LIVE: Senate Democratic, Republican Leaderships Hold Weekly Press Conference (Dec. 5)

Okay, I'm very pleased to be joined by my colleagues Senators Murray, Stabenow, and Warner. Now, we came from a very productive lunch. The main topic was the supplemental, and we have a proposal to make, which I'll make in a second. I want to say in regards to Senator Tuberville, finally lifting his unnecessary and harmful holds on our nation's military officials, I'm happy that we can finally move forward and give these men and women the promotions they deserve. I plan to move these promotions as soon as possible, possibly later this afternoon. And one thing I would say, Senator Tuberville, I hope no one does this again, and I hope they learn the lesson of Senator Tuberville, and that is he held out for many, many months, hurt our national security, caused discombobulation to so many military families who've been so dedicated to our country and didn't get anything that he wanted. It's a risky strategy that will not succeed. I hope it doesn't happen again. Now, on the supplemental, let me go over where we're at and what we're doing. I'll give you a little background. Two things happened Thursday and Friday that changed things a great deal. On Thursday, Speaker Johnson called me up and said that he could only do Ukraine as long as H.R. 2 was attached to it. Immediately, I told him, that's a non-starter. You know that we wouldn't even bring it to the floor of the Senate. You know that every Democrat voted against it, so bringing it to the floor of the Senate again makes no sense. When the debt ceiling occurred, we all voted no. And you know that you couldn't even pass it in the House, I said to him, because you need a bunch of Democrats, because there are a whole bunch of Republicans who won't vote for anything for Ukraine, no matter what is attached to it. And you won't get Democrats if you put H.R. 2 on the bill. He told me he had told this to Leader McConnell and to Leader Jeffries. Second, on Friday evening, the negotiations between Senators Sinema, Murphy, and Lankford took a terrible turn. Basically, Senator Lankford put on the table proposals that pretty much mirrored H.R. 2, which was a non-starter. And both Murphy and Sinema were surprised and very much saddened by what he did. And so we were at an impasse. But we must get aid to Ukraine. And so we cannot wait. And so what I am proposing is the following. First, I will put on the floor of the Senate the President's bill. It will have three additions to it, but none of them that affect Ukraine at all. One is the Fentanyl proposal that passed out of 23 to nothing and was supported by Senators Brown and Scott, the chair and ranking member of the committee. This will greatly stop the flow of Fentanyl coming into the United States. Second, we would put $1 billion in for the non-profit security grants. There was $310 million last year. It's a program I helped originate. But the amount of damage and desecration, particularly to synagogues and mosques, has been huge. So we need a significant increase. And third, a COFA proposal to deal with the Pacific Islands, unrelated to this. But I will also do one more thing. I will offer the Republicans the first amendment, if we move forward, on border, on immigration. And they can put whatever they want. We think there are good proposals on border in the President's bill that do a lot. And adding Fentanyl does even more. But if they think it's not enough, I will not interfere with them drawing up an amendment. But it will need 60 votes, like any amendment would. Let's remember here, it was the Republicans who put border on the table. We did not. They have a responsibility. If they believe border should be part of Ukraine, which is so vital to our country, let them propose an amendment that can get 60 votes. And that's why I hope they will vote on the motion to proceed, because I am giving them this new opportunity to put any amendment they want on the floor. And it will have to get a good number of Democratic votes. We said it's got to be significantly bipartisan. That doesn't mean one or two Democrats. That means they've got to get at least 11 to get to 60. If they can't meet that offer, then what's going on? Then what we should be doing is just voting on Ukraine alone. Many Republican members say they want to do Ukraine. If they themselves can't put a border amendment that would pass, then what the heck are we doing? Let's remember three things as we move forward. One, how important Ukraine is. It's a turning point in Western civilization. This is a historic moment. And this cannot be delayed any longer. Zelensky, by the way, could not make it to our—something happened at the last minute to our briefing at 3. But we'll hear, and you'll hear particularly from Mark Warner, who knows this so well, how desperate Ukraine is for the aid that the president has proposed. But it's vital. Vital. Second, if this fails because of border, that's not a bipartisan failure. That's a failure of the Republicans and the Republican leadership. The only reason they added border was because a lot of members of their hard right said they want border. But a lot of those same members aren't going to vote Ukraine no matter what is there. But the Republican leadership went along. Well, let's see if they can put something together. But if they can't, because Ukraine