McConnell Remarks To Copenhagen Democracy Summit
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) recorded the following remarks for release today at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit:
“Hello, I’m Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican Leader of the U.S. Senate. It’s an honor to be speaking to friends and allies at such a pivotal moment.
“Today, we’re facing grave threats to the prevailing international order that the United States and allied democracies fought to establish after World War II.
“It was a decade ago, as Russia’s ‘little green men’ invaded the Crimea and Donbas regions of Ukraine, that then-NATO Secretary General Rasmussen warned allies that it was time to take the obligations of collective defense more seriously. As he put it, ‘in the long run, a lack of security would be more costly than investing now.’
“Of course, the distinguished host of this Summit was exactly right.
“But two years ago, as Putin escalated his invasion of Ukraine, we saw that too few of our allies had heeded this prescient advice. Too many of the world’s most advanced, prosperous, and capable societies had fallen asleep to the basic requirements of their own security – let alone the collective demands of the trans-Atlantic alliance.
“As a committed advocate for NATO, that’s why I went to meet allies in Munich last year. The holiday from history was already over. But some of its habits lingered.
“I thought it was important for the future of trans-Atlantic security cooperation that I convey the strength of the bipartisan resolve in Washington. And it was essential that allies on both sides of the Atlantic acted on the lessons of war in Ukraine – from recognizing the growing coordination among our adversaries to making the urgent investments required to meet them.
“Today, the United States continues to make necessary but insufficient progress toward addressing our own national security needs. As you know, we just approved a major supplemental investment in both the front-line defenses of our allies and partners and in our own capabilities and defense industrial capacity.
“I was proud to lead this effort and demonstrate to the world that America’s commitments carry weight. And I was particularly proud that, in the process of delivering these resources, support among my fellow Republicans in the Senate actually grew. A significant majority of my party voted for this legislation despite significant differences with the President’s party on foreign policy.
“Soon, we expect cutting-edge U.S. capabilities to reach the front lines in Ukraine, backfilling Israel’s defenses, and helping equip Taiwan and other vulnerable Asian democracies to face down future aggression.
“But for the purposes of the trans-Atlantic alliance, the ‘why’ is just as important as the ‘what’.
“America isn’t making major investments in the arsenal of democracy out of a sense of charity. We’re not backing allies and partners out of some theological belief in the so-called rules-based international order.
“We’re doing it because the rules of the international system are not self-enforcing. The prevailing order will not lead or preserve itself.
“We’re re-investing in hard power because it’s in our clear national security interest to do so. And the same must be true for our allies.
“The authoritarian regimes that want to undermine Western peace and prosperity are working together. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and a web of terrorist proxies are aiding one another’s attempts to weaken us.
“Maintaining the security and stability of our closest trading partners is in America’s interests. So is standing with an ally fighting terrorists who want to erase it from the map. So is deepening security cooperation with friends threatened by Chinese aggression. So is upholding the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation. And so is rebuilding our capacity to credibly deter threats – or to decisively defeat them if deterrence fails.
“Of course, this same calculus should apply to our closest allies. If holding Russian aggression at bay in Ukraine is in your interests, then so is investing in the industrial capacity to rebuild your own credible defenses. And if reducing reliance on Russian energy is in your interests, then so is reducing reliance on Chinese technologies and making your economies resistant to Chinese predation and espionage.
“Our friends in the Indo-Pacific are showing by their words and their actions that they understand what Russian aggression and European instability mean for their own futures. The trans-Atlantic alliance must recognize the threats running in the opposite direction as well, and act accordingly.
“China is a systemic rival, whether we choose to acknowledge it publicly or not.
“Hardening our economies and supply chains is not just a good idea. It’s urgently necessary.
“Rebuilding capable militaries backed by well-resourced industrial bases is not a task for tomorrow. I’m very encouraged by European allies’ commitments to change how they invest in their defenses. But the challenge before us is to do even more, to do it faster, and to build these investments into base budgets, not ephemeral special funds.
“We need to reform our defense bureaucracies to move at the speed of relevance.
We need to incentivize our industries to expand production lines for critical military capabilities.
“And we need to work more closely together, as allies, to share defense technology and improve interoperability.
“The decisions allies are making right now are determining the course of today’s fight against Russian aggression and tomorrow’s challenge of preserving peace in the Pacific.
“So I’ll continue to champion the sort of American leadership that has guided the trans-Atlantic alliance for decades. But I’m proud to stand with our allies at the cusp of even deeper commitments to facing down global challenges together.”
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Related Issues: Ukraine, Iran, China, NATO, National Security, Russia
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