Murray Remarks Ahead of Final Procedural Votes on Supplemental
***WATCH: Senator Murray's floor remarks***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor ahead of the final procedural votes to advance the national security supplemental.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Thank you, M. President. We all understand: we cannot leave our job here unfinished.
“The clock is ticking right now, and there is so much at stake. We have a strong, bipartisan package to support our allies in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific, and provide humanitarian aid to civilians who are caught in conflict.
“By passing this bill, we will show our allies we stand by our word and we will help them in times of need. We will show dictators that their flagrant attacks will not go unchecked and they cannot steamroll our allies. And we will show the world that American leadership is still alive and well—and that we are still a strong protector of democracy and provider of humanitarian aid.
“Given all the stakes of this moment—now, right now, is a critical time to send that message. Which is why I’m glad we are here on the cusp of passing this bill in the Senate.
“And to my colleagues who have been holding this up and dragging this process out: we can disagree, you can vote against this—that’s how it works. But one way or another we will get this aid to our allies.
“We spent months going back and forth to try and get a bill to the floor, and now we are here. We are not going to let a few more hours or a few more days wear us down.
“However, what is an inconvenient delay for the United States Senate is a dangerous one for our allies in Ukraine.
“Putin’s forces are on the march as we speak.
“Ukrainians are fighting bravely to defend their homeland, but they are running lower and lower on bullets, air defense missiles, and more every day.
“We measure time in hours—they are measuring it in how many bullets they have left, how many more missiles fall on their cities, and how much closer Putin’s tanks are getting. The question for us is ‘how long is this going to take?’ The question for them is ‘how much longer can we hold out?’
“We cannot leave them waiting.
“So I urge my colleagues to support moving forward on these votes, vote to waive the budget point of order, and let’s keep this bills moving. And once we get it through the Senate, we’re going to push every way we can to get this to the President’s desk and signed into law.
“Thank you.”
###
Next Article Previous Article