Senate Democratic leaders hold their weekly press briefing.
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00:00 Okay, hi everybody, thank you all for coming.
00:03 A special thanks to Senators Murray, Reed, Murphy
00:06 for joining us.
00:08 So, this morning, Leader McConnell and I
00:11 welcomed President Zelensky to the Senate,
00:14 his third visit to the Capitol, in a meeting like no other.
00:17 He was extremely persuasive.
00:21 This is a moment we must meet.
00:24 If Ukraine falls, it will be a historic, colossal tragedy.
00:30 Historians will look back on this,
00:32 not two weeks from now, but years from now,
00:35 and say this was one of the turning points
00:37 where Western civilization took a dramatic turn downward,
00:41 where the U.S. abandoned its ally.
00:43 It's just awful.
00:45 And how our Republican friends,
00:47 who care so much about Ukraine,
00:50 are not being serious about this right now
00:52 is appalling to me.
00:56 My Republican colleagues know very well
00:59 that Ukraine's fate is inexorably linked
01:01 to our national security.
01:03 So, if you had to pick words,
01:05 the word for Republicans is, they have to be serious.
01:10 Serious means negotiating in good faith.
01:15 We're willing to meet them in the middle.
01:17 They haven't moved away from HR2.
01:20 Serious means not saying we're gonna go home
01:25 when there's an emergency.
01:27 They say it's an emergency at both the border
01:29 and in Ukraine.
01:32 You don't go home for three weeks.
01:33 You don't say we can put it off three weeks
01:35 if it's an emergency.
01:36 And so, hopefully, our words are we're still trying.
01:42 We are trying very, very hard to get this done.
01:46 At three o'clock, there will be a meeting
01:48 with Senator Lankford, Senator Sinema,
01:53 and Murphy, who's here today and can talk about it,
01:58 with people from the White House,
01:59 Secretary Mayorkas, and top people from my office,
02:03 and Senator McConnell's office.
02:06 And we still are still trying to get something done
02:09 at three o'clock this afternoon.
02:11 Last night, I spoke with Speaker Johnson, as I said.
02:16 I spoke with Speaker Johnson and urged him
02:18 to keep the House in session a little longer
02:21 to give the supplemental a chance to come together.
02:24 I told him this because over the past 24 hours,
02:27 I've been alarmed to see some of the same Republicans
02:30 who demand action at the border 'cause it's an emergency
02:33 say that we should leave and come back three weeks from now,
02:39 suggesting there's no urgency to act before Christmas,
02:43 contradicting their own words.
02:46 After months of saying the border's a crisis,
02:48 that we must get something done yesterday,
02:51 too many Republicans, many in the House
02:53 and now a good number in the Senate,
02:56 seem to prefer to go home than pass a bill.
02:59 If Republicans are serious about getting something done
03:01 on the border, then why are so many of them in a hurry
03:05 to leave for the winter break?
03:06 Has border simply been an excuse to kill funding for Ukraine?
03:13 Democrats are asking themselves that question.
03:17 Right now, as all this happens,
03:19 Russian state TV is running segments
03:22 bragging about how wonderful it is
03:24 that Republicans are abandoning Ukraine.
03:27 We are still committed to finding realistic
03:30 bipartisan agreements on the southern border,
03:33 and I hope my Republican colleagues take to heart
03:36 President Zelensky's warnings.
03:38 The only people happy right now
03:40 about the gridlock in Congress are Donald Trump
03:43 and Vladimir Putin, who unfortunately somehow are allies.
03:48 Putin is delighting in the fact
03:49 that Donald Trump's border policies
03:51 are sabotaging military aid to Ukraine.
03:54 I urge my Republican colleagues to show they're serious
03:58 about getting a supplemental package done.
04:01 Democrats are still trying,
04:03 will continue to work with Republicans
04:05 in the coming days in good faith.
04:06 Now, as we work on the supplemental,
04:09 we have a lot of other things to do.
04:11 Later today, the Senate will move forward on the NDAA
04:15 under Senator Reid's leadership, and he'll talk about it.
04:17 The Senate has worked tirelessly
04:19 to get it over the finish line,
04:21 and I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle
04:24 for doing it, working together to get this done.
04:28 And the bill contains many of the policies
04:31 that we in the Senate passed this summer.
04:33 As you know, it passed, cloture passed, 82 to 15.
04:37 So, as I said repeatedly, we begin the month of December
04:40 with three major goals here in the Senate
04:42 before the end of the year.
04:43 First, we had to end the unprecedented
04:47 and months-long blockade of hundreds of military nominees.
04:51 We've done that.
04:52 Second, we need to pass the NDAA,
04:55 as we have for decades on a bipartisan basis.
04:57 We're on track to do that.
04:59 And finally, most difficult of all,
05:01 we must reach an agreement
05:03 on national security supplemental.
05:05 We hope our Republican colleagues are serious
05:07 about getting something done there, too.
05:09 We're still ready to work.
