[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 61 (Wednesday, April 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Supplemental Government Funding

  Mr. President, on the supplemental, 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 would encourage Russia to ``do whatever the hell they want'' 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. I hope and believe he won't. But here is what he has said, 
again. Two months ago, Donald Trump, the presumptive Presidential 
nominee of the Republican Party, said he would encourage Russia to ``do 
whatever the hell they want'' to the 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 their territory, and 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 will seek to take a country. And if you give an autocrat a 
country, he will seek to take a continent.
  So the stakes of the war in Ukraine could not be higher. It is not 
just the war between two nations, but it is a struggle between two 
conflicting ideals, between democracy and autocracy. As the greatest 
democracy in the world, the United States has been called on to take a 
stand.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.