President Biden delivered remarks on Wednesday after signing the $95 billion foreign aid supplemental.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning.
00:01Good morning, sir.
00:02It's a good day for America.
00:03It's a good day for Europe.
00:04And it's a good day for world peace.
00:05It's real.
00:06This is consequential.
00:07I just signed into law the national security package that was passed by the House of Representatives
00:14this weekend and by the Senate yesterday.
00:16It's going to make America safer, it's going to make the world safer, and it continues
00:22America's leadership in the world, and everyone knows it.
00:25It gives vital support to America's partners, so they can defend themselves against threats
00:30to their sovereignty and to the lives and freedom of their citizens.
00:34And it's an investment in our own security, because when our allies are stronger, and
00:39I want to make this apparent again and again, when our allies are stronger, we are stronger.
00:45I'm grateful to all those in Congress, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, who voted for this
00:49bill.
00:50It's a path to my desk, it was a difficult path.
00:54It should have been easier and should have gotten there sooner.
00:57But in the end, we did what America always does.
01:00We rose in the moment, we came together, and we got it done.
01:06Now we need to move fast, and we are.
01:10Over two years, Russia has been responsible for a brutal campaign against Ukraine.
01:16They've killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians, bombed hospitals deliberately, picked them
01:20out, bombed hospitals, kindergartens, grain silos, tried to plunge Ukraine into a cold
01:27and dark winter by striking their power grid.
01:31Ukrainians have fought, Ukrainians have fought back, defending their country and their families
01:35with extraordinary courage.
01:38Many of you have been there with me many times.
01:40It's amazing what they do, I mean, it's amazing, against such a larger military.
01:46Ukraine has regained over half the territory Russia took from them in this invasion, and
01:51they won important victories against Russia's navy.
01:54But make no mistake about it, they're a fighting force with the will and the skill to win,
02:01the will and the skill to win.
02:03For months, while many Republicans were blocking aid, Ukraine has been running out of artillery
02:08shells and ammunition.
02:09Meanwhile, Putin's friends keep giving him, keeping him well-supplied, Iran sent him drones,
02:16North Korea has sent him ballistic missiles and artillery shells, China is providing components
02:21and know-how to boost Russia's defense production.
02:24With all this support, Russia has ramped up its airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and
02:29critical infrastructure, rained down munitions on brave Ukrainians defending their homeland.
02:36And now America is going to send Ukraine the supplies they need to keep them in the fight.
02:41This weekend, the reports, and this is, I find this amazing, the reports of cheers
02:47breaking out of the trenches in eastern Ukraine probably came from one of your folks, a reporter
02:53or someone, I'm not sure where it came from, but that they're cheering as they watch the
02:58House vote in support for Ukraine.
03:00It's not like they don't understand what we've done, not like they don't understand how critical
03:05this is for them.
03:07I'm making sure the shipments start right away.
03:10In the next few hours, literally in a few hours, we're going to begin sending equipment
03:15to Ukraine for air defense munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems and armored vehicles.
03:22You know, this package is literally an investment, not only in Ukraine's security, but in Europe's security,
03:31in our own security.
03:33We're sending Ukraine equipment from our own stockpiles.
03:36Then we'll replenish those stockpiles with new products made by American companies here
03:41in America, Patriot missiles made in Arizona, Javelins made in Alabama, artillery shells
03:47made in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
03:50In other words, we're helping Ukraine while at the same time investing in our own industrial
03:54base, strengthening our own national security, supporting jobs in nearly 40 states all across
04:00America.
04:01You know, the United States is not acting alone, to state the obvious.
04:06Our allies in Europe and around the world, who have constantly been asking me, are we
04:10going to step up?
04:11We're not going to walk away, are we?
04:13How many – and some of you have been in these international meetings with me.
04:16They're very concerned.
04:17Had we failed to step up, Lord only knows what would happen to the cohesion in NATO.
04:22We're also – they're also sending significant help to Ukraine.
04:26We're all standing together against this brutal dictator.
04:29As I've argued for months, this is directly, directly in the United States' national
04:34security interest.
04:35If Putin triumphs in Ukraine, the next move of Russian forces could very well be a direct
04:41attack on a NATO ally.
04:43And you all know full well that invoking Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty would be the
04:49first thing that comes to mind, which declares an attack on one is an attack on all.
04:54If Putin attacks a NATO ally like he's attacking Ukraine today, we'd have no choice but to
05:00come to their aid, just like our NATO allies came to our aid after the September 11th attacks.