05:11 Senator Murray.
05:12 -Well, let's cut to the chase here.
05:17 We can pass a national security supplemental,
05:21 and we can do it quickly.
05:22 But senators need to decide if they are serious
05:25 about delivering on aid to Ukraine
05:27 and other critical national security priorities
05:30 or if they want to go home for the holidays
05:32 and abandon our allies
05:34 and deliver a massive gift to Putin.
05:36 Democrats remain serious,
05:38 and we are ready to negotiate around bipartisan border policy.
05:43 But we will not entertain a partisan wish list
05:46 of permanent far-right overhauls to immigration policy.
05:50 Now is the time to work together.
05:52 It sends a dangerous message when one half of the Senate
05:56 is focused on pitting allies in crises against each other
06:00 as political bargaining chips.
06:02 We've talked about this at length.
06:04 We simply cannot afford further delays
06:06 that tell our adversaries they can just wait us out.
06:11 We cannot afford half-steps that tell our allies
06:13 we will only stand by some of them some of the time.
06:17 So I hope Senate Republicans will choose to work with us here.
06:21 And now, for those not keeping count,
06:24 we are 38 days from the first government funding deadline
06:28 that the speaker said.
06:30 I don't think the American people
06:32 want to see food safety inspectors
06:34 or air traffic controllers furloughed.
06:37 But if we want to make progress on our full-year funding bills,
06:40 then we need Speaker Johnson to get back
06:43 to the full, top-line spending deal
06:46 that House Republicans negotiated themselves.
06:50 Consider what kind of precedent it sets if now,
06:53 months after a spending agreement was negotiated
06:57 and passed into law,
06:58 three months into this current fiscal year,
07:01 House Republicans want to pull the rug out
07:04 from the rest of us and go back on their word
07:07 and the deal that they cut.
07:09 Remember, House Republicans negotiated that very directly
07:13 with the White House in the first place,
07:15 not Democrats and not Senate Republicans.
07:18 A shutdown is not an acceptable outcome.
07:22 A date-change full-year CR, as the speaker has proposed,
07:26 is not an acceptable outcome.
07:29 We need to pass full-year spending bills.
07:31 That's it.
07:32 So I hope the speaker hears me loud and clear,
07:36 get back to the full deal that you cut,
07:39 that you voted for, and let's do our jobs.
07:41 Thank you.
07:43 -Senator Reid.
07:47 -This is a dangerous moment in the world.
07:49 Russia is digging in for another winter in Ukraine,
07:53 and the Middle East is becoming even more volatile
07:56 with the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
07:59 China, Russia, and Iran are watching
08:02 how America reacts.
08:04 And right now, Congress has, I would say, the opportunity,
08:08 but actually it's the responsibility to step up
08:12 and show the world that we stand with our allies and partners.
08:17 The National Defense Authorization Act
08:19 and the emergency supplemental are critical to that effort.
08:23 I am encouraged by the progress that we've made
08:25 in the last week to complete the NDAA.
08:28 I'm glad that we will soon vote on the bill.
08:31 I want to thank my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee,
08:34 as well as Leader Schumer and colleagues in the House.
08:37 We have an NDAA that makes our country safer and stronger.
08:43 Let me emphasize, this is a bipartisan defense bill
08:47 that addresses the long-term challenges
08:49 posed by China, Russia, and other potential adversaries.
08:53 It provides a historic pay rate for our military members
08:56 and defense civilians.
08:58 And this NDAA is laser-focused on investing
09:01 in the people, platforms, infrastructure,
09:04 and technologies that will define the future.
09:08 The defense bill makes important progress
09:10 toward achieving our shared bipartisan goals,
09:13 and I urge my colleagues to vote for it.
09:16 And even as we advance the NDAA, we must also prioritize
09:20 the supplemental appropriations bill.
09:23 I appreciated the opportunity this morning
09:25 to meet with President Zelensky, along with my colleagues,
09:28 and he reminded us of the urgent need
09:31 to continue helping Ukraine defend itself
09:34 against Putin's brutal illegal invasion.
09:39 This is not just a wise investment.
09:42 A simple sort of rule I follow --
09:44 I'd rather send resources to an ally
09:48 than send our young men and women to battles.
09:51 And if we do not support the Ukrainians,
09:54 the danger that we will be drawn into this conflict
09:58 is very serious.
10:00 We must act now before it's too late,
10:03 and the price of inaction results in far,
10:06 far steeper costs down the road.
10:08 -Senator Murphy. -Senator Murphy.
10:11 -Thank you, Senator Schumer.
10:13 President Zelensky's visit today underscored the stakes
10:18 we are dealing with.
10:19 We are making a decision about the future of the free world,
10:24 plain and simple.
10:26 If we don't stand by Ukraine,
10:28 we give a green light for Vladimir Putin
10:32 to march into Ukraine and perhaps through into Europe.
10:36 We give a green light to President Xi
10:38 to expedite his plans for the forceful takeover of Taiwan.
