals are so sensory deprived." again source cia e-mail sender and recipient redacted

december 5, 2002.mous consent that the 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do hereby move to bring to a close debate -- withe clotures with respect to 1292 and the underlike bill is h.r. 3539 be withdrawn. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask it be in order to make a motion to proceed to h.r. 5860. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: move to proceed to the bill which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to h.r. 8560, and act making beginning appropriations for fiscal year and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i know of no further debate on the motion. the president pro tempore: is there further debate? if not, all those in favor, say aye. those opposed, say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: an act making continuing appropriations for

fiscal year 2024 and for other purposes. mr. schumer: madam president, i now ask unanimous consent there be up to five minutes had for debate equally divided between the the two leaders or their designees, that upon the use or yielding back of time, the senate vote on the passage of h.r. 5860, with 60 affirmative votes required for passage and with no amendments or motions in order to the bill prior to the vote on passage. the president pro tempore: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. schumer: now, madam president -- the president pro tempore: the majority leader is recognized. mr. schumer: i have very good news for the country. democrats and republicans have come to an agreement and the government will remain open. we will have avoided a shutdown. bipartisanship, which has been the trademark of the senate, has prevailed, and the american people can breathe a sigh of relief. but this is a bridge c.r. and

leader mcconnell and i have agreed to continue fighting for more economic and security aid for ukraine. we support ukraine's efforts to defend its sovereignty against putin's aggression, so thank you, thank you to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their excellent work. the bipartisanship here in the senate set the tone for today's result, and i hope it sets the tone for the future. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: madam president. the president pro tempore: the republican leader is recognized. mr. mcconnell: with just a few thundershowers spare, the senate is now -- with just a few hours to spare, the senate is in a position to set the stage for a clear c.r. the path to be a pass a straightforward funding extension that gives us time to

continue a number of important discussions about outstanding priorities. from securing supplemental relief for victims of natural disasters to restoring security and sanity at the southern border that the biden administration has dragged into chaos, to putting stronger restraints on the president's reckless spending, to supplying ukraine with even more of the lethal assistance it needs to repel russia's invasion. on that particular point, madam president, most senate republicans remain committed to helping our friends on the front lines, through investing more heavily in american strength. it reinforces our allies and deters our top strategic adversary, china. i'm confident the senate will pass further urgent assistance to ukraine later this year.

but let's be clear -- the alternative to our action today -- an entirely avoidable government shutdown -- would not just pause our progress on these important priorities, it would actual lay set them back. and in the process, it would saddle the people we represent with unnecessary hardships. so i'm glad our colleagues in the house have taken action on a continuing resolution that keeps critical government functions going at their current rates of operation. passing this measure, keeping the lights on will allow us to return our attention to making headway on full-year appropriations our colleagues have been working on literally for months, and it will give us the flexibility to meet urgent supplemental priorities both at home and abroad. therefore, i would urge our colleagues to join me in supporting this important step

in the right direction. the president pro tempore: the clerk read the bill for the third at the same time. the clerk: an act making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2024 and for other purposes. the president pro tempore: 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. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cardin. mr. carper. mr. casey. the clerk: 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. the clerk: 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. the clerk: 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.

the clerk: 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 affirmative -- baldwin, barrasso, britt, brown, cantwell, capito,

cardin, casey, cassidy, collins, cornyn, cortez masto, cramer, daines, durbin, hassan, heinrich, hickenlooper, king, klobuchar, lankford, mcconnell, moran, murray, ossoff, risch, rounds, rubio, schatz, schumer, shaheen, sinema, tillis, tuberville, young. senators voting in the negative -- braun, paul. mr. padilla, aye. mr. romney, aye.

the clerk: mr. wowz -- mr. whitehouse yieks mr. grassley yieks ms. warner, aye. mr. coons, aye. mr. tester, aye.

ms. hir hirono, aye. mr. scott of florida, aye. mr. wyden, aye.

the clerk: mr. fetterman, aye. the clerk: mr. merkley, aye. mr. hoeven, aye.

mrs. blackburn, no. mr. johnson, aye. mr. blumenthal, aye.

the clerk: mr. marshall, no. mr. graham, aye.

