On the recordMarch 17, 2022
I let the Senator finish. The choice before this Senate was, Are we going to support a piece of legislation that includes the necessary money in order to allow for Ukraine to defend itself and for this administration to get emergency resources, or are we going to vote it down? And I understand that the American public are rightly upset about the way in which we budget. But, on that day, there was one choice before this body. So I do see that there is an inherent contradiction between Republicans standing up at press conferences, which, frankly, are speaking most often to the same audience that you believe that my tweets are speaking to, right? Most often, these press conferences are designed to rally the faithful. So I think it is a bit sanctimonious to suggest that only one of us in this Chamber is involved in preaching to the choir. Much of the engagement in press conferences here, around this issue of Ukraine, ends up speaking to base audiences, and the message being sent to that audience is that President Biden isn't doing enough. And then, when we had an opportunity to pass bipartisan legislation to give him the tools to do more, the same Republicans that were at that press conference criticizing the President decided--and, I submit to you, for legitimate reasons having nothing to do with the Ukraine money--to cast a vote that had the consequence, if it was the majority position in this body, to disapprove of that money, to reject that money.