is so important, we should just move forward with Ukraine, plain and simple. And this is a very generous offer. We're letting the Republicans craft the amendment they say they so desperately need to get Ukraine money done. And we hope very much that they will take us up on this offer and put an amendment on the floor, again, which I will not interfere with. They'll just have to get 60 votes. Senator Murray. Right at the top. Every senator needs to recognize that funding for Ukraine has run dry. Time has run out. And the situation is dire. Senators need to decide if they want to strengthen Putin's hand and abandon our Ukrainian allies, or if they will vote to protect democracy and keep America safe. It is past time that senators make clear where they stand. So we are releasing a supplemental compromise, a supplemental compromise of overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities to tackle the many national security challenges that we face. Whether it is funding for Ukraine, or stopping the flow of fentanyl, the vast majority of us agree on these priorities. So I know some Senate Republicans want to talk about what is not in this package. I could spend just as much time talking about what I care about that is not in this package, except that that would not help the soldiers in Ukraine or keep fentanyl out of our neighborhoods. Now, one Republican senator said this process was, quote, not a traditional negotiation where we expect to come up with a bipartisan compromise on the border. This is a price that has to be paid in order to get the supplemental. Well, I have news for him. We don't govern by extortion. With this package headed to the floor, senators will have to decide if they want to invest in protecting democracy, in strengthening our key alliances, and stability around the world, or if they want to abandon our allies, deliver a gift to Putin, Hamas, the Chinese government, and pay a lot more later. That is the choice. Now, I support Leader Schumer's decision to allow Senate Republicans to put forward an amendment that addresses our challenges at the southern border. But the onus is on them to work with Democrats in good faith and put forward strong bipartisan policies, something that can get the 60 votes. If they refuse to and continue to block the supplemental, let there be no mistake. The failure to support our allies in Ukraine, in Israel, and so much more for our national security will be a failure of the Republican Party that caved to the far right. Before I turn it over, I understand the Speaker has proposed an unprecedented date-change, full-year CR. I want to be very clear. That is a non-starter. And I'll have more to say on that, but it's deeply dangerous. It would lock in outdated spending plans and devastating across-the-board cuts with no rhyme or reason and completely lock Congress out of any kind of thoughtful decision-making process for our nation's budget. It should be obvious, but the country cannot run on autopilot, and Congress should absolutely not abdicate its power of the purse. I refuse to entertain such a catastrophic, unforced error that would devastate our economy, our security, and our future. Speaker Johnson needs to get back to the spending deal that he voted for and work with us to pass bipartisan full-year spending bills without poison pill riders. That is the minimum. Thank you. Well, good afternoon. We're here today to speak about the urgent need, truly urgent need, for a comprehensive package that addresses both our national security threats as well as threats to our allies and, frankly, people around the world. First, Vladimir Putin illegally and violently invaded their democratic neighbor, Ukraine. If we let them get away with that, we are sending the worst possible message to our allies around the world, as well as walking away from the people of Ukraine. It's sending an even worse message to Russia and to China, and Donald Trump would love to give Putin the biggest holiday gift possible by having his buddy get the gift of America walking away from Ukraine. We must not do that. We also must support our ally Israel as they battle the horrors of terrorist attacks. It's essential that humanitarian aid reaches the innocent civilians in Gaza, as well as so many in need around the world. Around the world, 783 million people are hungry. One out of four are children under age five. We have a moral obligation, both in our own interests as well as a moral obligation, to act. On our border, the President and Democrats are ready to address—we want to address—critical problems, starting with the need to stop fentanyl and other drug trafficking that's killing Americans every day. Unfortunately, Republicans have turned this negotiation into a big game. They're not being serious, but these issues are dead serious. Republicans need to stop playing games, and we need to come together to pass a supplemental that addresses all of the needs that we are talking about today for our own national security as the global security that is needed, and we need to stand up for our friends and for our freedom. Leader Schumer and Democrats have a reasonable plan to get this done, and Republicans need to join us. Thank you, everyone. As you know, I don't often show up at these stakeouts, but I think we are dealing with as historic an issue as any that I've dealt with since I've been in the Senate. As