Political Quotes

“Mr. President, after listening to the majority leader's comments, I think it is worth taking 5 minutes to recall how we got here. You know, it is ironic to me that people give speeches here on the floor of the Senate about their support for Israel. And there is no doubt Israel is involved in an existential fight with Iran and Iranian proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, the Houthi rebels, and the Shia militias in Syria and Iraq. But the House passed an Israel aid package on November 2. Israel was attacked October 7. The House acted on November 2, and the majority leader, who is the only one who can schedule a vote on anything here on the Senate floor, has done nothing to help our best ally and friend in the Middle East, the State of Israel--nothing. He has insisted that we package together aid to Ukraine, aid to the Indo-Pacific. And there have been endless discussions about a border bill, which I will come to in a moment. But this problem that we are running into is one of his own creation. He could decide to take up these bills individually, knowing that the House has already passed an Israel aid bill, and then have the Senate take it up and pass that bill. Then we can turn to the other issues that are vitally important to our national security and deserve fulsome debate and an open amendment process.…”