In New Hampshire, we understand that our commitment to defending freedom and keeping our country safe transcends party lines. We treasure our right to disagree, but we come together at the end of the day to find compromise and protect our fundamental values. We know that for the American people to remain safe, secure, and free, we must stand united when confronted with the violent ambitions and designs of autocrats and terrorists. In this pivotal moment for Ukraine, Israel, and our national security, I urge my colleagues to follow the example of the people of New Hampshire: Stand up for freedom and pass a security assistance package.

As Congress continues to work to pass a package for Ukraine, Israel, and border security, the Ukrainian people are fighting for their continued freedom and survival. Since Vladimir Putin’s tanks first rolled toward Kyiv in February 2022, the Ukrainian people have endured unceasing devastation. Because of the illicit ambitions of one man, Putin, Ukrainian cities have been leveled, Ukrainian children have been kidnapped, and tens of thousands of Ukrainians have been killed.

When Putin’s invasion began, Granite Staters and the American people recognized that we could not allow him to win, Congress backed Ukraine on a bipartisan basis, and President Biden rallied NATO countries, who have delivered unprecedented support for Ukraine. We know that defeating Putin is not just indispensable for the freedom of the Ukrainian people, but also is in our own national security interest. If Putin wins in Ukraine, his gaze could turn toward NATO countries like Poland or Finland that the United States is committed to supporting with our military directly, potentially putting American lives on the line.

America’s continued support of our democratic ally of Israel is also in our own security interest. Hamas’s massacre on October 7 – the systematic murder, abduction, torture, and rape of Israeli civilians in the most violent attack against Jewish people since the Holocaust – was nothing less than barbarism. If we want a world that is free from terrorism – and if we want to prevent Israel’s enemies, including Iran and Hezbollah, from taking advantage of this conflict and starting a regional war – then the United States must continue to support Israel’s right to defend itself, even as we continue to urge Israel to do all that it can to minimize civilian casualties.

This security assistance package can and should also bolster our border security based on the needs that I’ve seen on the ground. There is bipartisan agreement on a number of commonsense ways to increase border security, for instance to securely speed up the processing of asylum seekers and to increase technology at the border in order to crack down on fentanyl trafficking that has devastated communities all across New Hampshire and our country.

However, our continued bipartisan efforts in Congress to support Ukraine, Israel, and American security are now in doubt – particularly as Donald Trump and his allies continue to call for the United States to placate Putin and abandon the Ukrainian people. It is deeply alarming – though not surprising – that a man who calls for overturning our own free and fair elections here in the U.S. and who believes that violence against political opponents is acceptable also regularly praises Vladimir Putin.

However, those who would abandon Ukraine to appease Putin do so at the peril of our own security. While we may hope that events on the other side of the world do not affect us, the history of Europe in the 1930s and 1940s reminds us that it is not so; as Granite Staters know well, freedom must always be protected and the illicit ambitions of an autocrat cannot merely be appeased.

While Senate Republicans this week voted against the security package, we have a responsibility to keep working and get it across the finish line. As we work to find agreement, America’s friends and foes are waiting to see if Americans remain united in our commitment to stand by our allies and stand strong for our national security. Our New Hampshire motto of “Live Free or Die” amounts to more than mere words; it is a recognition that the world’s greatest democracy must not accommodate evil, and that when freedom is on the line, we cannot waver in our resolve. By passing a bipartisan security package, we can demonstrate once again that Americans will stand united to defend our freedom and keep our country safe.