WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement:

“Over the past two years, the US has spent only a tiny fraction of its defense budget to help Ukraine inflict enormous losses on Russia’s military, hold the line in the fight for democracy over autocracy, and thwart Putin’s ambitions to take over Ukraine. Despite the clear security interests in continuing this support, and the commitments we’ve made to both the Ukrainian people and our NATO allies, House Republicans have spent months delaying the renewal of this critical aid. The best time to do this would have been months ago. The second best time is right now. I urge the House to act swiftly to get this done and end this painful and embarrassing delay. Failing to do so would be a mistake of historic proportions.

“At the same time, the House also has the opportunity to take important steps to shore up our national security in other avenues. For years, I’ve been raising the alarm about the powerful national security threat posed by TikTok, and I strongly support their divestiture from a company legally required to do the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party. Amid deeply troubling and escalating violence across the Middle East, it’s also critical that we provide robust and desperately needed humanitarian aid in support of the millions of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and continue supporting Israel’s security. I look forward to the House’s swift action on all these priorities and to championing their passage in the Senate.”

On February 13, 2024, the Senate passed a national security supplemental package to aid Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, and the Indo-Pacific with a bipartisan 70-29 margin.

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