Political Quotes

On the recordNovember 14, 2023
Mr. President, reserving the right to object, our colleague from Kansas has come to the floor and asked for unanimous consent for a bill of some major significance. We have heard a lot of my colleagues explain why this Israel-only bill would be a disaster, because it throws Ukraine overboard. And then I heard his rebuttal. His rebuttal was, ``Well, why not do Israel alone?'' as if we hadn't had this conversation for the last hour and a half. We know the answer: because the House has said it will pass an Israel-alone bill, leaving Ukraine abandoned. So this UC is about abandoning Ukraine. That has powerful international consequences. Allow Ukraine to be torn apart by Putin's brutal invasion--that is what this UC does. It makes a group of American Senators Putin's best friends. This bill--this UC, this unanimous consent for this bill--will shatter the Atlantic alliance, deeply, deeply damaging the power of democracies working together. This bill will fracture NATO because if we don't stand with Ukraine, how many doubts creep in about any enduring effort to defend a smaller country assaulted by a dictator next door? This bill will destroy American leadership in defending democracies. This bill will empower dictators around the world. They will conclude that they can outlast the attention span of a coalition of democratic republics as long as they stay the course. Some of my colleagues in support of this bill say it is costing a lot of money.…
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Jeff Merkley
Democratic · Oregon

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