Wednesday, Dec. 6 – Today, Virginia U.S. Sen. Mark Warner , chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, issued a statement after the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes needed to move forward on a supplemental spending package to provide crucial aid to aid our allies and protect our national security. Warner said,

“Vladimir Putin’s hopes for victory rest on the U.S. walking away from Ukraine. In 21 months, Ukraine has succeeded in decimating the military and morale of one of our chief geopolitical adversaries in Vladimir Putin’s Russia without the loss of a single American or NATO soldier. We know from intelligence community assessments that Putin believes Ukraine will fall within just months without renewed U.S. support. Why, at this moment in time, would we prove Putin right?

“I believe Congress can and must pass a supplemental spending package that supports the fight for democracy in Ukraine, supplies our partner Israel, provides much-needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, and secures our border. But given the urgency of what’s facing the Ukrainians this winter, we cannot afford to wait. Autocrats around the world, including President Xi, are watching.”