McConnell: Growing National Security Challenges Will Not Solve Themselves
‘The world is asking not when or how but whether the world’s greatest superpower will start acting like one… Which makes our work on supplemental national security legislation even more urgent. Beginning at the southern border, we must demonstrate that America is up for the challenges we face.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding government funding and national security:
“I’d like to begin by wishing our colleagues a very happy new year and welcoming everyone back to begin a new session.
“There’s a tremendous amount on the Senate’s plate, beginning with the unfinished business of the year that just ended.
“Yesterday, negotiators announced they had agreed on a path to completing full-year appropriations for the fiscal year that began three months ago.
“Delivering on this basic governing responsibility in a timely manner has proven a rough row to hoe, and building broad recognition of the most urgent priorities facing our nation remains difficult.
“Here’s the truth: threats to U.S. national security are growing, and the Biden Administration’s habit of proposing real-dollar cuts to defense funding is a streak that must end at three.
“With its forthcoming budget request for fiscal year 2025, the Administration needs to finally start taking the long-term needs of America’s national security seriously.
“But Congress’ most immediate opportunity to address urgent national security priorities will be supplemental legislation in the coming weeks.
“I was encouraged to see that Senator Lankford and our Democratic colleagues made progress toward an agreement to put meaningful border security policy at the heart of this supplemental.
“As negotiations continued over the holiday break, Customs and Border Protection reported that December set a new all-time monthly tally for southern border apprehensions. The Biden Administration’s border crisis is not going to fix itself, and the status quo is unacceptable.
“The answer, as Republicans have been saying for years now, is to restore meaningful border enforcement and fix the broken policies that the cartels are exploiting to devastating effect. And I’m grateful to Senator Lankford for continuing to insist on such commonsense steps at the negotiating table.
“The stakes here are quite high.
“We have an opportunity to make the most comprehensive headway on border security in a generation.
“But our national security challenges do not end at our land borders.
“The threats we face are intertwined. And the coming days will show the world whether America is willing to treat them accordingly.
“Allies and adversaries alike will be curious what we do with news that Russia is now attacking targets in Ukraine with ballistic missiles supplied by the rogue regime in North Korea – following the suicide drones provided by Iran.
“Yet again, it is abundantly clear that authoritarians support authoritarians.
“As if our clear-eyed Pacific partners like Japan, South Korea, and Australia needed more evidence that what happens in Ukraine matters in their own neighborhood.
“As if we needed yet another reminder that facing down an expanding industrial base in Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea will require America and our allies and partners to invest more seriously in our own defense capacity.
“Meanwhile, terrorists in Yemen are spelling out in painful detail just how wide the ripples of Iran’s war machine extend.
“The world’s most active state sponsor of terror isn’t just a destabilizing force in the Middle East. Tehran isn’t just sowing chaos for American-minded partners in the region.
“Tehran’s bloody influence isn’t even limited to helping train the Hamas and PIJ terrorists who conducted the horrific massacre of Israeli Jews on October 7th.
“Or to building Hizballah into a top-tier international terrorist organization…
“Or to the repeated attacks its proxies have carried out against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria.
“The Houthis’ campaign against civilian ships in the Red Sea is an assault on the global economy that the world has no choice but to address.
“Once more, an adversary’s initiative has forced a reluctant Administration to act.
“With fawning conciliation and half-measures, the Biden Administration has squandered deterrence against Iran.
“Russia is openly mocking the fickleness of Western support for Ukraine.
“And China, our single greatest strategic adversary, is watching closely to see if America can still manage to lead or sustain credible resistance to authoritarian violence.
“So Madam President, these are the stakes after three years of this Administration’s foreign policy. The world is asking not when or how but whether the world’s greatest superpower will start acting like one…
“Which makes our work on supplemental national security legislation even more urgent. Beginning at the southern border, we must demonstrate that America is up for the challenges we face.
“The Senate cannot afford to get this wrong.”
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Related Issues: America's Military, Border Security, National Security, China, Russia, Israel, Ukraine, Iran
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