On the recordNovember 27, 2023
Mr. President, I confess, it was great to be back home last week for Thanksgiving in Texas. Like so many other families, I got together with my family and enjoyed that time together. But now we are back here in the Nation's Capital with a lot of work to do. The end of the year is always a busy time here in Congress, and this year is no exception even though the usual appropriations process has been kicked over to January 19. Because the majority leader has not scheduled earlier votes either on the Israel aid, which was passed by the House some weeks ago and has been sitting here in the Senate with no action--the majority leader has announced his intention to put a $106 billion package benefiting Ukraine, Israel, and also the Indo- Pacific. For the record, I support the efforts to make sure the brave Ukrainians can continue to fight and defend their country against the invasion of Putin's Russia. I certainly support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas terrorists, a proxy for the No. 1 international state sponsor of terrorism--Iran. Of course I support our efforts to deter President Xi from doing what he said he intends to do, which is to take Taiwan one way or the other at a time of his choosing. Well, fortunately, we aren't staring down the barrel of a spending deadline, so there are no threats of a government shutdown, but we do have these very important issues to attend to.…