the clerk: mr. thune, aye. mr. kennedy, aye. mr. crapo, aye. mr. murphy, aye.

the clerk: mr. schmitt, no. mr. kaine, aye. ms. ernst, aye.

the clerk: ms. warren, aye. mr. kelly, aye. mr. budd, aye.

the clerk: mr. manchin, aye. mr. mullin, aye. mr. carper, aye. mr. lujan, aye.

the clerk: mrs. fischer, aye. mrs. gillibrand, aye. mr. markey, aye. mr. warnock, aye. miss duckworth, aye.

mr. van hollen, aye. the clerk: mr. hawley, aye. mr. cruz, no. mr. ricketts, aye.

the clerk: mr. peters, aye.

the clerk: miss rosen, aye. the clerk: ms. rosen, aye.

the clerk: mr. sullivan, aye. is

the clerk: mr. vance, no.

the clerk: mr. sanders, aye. being. the clerk: mrs. hyde-smith, aye.

the clerk: ms. lummis, aye. mr. booker, aye. mr. bennet, aye.

the clerk: mr. welch, aye. the clerk: mr. menendez, aye.

the clerk: mr. wicker, aye.

vote:

the clerk: mr. cotton, aye. mr. boozman, aye.

the clerk: mr. lee, no.

ms. murkowski, aye.

the clerk: mr. hagerty, no.

vote:

the president pro tempore: on this vote the yeas are 88, the nays are 9. under the previous order requiring 60 votes for the passage of this bill, the bill is passed.

mr. schumer: madam president. it's been a day full of twists and turns, but the american people can breathe a sigh of relief. there will be no government shutdown. democrats have said from the start that the only solution for avoiding a shutdown is bipartisanship, and we're glad that speaker mccarthy has finally heeded our message. in the end more democrats supported this bill in the house than republicans, proving bipartisanship was the best

answer all along. i want to thank my colleagues here in the senate, especially our appropriators. yourself, madam president, susan collins, and leader mcconnell. our bipartisan work in the senate set the tone for the bill we're about to pass. our bipartisanship made this possible and showed the house that they had to act. we will keep the government open for 45 days with a clean c.r. at current funding levels, and we avoided all of the extreme, nasty, and harmful cuts maga republicans wanted. no 30% cuts across the board. no 30% cuts to things like health care, to the social security administration, to the nutrition programs for kids. full reauthorization of the faa until december 31, and the poison pill amendments of which

there were scores, maga-inspired riders, were all removed from the bill. after trying to take our government hostage, maga republicans won nothing. so one more time -- it is good speaker mccarthy finally, finally heeded our message that bipartisanship was and is and remains the only way. he could have made this decision weeks ago. i've said from day one this is a bridge c.r., a temporary solution, not the final destination. we will not stop fighting for more economic and security assistance for ukraine. majorities in both parties support ukraine aid and doing more is vital for america's security and for democracy around the world. but this c.r. is still very good news for the american people.

today maga extremists have failed. bipartisanship has prevailed. and both parties have come together to avert a shutdown. once again, thank you to leader mcconnell, appropriations chair patty murray, vice chair susan collins, and members on both sides of the aisle who came together. today's c.r. would not have been possible without the senate's good work. the senate showed that bipartisanship was the only way, and the same will be true again in 45 days. i yield the floor. i do not yet yield the floor. mr. schumer: madam president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar

319. the president pro tempore: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed neigh. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of state. james c. o'brien of nebraska tor assistant secretary, european and eurasian affairs. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. 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 nomination of executive calendar 319 james c. o'brien of nebraska to be an assistant secretary of state, european and eurasian affairs signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the president pro tempore: witho ut objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative. the president pro tempore: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye.

opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to executive session to consider 176. the president pro tempore: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary. brendan abell hurson of maryland to be united states district judge for the district of maryland. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the president pro tempore: the clerk will report. 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 nomination of executive calendar number 176, brendan abell hurson of maryland to be united states district judge for the district of maryland signed by 19 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the president pro tempore: witho ut objection. mr. schumer: i move to proceed to legislative session. the president pro tempore: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye.

opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion disagreed -- is agreed to. mr. schumer: i move to consider calendar 264. the president pro tempore: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. opposed nay. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, susan kim declercq of michigan to be united states district judge for the eastern district of michigan. mr. schumer: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of the rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number 264 , susan kim declercq of michigan to be united states distributor judge for the eastern district of michigan signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. schumer: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, september 30, be waived.

the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the senate consider the following nominations en bloc -- calendars 252, 254, that the senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, that the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: without objection. the question occurs on the nominations en bloc. all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the nominations are confirmed en bloc. mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate consider the following nominations, all nominations placed on the secretary's desk in the air force, army, marine corps and navy, that the nominations be confirmed en bloc, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate, that no further motions be in order to

any of the nominations and that the president be immediately notified of the senate's actions. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: mr. president, i understand there is a bill at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill. the clerk: an act making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending september 30, 2024, and for other purposes. mr. schumer: i now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14 i object to my own request. the presiding officer: the objection having been heard, the bill will be read a second time on the next legislative day. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the committee on finance be discharged and the

senate proceed to the immediate consideration of s. 2231. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 2231 a bill to amend title 5 of the social security act to support still birth prevention and research and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged. mr. schumer: i further ask --. the presiding officer: the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and patched, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the committee on commerce be discharged of senate res. 310 and the senate proceed to the following resolutionses s. res. 310, 390, 392. 392 being the first responders. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the resolutions en bloc? without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous

consent the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the consideration of s. res. 393 which is at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. res. 393 to honor the life and death of duncan mclaughlin faircloth, former senator for the state of north carolina. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate will proceed. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: finally, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate ... mr. schumer: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today it stand adjourned under the previous

provisions of s. res. 393 on 3 p.m. on tuesday, october 3. following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the o'brien nomination. further, that the cloture motions filed during today's session ripen at 5:30 p.m. on tuesday. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of chairman murray. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. murray: mr. president. the presiding officer: the president pro tem. mrs. murray: mr. president, i've been down here all week, saying again and again, the only way we're going to avoid a shutdown is a c.r. that can get bipartisan support to quickly pass the house and senate, and we've been working nonstop to pass that commonsense,

nonpartisan c.r. i put together with my colleagues across the aisle. tonight, we we had a bill from the house that passed in a bipartisan way with nearly every house democrat voting in support. i'm now glad the senate passed it as well and get it to the president's desk for his signature. this bill does not contain the devastating cuts house republicans were pushing just yesterday. it does not contain the ineffective partisan border provisions they were demanding. so mr. president, there were good reasons to vote for it. first and foremost, it prevents a senseless government shutdown, one that house republicans have been pushing us towards for weeks. but this bill also meets the president's full request for disaster relief fund, and that's good and important to so many of us. it will ensure our brave federal firefighters don't see a drastic pay cut. did maintains -- and it maintains current funding levels through november 17. we know a c.r. is never a good,

long-term policy outcome, but it is certainly good to see some house republicans have, at the least for this moment, given up the fruitless and cruel cuts they were demanding just yesterday. it's good to see some of those members coming to their senses. but we also have to be clear about where this bill falls seriously shorpt -- short, why we found ourselves in this moment and how house republicans' recklessness caused so much unnecessary chaos. let's be clear -- there is a lot of work left to be done now that we've passed this bill. first, we have to absolutely do more to support our allies in ukraine. dictators across the world are watching. will we stand with democracy? i say yes. the senate absolutely will stand with our friends in ukraine as they continue to defend themselves against putin's brutal invasion. because continuing to support ukraine is not just about

addressing a humanitarian crisis. it is also about our own national security. what kind of world we want to live in. it is in america's national security interests to send a strong message to dictators like putin that they cannot just invade a sovereign nation and steamroll democracy wherever and whenever they want. let's make sure we are crystal clear about this -- there are strong, bipartisan super majorities in both chains that have -- chaibles have shown they -- chambers that have shown they understand that. just two days ago, three in four house members voted for this. the u.s. does not abandon its allies and will not give putin a free pass to continue his brutal war of aggression. i need to make it clear, we are sticking with our allies in ukraine and not letting up. we're going to make sure we get this done, period. so, i will work with all of my

