Footage of CODEL meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy: https://x.com/zelenskyyua/status/1761073346169430298?s=46&t=WsP2p747DyFpDh9S-ij_1Q

LVIV, UKRAINE – Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, visited Ukraine as part of a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH).  The Senators are meeting with President Zelenskyy and key Ukrainian leaders -- including Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and General Oleksandr Syrsky.  The trip comes on the heels of bipartisan Senate passage of the National Security Supplemental, which would provide Ukraine with essential aid, including needed weapons and ammunition.

Members of the CODEL, along with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink, held a brief media availability on the ground today, where Senator Reed delivered remarks.  A transcript of Senator Reed’s statement follows:

U.S. SENATOR JACK REED: Thank you, Leader [Schumer]. Thank you, Ambassador [Brink]. My colleagues, thank you.

I particularly want to thank all of my colleagues, especially Senator Schumer, for their great leadership in getting the supplemental package through the United States Senate.

Ukraine's fight is our fight. It’s the fight for democracy everywhere. Because with Putin's barbaric attack against Ukraine, he signaled that he was attacking decency and democracy throughout the world.

We understand if he succeeds in Ukraine, he will not stop. He will continue to undermine democracies throughout this region, and his actions will probably be imitated by countries around the globe, authoritarian countries that wish to overcome their neighbors.

But fortunately for the whole world, courageous Ukrainians stood up to Putin, led with courage and great, great determination by President Zelenskyy and we salute that courage and we salute your president.

What you are doing today is protecting not just Ukraine, but every democracy throughout the world. It's no surprise that the Russians are being aided by China, North Korea, Iran. This is a conflict that is global between democracies and autocracies, between countries that believe in the dignity of the individual and those countries that believe it is just a matter of the power of the emperor or the president, supposedly. We have a fight that is global in nature. Now, without our supplies, Ukraine will fail. With our supplies and resources Ukraine will triumph.

Ukraine will triumph. NATO will be stronger.  Democracies everywhere will take a sigh of relief and feel more confident, much more confident about the future.

Now, the United States today -- and now it is in the hands of Speaker Johnson -- is asked to send resources, give the Ukrainians the tools and the weapons to fight the fight. And they will succeed.

If we do not do that, we will soon be asked to send young Americans.  Because he [Putin] will not stop with Ukraine.

And as someone who had the privilege of leading young Americans in our Army, I would much rather send resources to the courageous Ukrainian people than the sons and daughters of our country.

So the choice should be very clear to Speaker Johnson and to every American: Do we want to support democracy and freedom and respect the courage of Ukraine? Or do you want to simply capitulate to a barbaric attack by Putin?  Which would be a precursor to other attacks.

I think it's pretty clear we must help Ukraine and we must do it now.