Video: Sen. Mark Warner Says “America’s reputation…is on the line; We have to stand up against this kind of barbaric activity,” Whether by Hamas or Putin

Earlier this afternoon, Sen. Mark Warner spoke to the press about the horrible situation in Israel, the atrocities carried out by terrorist group Hamas, etc.  See below for video and some key points from Sen. Warner’s remarks.

• “It is absolutely essential that the U.S. stand shoulder to shoulder with our ally, Israel, against these barbaric actions of these terrorists. This was not a military intervention by Hamas, this was a gross terrorist action that has brutally killed now over 1,000 Israelis, 14 dual citizen Americans, many being held hostage in addition. The indications of babies being butchered, women being raped…this Hamas group, which has not represented the Palestinian people in Gaza is horrific beyond words. It is essential that we stand with Israel and that nations of good will around the world stand with Israel in its moment of need.”
• “I know the president has said…he’ll be calling for additional defense funding for Israel. I will of course be supportive of that, as I will be supportive of standing up against other blatant aggressors -Vladimir Putin in terms of his illegal, illicit invasion of Ukraine, where there has also been war crimes committed. The time for America, for democracies, for people who reject this kind of barbarity is now…”
• “This is a horrific time…I know questions will be asked about whether there was an intelligence failure by the Israelis or by the Americans; there will be time enough to look into those questions. But what I want is for Israeli intelligence and the American intelligence to both help the Israelis go after these terrorists but also to do all they can…to make sure that this conflict coming out of Gaza doesn’t extend to the West Bank…or to Hezbollah taking further actions in the north of Israel.”
• “America’s reputation…is on the line. We have to stand up against this kind of barbaric activity, be it in Israel – which is just heinous beyond words and we stand with the people of Israel and all its friends and supporters in the U.S. – but remember, it was literally in the last 3-4 days that Russia sent a missile into a Ukrainian funeral…literally killed half of the members of the town. That was purely a civilian target. We and our allies will be counted – are we going to stand up against this kind of aggression, this kind of barbaric activity? Are we going to stand up only in one areas of the world and not in others? I think this is a time when our commitment to our principles is being tested. And I will be supportive of making sure that our friends and allies get the tools they need to be successful.“
• “I implore my friends in the House…to elect a Speaker; this is in the hands of the Republican members of the House…I do know this, that a President Putin who thinks he can outwait us and points to dysfunction in our government or a President Xi who has made the case….that he feels like Western democracies are failing, and at this moment in time…the first time in our history we have a House of Reperesentatives without a Speaker, I think Americans and people around the world [leave in doubt?] what kind of dysfunction, what’s going on, and I just implore our friends in the House and particularly my Republican friends in the House to do their job, let’s get a Speaker in place, let’s make sure that we act. Because at the end of the day, resolutions supporting Israel don’t provide the same kind of assistance as Congress literally passing the funding for our friends, be they in Israel, Ukraine or other places that are being threated by adversial regimes or…terrorists.”

P.S. Also see below for President Biden’s remarks earlier this afternoon. Among other things, President Biden called Hamas terrorist attack “pure, unadulterated evil,” “sheer evil”; an “atrocity”; said “WE STAND WITH ISRAEL” and that “Israel has the right to respond and indeed has the duty to respond to these vicious attacks.”