10:43 The entirety of the post-World War II order falls apart.
10:49 We remain seriously and deeply engaged
10:52 in talks with Republicans about their demand
10:55 that border policy be attached
10:57 to the Israel and Ukraine funding bill.
11:00 I wish we weren't at this point.
11:03 I wish Republicans thought that funding for Ukraine
11:07 was as important as they have said it is.
11:10 I wish that they were not demanding that we settle
11:14 one of the most difficult and vexing domestic political issues
11:18 in order to save Ukraine and Europe.
11:22 But we remain at the table.
11:25 We have put serious proposals on the table
11:29 that respond to Republican concerns.
11:33 And now is the time for Republicans
11:35 to get in closing mode.
11:38 We don't have time on our side.
11:41 We are willing to meet Republicans in the middle.
11:45 They have to be willing to be there as well.
11:49 And so I'm glad that at today's meeting,
11:51 we will have, for the first time,
11:54 representatives from Senator McConnell's office
11:56 involved in these talks.
11:58 And I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make progress
12:02 so that before Christmas,
12:04 we can get this bill passed through the Senate
12:06 and the House of Representatives and to the President's desk.
12:09 -Okay. -Leader Schumer.
12:11 -Go ahead. -Do you want the President
12:13 to call at this point?
12:14 -Look, the White House has been involved.
12:17 There have been three or four discussions
12:19 between the White House and people --
12:21 high-up people in the White House,
12:22 Secretary Mayorkas and Senator Lankford, and several times.
12:28 And today, there will be, again, people at the White House,
12:30 from the White House, high-level people,
12:33 the Secretary, along with my representative.
12:37 I'm glad Leader McConnell --
12:38 I asked him to send representatives,
12:40 his representative, and our three senators
12:43 who have been doing the negotiations.
12:45 Look, we're gonna keep trying.
12:46 We hope we can come to an agreement.
12:49 We're not close there yet, mainly because the Republicans,
12:53 on Friday, took a giant step back, put in H.R. 2,
12:57 and they haven't moved enough off that yet.
12:58 They know that can't pass either the Senate or the House.
13:02 -Leader Schumer, given what's happening at the border,
13:04 do you not -- why not agree to more restrictive
13:07 asylum policies,
13:08 dealing with the President's parole authority,
13:10 in order to unlock aid to Ukraine?
13:12 -The bottom line is very simple.
13:14 We are willing to meet in the middle.
13:16 We have moved far more away from the President's original bill
13:20 than they have moved off H.R. 2,
13:22 and we want to come to a deal to meet people in the middle.
13:26 Everyone knows that H.R. 2 can't pass.
13:29 It's a total, total abdication of everything.
13:32 It's Trump's policies.
13:33 The American people don't like Trump's policies.
13:36 Yes.
13:38 Giving what?
13:40 -Will you meet with the Senate and pass Thursday?
13:43 -Look, I called Speaker Johnson last night
13:46 and urged him to stay.
13:48 I spoke to Leader McConnell right after the Zelensky meeting
13:52 and urged him to stay.
13:54 If it's an emergency, as so many Republicans
13:57 have said on the border and many have said about Ukraine,
14:00 you don't go home for three weeks.
14:02 It'll be much harder to do in January.
14:05 Everyone admits that than it is today.
14:07 -Leader Schumer. -Yes.
14:08 -If the House does not stay in session,
14:10 if they leave on Thursday, as they're expecting to,
14:13 is Ukraine pretty much punted to 2024 at that point?
14:17 -Look, as I said, we're gonna look for the best way forward
14:20 to get this done, and we are gonna keep trying.
14:23 Yes.
14:24 -The House tomorrow is expected to approve this resolution,
14:28 formalizing an impeachment inquiry.
14:30 If they, in fact, send an impeachment --
14:32 articles of impeachment to the Senate,
14:34 will you just dismiss it?
14:35 How will you entertain that in the Senate?
14:37 -The bottom line is what the Republicans are doing
14:39 in the House is just absurd, and I think it's --
14:43 the American people will see it as ridiculous
14:45 and a big negative for the Republican Party.
14:48 -But, Parliamentarily, you have to deal with that.
14:48 -Yes, go ahead. -Mr.
14:49 Leader, do you regret the fact that the White House
14:52 tied the border security package to the --
14:55 -Please. -Do you wish you were just --
14:56 -Let's get real here.
14:58 The Republicans have been tying border to Ukraine
15:02 for a long time, no matter what the White House did.
15:05 The White House just put together a bill,
15:07 but they're not the ones -- it's not the White House
15:09 that's demanding border as part of Ukraine.
15:12 It's the Republicans, plain and simple.
15:14 So it's an absurd argument, "Well, the White House started it."
15:17 We are willing to give them an amendment on border,
15:20 and we are willing to do Ukraine without border.
15:23 They haven't taken us up on either offer.
15:26 Thank you, everybody.
15:27 -Thank you. -Thank you.