LIVE: Senate Democratic, Republican Leaders Hold Weekly Press Conference 2023-12-12 19:40

closer to one day you never know in this democracy okay hi everybody thank you all for coming a special thanks to Senators Murray Reed Murphy for joining us so uh this morning leader m and I welcomed president zalinsky to the Senate his third visit to the capital in a meeting like no other he was extremely persuasive this is a moment we must meet if Ukraine Falls it will be histo a historic colossal tragedy historians will look back on this not two weeks from now but years from now and say this was one of the turning points where western civilization took a dramatic turn downward where the US abandoned its Ally it's just awful and how our Republican friends who so care so much about Ukraine are not being serious about this right now is is is appalling to me my Republican colleagues know very well that Ukraine's fate is inexorably linked to our national security so if you had to pick words the word for Republicans is they have to be serious serious means negotiating in good faith we're willing to meet them in the middle they haven't moved away from hr2 serious means not saying we're going to go home when there's an emergency they say it's an emergency at both the border and at in Ukraine you don't go home for 3 weeks you don't say we can put it off 3 weeks if it's an emergency and so and so hopefully our words are we're still trying we are trying very very hard to get this done at 3:00 there will be a meeting with um uh Senator Langford Senator Cinema and um Murphy who's here today and can talk about it with people from the White House secretary mayorcas uh and top people from my office and Senator McConnell's office and um we still are still trying to get something done at 3:00 this afternoon last night I spoke with speaker Johnson as I said I spoke with speaker Johnson and urged him to keep the house in session a little longer to give the supplemental a chance to come together I told him this because over the past 24 hours I've been alarmed to see some of the same Republicans who demand action at the border because it's an emergency say that they we should leave and come back uh 3 weeks from now suggesting there's no no urgency to act before Christmas contradicting their own words after months of saying the borders of Crisis that we must get something done yesterday too many Republicans many in the house and now a good number in the Senate seem to prefer to go home than pass a bill if Republicans are serious about getting something done on the border then why are so many of them in a hurry to leave for the winter break has borders simply been an excuse to kill funding for Ukraine Democrats are asking themselves that question right now as all this happens Russian State TV is running segments bragging about how wonderful it is that Republicans are abandoning Ukraine we are still committed to finding realistic bipartisan agreements on the southern border and I hope my Republican colleagues take to heart president zelinsky's warnings the only people happy right now about out the gridlock in Congress are Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin who unfortunately somehow are allies Putin is delighting in the fact that Donald Trump's border policies are sabotaging military aid to Ukraine I urge my Republican colleagues to show they're serious about getting a supplemental package done Democrats are still trying will continue to work with Republicans in the coming days in good faith now as we work on the supplemental we have a lot of other things to do later today the Senate will move forward on the ndaa under Senator Reed's leadership and he'll talk about it the Senate has worked tirelessly to get it over the finish line and I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for doing it working together to get this done and the bill contains many of the policies that we and the Senate passed this summer as you know it passed cloer passed 82 to5 so as I said repeatedly We Begin the month of December with three major goals here in the Senate before the end of the year first we had to end the unprecedented and months long blockade of hundreds of military nominees we've done that second we need to pass the ndaa as we have for decades on a bipartisan basis we're on track to do that and finally most difficult of all we must reach an agreement on National Security Supplemental we hope our Republican colleagues are serious about getting something done there too we're still to work Senator Murray well let's cut to the chase here we can pass a National Security Supplemental and we can do it quickly but Senators need to decide if they are serious about delivering on Aid to Ukraine and other critical National Security priorities or if they want to go home for the holidays and abandon our allies and deliver a massive gift to Putin Democrats remain serious and we are ready to negotiate around bipartisan border policy but we will not entertain a partisan wish list of permanent farri overalls to immigration policy now is the time to work together it sends a dangerous message when one half of the Senate is focused on pitting allies and crises against each other as political bargaining chips we've talked about this at length we simply cannot afford further delays that tell our adversaries they can just wait a out out we cannot afford half steps that tell our allies we will only stand by some of them some of the time so I hope Senate Republicans will choose to work with us here and now for those not keeping count we are 38 days from the first government funding deadline that the speaker said I don't think the American people want to see food safety inspectors or air traffic controllers furload but if we want to make progress on our full year funding bills that we need speaker Johnson to get back to the full Topline spending deal that House Republicans negotiated themselves consider what kind of precedent it sets if now months after a spending agreement was negotiated and passed into law three months into this current fiscal year House Republicans want to pull the rug out from the rest of us and go back on their word and the deal that they cut remember how House Republicans negotiated that very directly with the White House in the first place not Democrats and not Senate Republicans a shutdown is not an acceptable outcome a date change ful year CR as the speaker has proposed is not an acceptable outcome we need to pass full year spending bills that's it so I hope the speaker hears me loud and clear get back