Rob Portman: “I want to start by commending my colleague from South Carolina. He just spoke about his police modernization efforts…”

“I want to start by commending my colleague from South Carolina. He just spoke about his police modernization efforts over the years and of his passionate commitment to this issue, which comes from his heart. I hope that the other side is hearing that because I think there is an opportunity now to come together, particularly in light of the speech the other night by the President, to say, let's do two things. One, let's help these communities to be able to be safer and help the people who live there, but, also, let's increase the amount of respect and gratitude for our police officers. Those two are not inconsistent. In fact, they are complementary. That is why I appreciate the work that he has done and will do. Ukraine Madam President, tonight, in Ukraine, the bombs are already raining down on the cities of Kharkiv, of Kyiv, and other towns and cities throughout Ukraine. Indiscriminate bombings--artillery, missiles--are killing innocent civilians. Already, thousands of civilians have been killed. This was a totally unwarranted, unjustified, atrocious invasion of a free country, of an independent sovereign country. Here on the floor of the Senate we have an opportunity to do something about it, which is to act on legislation called the supplemental appropriations bill, which provides more funding and help for two things: one, the military response. We need to do everything we can--we need to flood the zone--to help the Ukrainians be able to defend themselves.…”