colleagues to make certain we stand with ukraine and deliver the resources in a supplemental we know are he so vital at this moment, and in a timely manner. i know my vice chair shares that commitment. we both look forward to continuing our efforts in working with many colleagues on both sides of the aisle. we, of course, also need to take action to address the child care crisis, especially as the funding cliff makes this even worse for parents, providers, and our economy. to my republican colleagues, i'm positive you are hearing from your constituents on this. i am ready to work with anyone to make progress here. so please, talk to me. let's work together on that front. now, let me also say there was no reason for it to come this close. house republicans should have worked with us from the very start. instead, they spent weeks entertaining the most extreme ideas from their far right. spending the last week voting on

really extreme appropriations bill that would not even actually have averted a shutdown. appropriations bills that would deny our servicemembers the ability to get reproductive care they need in emergencies, severely restricting women's access to medication abortion in every state. bills that would decimate rural communities, eliminate essential resources for our diplomats abroad, and so much more. then, just yesterday, they proposed an across they've boar% cut to virtually all domestic spending. they wanted to gut funding come monday for child care, support for k-12 schools, law enforcement, heating assistance for families on tight budgets, air traffic controllers, lifesaving cancer research and much more. even that proposing apparently wasn't enough for the most extreme members of the house republican conference, and it went down in flames. but let's not forget, and i know the american people won't, that the vast majority of house

republicans voted just yesterday to gut programs families count on, programs that keep all of us safe by 30%. needless to say, i am glad to see some of them have, at least for the moment, abandoned those cruel efforts to slash funding for families with no rhyme or reason. now as we look ahead, i urge my house republican colleagues, spare us and the american people the unnecessary drama and chaos and learn to work with your colleagues, not against them. look, the speaker and the president shook hands on a deal. congress passed it into law. we are going to stick with it. i voted for this bill today with a firm commitment that here in the senate we will not waste any time in moving forward to support our ukrainian allies and a continued determination to make bipartisan progress on the many issues we need to address. of course, we still need to pass all 12 of our bipartisan

appropriations bills. so we aren't back here in a few weeks. on that note, we need to get moving to the military construction, veterans afaired, t-hud and -- affairs, t-hud, and ag minibus that a few colleagues, very few, have been blocking. i hope both leaders will facilitate the vice chair and i getting back to work on those bills in the next few days. as we pass a short-term c.r., we need to begin conferencing our spending bills with the house, to avoid another c.r. or omnibus at the end of this year, which i know my colleagues are focused on avoiding. if we're going to get any of that done, it has to be bipartisan. it is going to involve us being serious and focused on getting our job done to have real results for american people. if there is one lesson for house republicans to take from the absolute chaos they have caused this past week, it is that partisanship is not a path forward, it's a path to chaos. the only way to avoid a

shutdown, the only way to get things done, especially in a divided congress, is to sit down with the other side and do the hard work of negotiating, talking to one another, not to cave to the most extreme members of your caucus or go back on your word. i think most of us have known that from the start. apparently, speaker mccarthy needed to learn that lesson the hard way. now it's time for him to show he has truly learned it. i urge him not to retreat back to a partisan corner, not to push for extreme partisan spending bills that go back on the deal he made just a few months ago. if you follow the most extreme members of your party and go down that same partisan path, they're going to lead you to the same dead end. the american people need us to move forward. they need us to work together. the senior senator from maine and i have 12 bipartisan bills in the senate. we drafted them after many hearings, serious debate, and discussion with members on both

sides of the aisle. they passed our committee in overwhelming bipartisan votes. unanimous or near unanimous votes. these are serious bills that can be signed into law. let's now leave behind the partisan politics, championed by the loudest voices who are the farthest on the right and come together to help people and solve problems, just like we were sent to do. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. the clerk: ms. baldwin. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. bennet: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from colorado is is recognized. mr. bennet: thank you. i'd ask the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: and i'd ask to be able to speak, without objection. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: thank you, madam president. i'm sorry you have to stay in the chair tonight. but pima glad you're in the chair. i wanted to explain the objection i made earlier today. i'm not going to do it at an elaborate length, but i think it is foreign to say that i was dey disappointed, as were many people, that the deal to keep the government open did not actually have as part of it continuing funding for ukraine, which i think is critically important. i think think most people in the senate believe it's critically

