***VIDEO: Senator Murray speaks on Senate Floor**
Senator Murray: “When it comes to the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, let’s get something straight: making sure people have food and water and medical care is not just the right and moral thing to do, it also is very clearly in our national interest as it promotes long-term stability and security.”
Washington, D.C. – Moments ago, Roger Marshall (R-KS) sought unanimous consent to pass House Republicans’ unserious, partisan legislation to provide military aid to Israel, which would leave our allies elsewhere behind, fail to provide vital humanitarian assistance, and set a dangerous precedent by conditioning aid for an ally on a “pay-for” that would actually raise the deficit. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, objected to the attempt to pass the bill today and joined a number of her colleagues on the floor to reiterate that Congress cannot do half the job: we must pass a serious, comprehensive package to deliver aid to Ukraine, Israel, and our partners in the Indo-Pacific and provide urgent humanitarian aid to civilians caught in conflict. Video of Senator Murray speaking on the Senate floor today is HERE.
Senator Marshall also attempted to pass the legislation last week—prompting multiple senators, including Senator Murray, to speak out against the misguided approach on the Senate Floor.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered, are below:
“Mr. President, reserving the right to object.
“We cannot send the message to our allies or to the world that America only stands by some of its allies—that our word is only good some of the time.
“We also cannot send our adversaries the message that they can simply wait us out, allow us to become distracted, allow our resolve to waver, and that the United States will eventually fail to respond to all of the pressing challenges that we face.
“Our adversaries are watching carefully to see if we will let Putin win. And the answer must emphatically be: absolutely not.
“I’ve said it before. I’ll say it many times again: we cannot just do half our job here. That’s not just wrong—it is dangerous, and it is naïve.
“And M. President, there are fundamental flaws in the arguments I’ve heard from my colleagues for splitting up this aid.
“Let’s start with this one: the argument that somehow we haven’t debated Ukraine aid—even though we’ve been debating this even longer than aid for Israel, and even though we have already been forced to punt this aid to an ally in need before.
“Ukraine can no more afford a delay than our allies in Israel. Ukraine is at a critical point in a brutal war to defend its sovereignty against Putin’s bloody invasion. Abandoning Ukraine is the same as surrendering to Putin—and sends a message that he can invade any democracy he’d like with impunity.
“Fortunately, members on both sides of the aisle do understand this, and clear, overwhelming, bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate have shown they support aid for Ukraine.
“So we absolutely cannot allow Ukraine aid to get left behind—yet again—when they are at a critical moment in their heroic fight to protect their homeland and their future as a sovereign democracy.
“And if my colleagues really wanted more debate on this—we had a robust debate last week, and there was a very strong showing from Senators who discussed at length why it is so important we keep this aid together in one package.
“And here’s a key point that was raised time and time again in that debate: the global challenges we face are all connected—and they are all urgent. We have to be strategic enough to understand that.
“You know who met with Putin last month? The leader of Hamas. You know who is watching how committed we are to our allies in Ukraine? The government of China.
“And, when it comes to the serious humanitarian crisis in Gaza, let’s get something straight: making sure people have food and water and medical care is not just the right and moral thing to do, it also is very clearly in our national interest as it promotes long-term stability and security.
“Hamas is hoping that we ignore the humanitarian needs in Gaza. It is hoping it can drive more people to despair and then anger and then, ultimately, extremism.
“In this critical moment, if we only respond to some of the challenges before us, not only will the other challenges continue to fester, but we will be sending a dangerous message about the limits of American leadership in the world.
“For our commitments to mean something in the world, they have to be ironclad. For our adversaries to take American leadership seriously—they have to know that we will stand by our allies, stand up for democracy, and stand up to dictators.
“And the way we do that is by passing a strong, unified security package with: support for Ukraine and Israel, humanitarian assistance, and smart investments in the Indo-Pacific to support our partners and strengthen deterrence.
“Now I am continuing to work on this package to get it done—and that work could not be more important, nor could it be more urgent. And if my colleagues are serious about making sure we act quickly—I urge them to support us in these efforts.”
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