you all know, I spend an awful lot of time as chairman of the Intelligence Committee down in a skiff reviewing intelligence. Here's what the intelligence assessments show. Vladimir Putin is counting on the fact that he can outweigh America and the West, and that we'll get tired and walk away from Ukraine. Vladimir Putin believes if the United States walks away from Ukraine, then the coalition that's been built will walk away as well, and that literally Putin will be successful in months. Intelligence assessments also show that using tactics that Russia has used in the past, that Russia spreads misinformation and disinformation, trying to split Americans on this issue of support for Ukraine. We know as well that in the 21 months since this war started, the Ukrainian military, with the assistance of the United States, NATO nations, and others around the world, has literally taken out close to 50 percent of Russia's military capacity without the single loss of an American soldier or a NATO soldier. We know as well, in the last 21 months, NATO has actually expanded with the addition of Sweden and Finland. What will those alliances be worth if at this critical moment, the United States walks away from Ukraine? The intelligence assessments also show that one of the other world leaders, President Xi in China, is monitoring extraordinarily closely what we and others are doing vis-a-vis Ukraine in terms of his aspirations in terms of Taiwan. This is our moment. I cannot believe there are some of my Republican friends who say, well, I don't really care about Putin, but I care about Xi if they don't understand the linkage between a Russian victory in Ukraine and a green light for Xi's ambitions in Asia, then I'm not sure they should be here. This job has to be done before the end of the year. The future of Ukraine, the future of America's alliances, the future of whether authoritarianism or democracy will succeed going forward will in many ways be decided in this room right next door over the next couple of days or weeks. Thank you. Thank you. Just a summary. What we're doing here shows that Democrats are serious about getting Ukraine done, and the Republicans are not. We're serious. We're giving them a golden opportunity to pass a proposal on border. If they vote no on the motion to proceed, it shows they are not serious about getting something done on border and on Ukraine. One other point. The bill already has very strong provisions on dealing with some of the problems at the border, particularly really augmenting what we do at ports of entry to prevent the flow of fentanyl from Mexico into the United States. We've made it even stronger with the addition of the new language, but it's really strong stuff, and that seems to be the number one complaint that they have. Ready for your questions? Yes. Either side will get the 60 votes, and do our adversaries and our allies truly care about who gets the blame? It's not a question of blame here. It's a question of getting this done. Right now, the barriers to getting it done are Republicans. We want to remove those barriers and point out that they're standing in the way, and that's why we've given them this golden opportunity, because we so much want to get this done. We're not throwing our hands up in the air. We're going to keep pursuing this, and this seems to me to be the pathway that Republicans have asked for, an amendment on border. Is it appropriate for Senator Menendez, who's been charged with assisting a foreign government, to attend a classified briefing with national security secrets? He has the right to do it as a senator. You'll have to ask him. Yes. Look, as I said, the Senate has standards as to proper behavior, and Senator Menendez's behavior has fallen way below that. Yes. Well, I'm very hopeful we can get it done, especially with this new opportunity we've offered our Republican friends. I mean, just ask yourself the question. They've said border, border, border. They're getting an ability to pass an amendment on their own, but have to get Democratic votes. That's how the Senate works. What more can they ask for? As for getting it done, we have to get it done. We're going to keep at it and keep at it and keep at it until we get it done. That's why this impasse, when Johnson called for H.R. 2, which we know is a non-starter, and basically Langford went back to H.2 language, we didn't throw up our hands. It's too important to throw up our hands. We're going to keep at it. Yes. There's a discrepancy. Did the Speaker actually ask for the bill, H.R. 2, or H.R. 2-like policies? He told me that he can't pass it without H.R. 2. The actual bill. That's what he—I told you his language is, I remember it exactly. Okay, yes. Well, I'm not going to characterize it. What I told him is the truth. You can't pass it in the House or the Senate if it's attached to H.R. 2, plain and simple. Yes. We're working very hard to get a compromise on H.R. 702, and if not, we can't get one now to extend H.R. 702 so we can get something done. The appropriate place for it is the NDAA. Yes. Senator Sherman, you just said that if the Republican bloc should proceed, is that to say you would also consider splitting up Ukraine money from Israel money and putting it in Israel money? We're keeping all four together. The president wants it, our caucus wants it, and that's what we're doing. Thank you.