I believe we have a moral duty to support Ukraine, and this legislation provides $13 billion in humanitarian, economic, and military assistance.
One of the good things about this omnibus appropriations bill is it does exclude poison pills that included things like taxpayer funding of abortions.
I think there's enough good in this bill to support it.
WASHINGTON – On the Senate floor U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed his support for the omnibus appropriations legislation, which includes assistance for Ukraine, funding for national defense, and the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act. Excerpts of Sen. Cornyn’s remarks are below, and video can be found here.
“The Senate has the responsibility not just to keep the lights on but also to make critical investments in our country. I could only wish that we had come to this point through a more rational and more deliberative sort of way.”
“Unfortunately this seems to be more the norm than the exception: where four people get into a room, and they write a piece of legislation, and they bring it to the floor, and your only option is to vote yes or no on it.”
“The bipartisan bill includes $42 billion more in defense spending, and I can’t think of any time in our recent history where we need… additional resources more for our security and security of our friends and allies.”
“I believe we have a moral duty to support Ukraine, and this legislation provides $13 billion in humanitarian, economic, and military assistance.”
“We need to get this money out the door as soon as possible while the United States and NATO need to continue to supply the javelins, other anti-aircraft, anti-tank weapons to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against this existential threat.”
“Another thing that this omnibus appropriation bill does is it reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act. We were able to reach a bipartisan agreement to strengthen and modernize this law. I’m a proud cosponsor of the legislation, and I thank our colleagues on the Appropriations Committee for prioritizing its inclusion in this legislation. This funding will make critical investments for our country, including critical investments in our own people.”
“One of the good things about this omnibus appropriations bill is it does exclude poison pills that included things like taxpayer funding of abortions. Those are not included in this bill, and while it’s far from perfect, there’s no question that a bill drafted solely by Republicans would look a little different.”
“Despite its flaws, despite the crazy process by which we find ourselves here voting on this $1.5 trillion appropriation bill, notwithstanding all the reasons I could cite why maybe I should vote against it, I think there’s enough good in this bill to support it.”