to the full deal that you cut that you voted for and let's do our jobs thank you Senator re uh this is a dangerous moment in the world Russia is digging in for another winter in Ukraine and the Middle East is becoming even more volatile with the conflict between Israel and Hamas China Russia and Iran are watching how America reacts and right now Congress has I would say the opportunity but actually it's the responsibility to step up and show the world that we stand with our allies and partners the National Defense authorization Act and the emergency supplemental are critical to that effort I am encouraged by the progress that we've made in the last week to complete the ndaa I'm glad that we will soon vote on the bill I want to thank my colleagues on the ensur committee as well as leita Schumer and colleagues in the house we have an ndaa that makes makes our country safer and stronger let me emphasize this is a bipartisan defense bill that addresses the long-term challenges posed by China Russia and other potential adversaries it provides a historic pay raise for our military members and defense civilians and this NDA is laser focused on investing in the people platforms infrastructure and technologies that will Define the future the defense Bill makes important progress toward achieving our shared bipartisan goals and I urge my colleagues to vote for it and even as we advance the NDA we must also prioritize the supplemental Appropriations bill I appreciated the opportunity this morning to meet with President sininsky along with my colleagues and he reminded us of the urgent need to continue helping Ukraine defend itself against Putin's brutal illegal Invasion this is not not just a wise investment simple sort of rule I follow I'd rather send resources to an ally then send our young men and women to battles and if we do not support the ukrainians the danger that will be drawn into this conflict is very serious we must act now before it's too late and the price of an action results in Far Far steeper course down the road Senator Murphy please mayor Murphy uh thank you Senator Schumer president zelinsky's visit today underscored the stakes we are dealing with we are making a decision about the future of the Free World plain and simple if we don't stand by Ukraine we give a green light for Vladimir Putin to March into Ukraine and perhaps through into Europe we give a green light to president Chi to expedite his plans for the forceful takeover of Taiwan the entirety of the postor War II order falls apart we remain seriously and deeply engaged in talks with Republicans about their demand that border policy be attached to the Israel and Ukraine funding bill I wish we weren't at this point I wish Republicans thought that funding for Ukraine was as important as they have said if is I wish that they were not demanding that we settle one of the most difficult and vexing domestic political issues in order to save Ukraine and Europe but we remain at the table we have put serious proposals on the table that respond to Republican concerns and now is the time for Republicans to get in closing mode we don't have time time on our side we are willing to meet Republicans in the middle they have to be willing to be there as well and so I'm glad that at today's meeting we will have for the first time representatives from Senator McConnell's office involved in these talks and I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make progress so that before Christmas we can get this bill passed through the Senate and the House of Representatives and the president's desk okay go ahead you involve look the White House has been involved there have been three or four discussions between the White House and people high up people in the White House secretary May orcus and Senator Lanford and uh several times and today there'll be again people at the White House from the White House high level people um the secretary along with my representative I'm glad leader McConnell I asked him to send repres Representatives his representative and our three Senators who have been doing the negotiations look we're going to keep trying we hope we can come to an agreement we're not close there yet mainly because the Republicans on Friday took a giant step back put in hr2 and they haven't moved enough off that yet they know that can't pass either the senate or the house yes given what's happening at the border do you not why not agree to more restrictive Asylum policies dealing with the president Parole Authority in order to unlock Aid to Ukraine the bottom line is very simple we are willing to meet in the middle we have moved far more away from the president's original Bill than they have moved off hr2 and we want to come to a deal to meet people in the middle you everyone knows that hr2 can't pass it's a total total abdication of everything it's Trump's policies the American people don't like Trump's policies yes giving what look I called speaker Johnson last night and urged him to stay I C I spoke to leader McConnell right after the uh zalinsky meeting and urged him to stay if it's an emergency as so many Republicans have said on the border and many have said about Ukraine you don't go home for 3 weeks it'll be much harder to do in January everyone admits that than it is today yes if the house does not stay in session if they leave on Thursday as they're expecting to is Ukraine a pretty much punted to 2024 at that point look as I said we're going to look for the best way forward to get this done and we are going to keep trying lead the house tomorrow is expected to approve this uh resolution formalizing an impeachment inquiry if they in fact send an impeachment articles of impeachment to the Senate will you just dismiss it how will you entertain that in the Senate the bottom line is what the Republicans are doing in the house is just absurd and uh I think it's the American people will see it as ridiculous and a big negative for the Republican you have to go ahead Mr Le do you regret the fact that the White House tied security please let's get real here the Republicans have been tying border to Ukraine for a long time no matter what the White House did the White House just put together a bill but they're not the ones it's not the White House it's demanding border is part of Ukraine it's the Republicans plain and simple so it's an absurd argument well the White House started it we are willing to give them an amendment on border and we are willing to do Ukraine without border they haven't taken us up on either offer thank you everybody