05:06That's why we're supporting and surging support now to Ukraine to stop Putin from
05:12drawing the United States into a war in Europe and in the future.
05:16You know, it seems to me we should take a little bit of a step back and realize what
05:20a critical moment this was for the United States and for NATO.
05:25This is a historical moment.
05:27In the last two years, we've helped unify, strengthen, and expand NATO.
05:31Imagine if instead we had failed, we had failed to step up now and support Ukraine.
05:38All those gains would have begun to unravel, the cohesion of NATO would have been weakened,
05:43and our national security would have been undermined without any question.
05:48You know, Putin started this war believing he could easily break the will of the people
05:51of Ukraine.
05:53When that failed, he changed his strategy a little bit, thinking we could break the
05:57will of NATO, break the will of the United States, break our will.
06:01Well, he's failed again.
06:03America stands with our friends.
06:05We stand up against dictators.
06:07We bow to no one, to no one, certainly not Vladimir Putin.
06:13Look, this bill also includes vital support for Israel.
06:18Just 10 days ago, we saw Iran launch over 100 missiles and drones at Israel.
06:24Because of them and other allies across the world, including from the region, no serious
06:30damage occurred.
06:31An unprecedented attack that followed years of Iran supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, and proxies
06:37of their own attack on Israel.
06:41They fund these guys.
06:43My commitment to Israel I want to make clear again is ironclad.
06:47The security of Israel is critical.
06:49It will always make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and
06:54terrorists it supports.
06:55And with this aid, the United States can help replenish Israel's air defense and provide
07:01other critical events so Iran can never carry out the destruction it intended with its attack
07:0610 days ago.
07:07But at the same time, this bill significantly, significantly increases humanitarian assistance
07:13for sending to the innocent people of Gaza who are suffering badly.
07:18They're suffering the consequences of this war that Hamas started.
07:21And we've been working intently for months to get as much aid to Gaza as possible.
07:26This bill includes $1 billion from additional humanitarian aid in Gaza.
07:32We're going to immediately secure that aid and surge it, surge it, including food, medical
07:38supplies, clean water.
07:40And Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay.
07:47And everything we do is guided by the ultimate goal of bringing these hostages home, securing
07:52a ceasefire, and setting the conditions for an enduring peace.
07:57You know, there's more that this bill does, as you all know, the press here, including
08:03providing for support to strengthen even further our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific
08:08region, as well as humanitarian aid to places including Haiti, Sudan, and Somalia.
08:14But there's one thing this bill does not do, border security.
08:19You know, just this year, I proposed and negotiated and agreed to the strongest border security
08:24bill this country has ever, ever, ever seen.
08:27It was bipartisan.
08:29It should have been included in this bill.
08:32And I'm determined to get it done for the American people.
08:34And I'll come back to that in another moment, another time.
08:38This is a reminder of what America can do when we come together, despite our differences.
08:44I want to thank everyone in Congress who made it possible, especially the bipartisan leadership.
08:50Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Leader Jeffries, Leader Schumer and McConnell, they
08:56don't always agree, but when it matters most, they stepped up and did the right thing.
09:01And I mean this sincerely, history will remember this time, history will remember this moment.
09:07For all the talk about how dysfunctional things are in Washington, when you look over
09:11the past three years, we see that time and again on the critical issues, we've actually
09:15come together.
09:16It hadn't always been easy, but when it's come time to decide to rebuild America, we
09:21did it with a bipartisan infrastructure law, which is just underway.
09:24When it came time to invest in our semiconductor industry and technologies of the future, we
09:31did it with the Chips and Science Act.
09:33When it came time to stand with Ukraine and Israel and help the people of Gaza, we did
09:37that as well.
09:38At the end of the day, most of us, whether we're Democrats, Republicans or Independents,
09:43believe that America must stand up for what is right.
09:47We don't walk away from our allies, we stand with them.
09:50We don't let tyrants win, we oppose them.
09:52We don't merely watch global events unfold, we shape them.
09:56That's what it means to be the indispensable nation.
09:59That's what it means to be the world's superpower and the world's leading democracy.
10:04Some of our MAGA and Republican members reject that vision, but this vote makes it clear
10:09there is a bipartisan consensus for that kind of American leadership.
10:13That's exactly what we'll continue to deliver.
10:15I thank you all very much, and I'm going off to make a speech at the hotel I'm late for,
10:19and I have plenty of time to answer questions on this and other matters.
10:22So that's a quick one on TikTok.
10:23Mr. President, do you have a message for the protesters on campus?
10:24It doesn't get sold, Mr. President.
10:25Would you be able to talk?