Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Urgent Need To Support Ukraine And Defend Democracy

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the urgent need for the House to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion and defend democracy. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Not a generation ago, the thought of any American political party – much less the party of Ronald Reagan – spreading the gospel of Russian propaganda was deemed unthinkable.

But today, the apple has indeed fallen very far from the tree. Today, a growing contingency within the hard-right is corroding their party from within, turning the party of Reagan little by little into a messaging arm of the Kremlin.

Two months ago, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party, said he’d encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want.” Those are his words to the countries of NATO.

Let me say that again. The things that come out of President Trump are really frightening about the future of America, if God forbid he should ever get back in power, which I hope and believe he won't. But here's what he said, again: Donald Trump, the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican party, said he'd encourage Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to countries of NATO. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

In the House of Representatives, pro-Putin radicals say we should reward Russia’s violent invasion with a peace treaty, instead of standing with Ukraine as they fight for their survival.

Sadly, we hear similar things every now and then coming from the fringes of this chamber: arguments that the war in Ukraine is hopeless, that Ukraine should cede its sovereign territory, that we should cut a deal with Putin, as if he would be satisfied with any deal.

These modern-day Neville Chamberlains ignore the warnings of history: autocrats have insatiable appetites. If you give an autocrat a little land, he’ll seek to take a country. And if you give an autocrat a country, he’ll seek to take a continent.

So the stakes of the war in Ukraine could not be higher: it is not just a war between two nations, but a struggle between two conflicting ideals, between democracy and autocracy.

And as the greatest democracy in the history of the world, the United States has been called on to take a stand.

###