WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) spoke on the Senate Floor regarding the urgent need to work together to address the challenges facing our country at home and abroad including securing our southern border and providing resources to assist Ukraine in their fight against Russia.

“Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a fellow Kansan, warns of our government dysfunction at a moment in history in which our nation confronts graver threats to its security than it has in decades, perhaps ever,” said Sen. Moran. “Our adversaries pay attention to what we do or don’t do. Our action or inaction can increase the trust placed in us by our allies or it can embolden our adversaries. We need to demonstrate resolve; resolve in the support of allies and resolve in the resistance to enemies.”

“During my time in the U.S. Senate, I have never been angrier or more sullen than those few days in which our country left Afghanistan,” said Sen. Moran. “Our unprepared actions and void of leadership resulted in the deaths of U.S. servicemembers and it stranded thousands of Afghan allies behind enemy lines. Those few days may have been among the most costly in emboldening those who seek our country’s demise. I fear today we are about to again demonstrate to the world our feckless ambivalence to lead.”

“There is no question that the spending path we have been on is not sustainable,” continued Sen. Moran. “We are on a different path with the appropriations bills that have passed in committee that stop spending increases. These are important decisions, but we don’t need to manufacture a crisis to make a point. The crisis doesn’t solve the spending problem.”

“We know the dangerous nature of our world when we see what China is doing and what its intentions seem to be; when we know what’s taking place in Iran and their efforts around the globe; when Russia invades a neighboring country’s borders; and when North Korea fires missiles,” said Sen. Moran. “We have united as a nation numerous times in our history, and we need to return to those circumstances. And that can happen if there is leadership here in Congress to do so. Now is the time to lower the temperature and find common ground that puts us in a position that we can be optimistic about our nation’s future. Our future is bright, but it is only bright when we work together.”

“We must send the message that we are a reliable partner to Ukraine, and encourage allies around the world to be helpful to Ukraine,” continued Sen. Moran. “As we work to enhance Ukraine’s chance for success in defeating Putin, we should also resolutely move forward in ending the failure to protect our own country and own border. “Our borders need desperate attention and its another national security issue.”

“We have work to do,” said Sen. Moran. “We can look the other way or we can decide that we’re going to do what is right. We can decide that it would be nice to be popular at the moment, but it would be better to be right in the long term. I’m an optimist. This week and the next several weeks can be times of good work for the American people and a safer and more secure United States and world.”

Click HERE to View Sen. Moran’s Full Remarks

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