important. and i objected to proceeding tonight because i thought it was important for us to find a way to send a bipartisan message from this chamber that that's how we felt. and as i mentioned to the presiding officer earlier today and to my caucus earlier today, one of the reasons or maybe the reason why this is something that's so important to me is that my mom, who's still alive, was born in warsaw, poland, in 1938. she was a polish jew. couldn't imagine a worse place to be born at that time than where my mom was born. and she and her parents and an aunt survived. everybody else was killed. as everybody else in this chamber knows, certainly the presiding officer knows, 16 million people were killed in ukraine and in poland by the nazis and by -- and by stalin.

and my mom cannot believe that she has lived long enough to see another land war break out in europe. that's what she says to me, i can't believe i lived long enough to see this. and i almost can't believe it either, because we had gotten used to reliance on our international organizations, the rule of law, the idea that democracy had spread is the idea that capitalism had spread, and there were some people when the berlin wall fell down in the late 1980's, they were writing books about how this was the kind of the end of history because we had -- the liberal -- small "l" liberal, not big "l" liberal -- that the small "l" liberal had prevailed. we know now that there is a

contest in the world of at least two very different visions of how humans should organize themselves. we believe in democracy. we believe in the rule of law. we believe in freedom of speech and freedom of the press. vladimir putin believes in none of those things. and xi jinping believes in none of those things either. and it was an amazing experience for me to sit as a member of the intelligence committee and watch putin make one mistake after another as he contemplated invading ukraine. something that a lot of people believed he wouldn't actually do. i think a lot of ukrainians thought he might. i think a lot of poles thought that he might. i think a lot of others living in eastern europe were worried that he might actually do it, and i said that he made some fundamental mistakes, and he did make some fundamental mistakes. one was, he believed that his army was a lot stronger than it

has been. that doesn't mean they don't have serious military capabilities. that doesn't mean that, you know, he could unleash -- he wouldn't unleash a battlefield of nuclear weapons at the drop of a hat, or chemical weapons at the drop of a hat, if he felt like he was losing in a way that threatened his regime or threatened him. i certainly am clear-eyed about that. i know the presiding officer is and everybody else is. but his army is a lot more hallowed out than he thought it was and that's what happens when you're a totalitarian living on top of a totalitarian society. no one actually tells you the truth. no one says, vladimir putin, your army has been hollowed out. you know, we've wasted all that money that you asked us to spend on the army through corruption and other kinds of things. and so that was one fundamental mistake. a second mid-mistake was his -- -- a second fundamental mistake

was his fail tour to understand what the ukrainian people's reaction would be. there were people who were saying that putin was going to be in kyiv in 72 hours. there was a feeling that zelenskyy's government would collapse and that the russians would have a puppet government in kyiv, and instead what has happened is the ukrainian people have exhibited more bravery than anybody could have ever asked for. it's astonishing what they have done. and, to me, it's astonishing what they've accomplished. you know, you hear people in the press these days talking about the stalemate on the frontier or on the battle, on the front line, as if that's how a failure on the part of the ukrainian people. i see that as exactly the opposite. i see that as an unbelievable achievement by the ukrainian

armed forces, by the ukrainian people, by president zelenskyy and by the american taxpayers who have supported this work, and that's the third thing vladimir putin didn't count on was that people all over the free world in democracies all over planet earth would be so inspired by the courage of the ukrainian people, would be so inspired by the bravery of the ukrainian people that they would demand of their elected officials that we do more, do more, do more. and that's what people have said in countries all over the world. that he didn't count on either. and that's been an amazing thing over the last two years, after we had a president here who cast a lot of doubt on whether nato was even something important or whether the rule of law was

