McConnell: National Security Challenges Require Urgent Investment
‘America can choose, as it has nearly done before over the course of our history, to stick her head in the sand. … But to do that now would be to ignore the basic fact that expanding America’s defense industrial base and equipping our friends to resist and deter aggression are not competing priorities but complementary ones.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security priorities:
“Two months ago, the Senate passed a national security supplemental that reflected the clear links between the challenges we face. That was by design.
“America’s adversaries, from Beijing to Pyongyang and Moscow to Tehran, are actually working together. They’re reinforcing one another’s efforts to sap our resolve, shatter our influence, and remake the rules of the road on their terms. And anyone pretending that we can address these challenges individually, at our leisure, is only kidding themselves.
“As I’ve said before, this isn’t a matter of philosophical differences. The truth is plainly evident.
“If you want to see the world the way our adversaries do, trace the trade of Chinese cash for sanctioned Iranian energy. Watch the trainloads of North Korean artillery arrive at the front lines of Putin’s onslaught in Ukraine. Follow the flows of drones to the Russian military – they’re the same ones Iran launched at Israel this weekend.
“Or pay attention to the words and actions of America’s friends.
“Listen to the way our Indo-Pacific allies describe the stakes of Ukraine’s defense for the prospects of deterrence in their own region.
“And watch the way they invest their resources – both in modernizing their capabilities and in helping Ukraine beat back aggression halfway around the world.
“America can choose, as it has nearly done before over the course of our history, to stick her head in the sand. To refuse to invest seriously in our own defense and in the alliances and partnerships that underpin it. To deny that a century of prosperity was purchased by American leadership and vigilance.
“But to do that now would be to ignore the basic fact that expanding America’s defense industrial base and equipping our friends to resist and deter aggression are not competing priorities but complementary ones.
“Helping Ukraine has accelerated important programs to arm our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
“It has called the attention of Pentagon officials, defense industry leaders, and members of Congress to glaring gaps in our capability and production capacity.
“And the Senate-passed supplemental would further expand the capacity of the arsenal of democracy.
“Of course, this isn’t a one-off responsibility. The supplemental will not magically fix decades of underinvestment. And the Administration and Congress will need to commit to taking our military requirements for missile defenses, long-range fires, and other critical military capabilities more seriously.
“But to continue to neglect the task in front of Congress right now would only compound the problem.
“Hesitation and indecision have prevented Ukraine from taking the fight aggressively to Putin’s invaders. And if our friends are digging new defensive fortifications today, it’s because they’re starving for the munitions that would have helped them hold the ones they had already built on the front lines.
“Addressing the linked threats to America’s national security interests isn’t about cooking up ‘bogus justifications’. It’s about dealing with the world as it is.
“Our House colleagues will soon record whether they’re prepared to do exactly that.”
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Related Issues: America's Military, China, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Israel, National Security
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