On the recordNovember 1, 2023
Madam President, we just heard from the Senator of North Dakota talking about the imperative of ensuring that our borders are secure, particularly at the southern border. We had an opportunity yesterday in the Senate Appropriations Committee to hear from Secretary Austin and Secretary Blinken about the administration's supplemental funding request. If there were one common thread there that was underscored over and over, it was the dire need-- the immediate need--of support for our allies, our allies who are locked, really, in two existential wars that threaten both their sovereignties and their people. So the support for Israel and the support for Ukraine, in my view, is one that I shared with the two Secretaries: that they are inextricably linked and our support for both must be inextricably linked. We have all watched with horror as Hamas has unleashed this terrorist attack on civilians, killing more than 1,400 Israelites and taking at least 240 Israelites hostage; then in Ukraine, with Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine homeland killing over 70,000 Ukrainians in just a hellbent mission to reclaim their old Soviet territory. It is times like this when I think we look to the role that the United States should be playing. We are not--no, we are not--the police force for the world. We are not there to fight the wars for others.…
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