something important or whether the u.s. following through on our commitments was even something important, and we've shown that none of that is true. and nato is stronger today than it's ever been. the trans-atlantic alliance is stronger today than it has ever been. we have allies from europe to asia who understand what the importance of this fight is. they know that this is not just a fight for ukraine. they know that the ukrainians aren't fighting just for ukraine, although that's an important fight. that's an important battle. they know this is a fight for democracy. this is a fight for the free world. and there is no way that this fight would have been as successful as it has been without u.s. assistance, without u.s. intelligence. this is one where the good guys have come together in a way

that's really meaningful and in a way that the tyrants in this world, i think, were not expecting. and our intelligence community certainly things that xi jinping is now having to think twice and three times and four times about whether or not he's going to invade taiwan as a result of the success of the ukrainian people. president zelenskyy was here two weeks ago, and he told us that without our support, they would lose. and i was -- i told my colleagues today that i was standing there with -- it was probably -- i wasn't as close as you were, madam president, but i was close. i was just several desks away from where he was standing. i was thinking to myself -- it was in the old senate chamber,

you know, where you didn't need a microphone in the old days and humans were talking to human. people showed up to have these debates and have these conversations. and here we were 100 humans who were in the senate who happened to be in the senate -- who happen to be in the senate today and here's this guy, president zelenskyy, who until three years ago or so, or four years ago maybe, was an actor in his home country in ukraine, and who ran for office almost as a lark because there was so much corruption that he felt like he had an obligation as a citizen to run, to run for president, to try to overcome that corruption. and then something happened that he could -- he probably didn't think it was going to happen, which is putin invaded ukraine and the entire weight of the world dropped on president

zelenskyy's head. just a human being, one human being, not the tallest guy i've ever seen, not the strongest guy he have i've ever seen, a pretty regular person stand entering in his fatigues and the entire weight of the world is on his shoulders. and our support of the ukrainian people, because of what they've been willing to do, not just for ukraine but for democracy, has made a huge difference to them and to what president zelenskyy is trying to accomplish. and tonight i did object earlier because i was worried that i thought it was important for us to make sure we sent a clear message that we're not leaving washington without figuring out how to fund ukraine. that we're going to spend the

next 45 days or so making sure that the united states continues to lead in this effort. no one else in the world can lead here. that's a lesson i've learned from my mom. that's a lesson is you've learned frommer -- that's a lesson i've learned from her experience in warsaw and around warsaw. nobody in the world can lead. we're the only folks that can lead. president zelenskyy said we're the only folks that can lead. and we cannot allow our political differences here, our political disputes here to keep us from delivering the aid that ukraine needs. we can't do it. and i think there are probably some people who thought when we left today that's what we were doing. i thought it was important for the leadership of the senate to put out a statement tonight -- senator schumer and senator mcconnell and several others on each side of the aisle -- underscoring that we are going to spend the next 45 days

working together to pass a robust ukraine aid package, and i think that's vitally important. and i hope in a small way hopefully we all had the chance today to think again about how important this is, how important our leadership is, how important our or, you know, presence here as human beings is. we're not going to get another chance at this, i suspect, madam president. i suspect that we're going to have one chance, and that chance is is going to be 45 days from now. and this chamber, just like president zelenskyy has done, just like the ukrainian people have done, he said, in fact, that we're giving our lives. all we're asking you for is your money. he's right about that. they are giving their lives. and i think that if we had entered this war or watched this war happen starting two years

ago and we had not supported the ukrainian people in the way that we have, the world wouldn't have supported them and they wouldn't have made the extraordinary progress that they've made. and who knows how this could end? we don't know. it's important for us to stay in this fight. it's important for us to continue to lead. it is important for us to learn the lesson of 16 million people who lost their lives in eastern europe in poland and ukraine, believing that they were dying, invisible to the rest of the world. and we can't let that happen again. madam president, i'd ask that the statement that senator schumer and senator mcconnell signed tonight be placed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. bennet: and i thank you for all of your relentless support for the ukrainian people, president zelenskyy, and thank you for being there

tonight. and i yield the floor. i withhold that a the presiding officer: under the previous order, and spiewrnt to s. res. 393, the senate stands adjourned until 3:00 p.m. on tuesday, october 3, 2023, and does so as a further mark of respect to the late duncan mclaughlin lauch faircloth,