[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 123 (Monday, October 4, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10294-S10295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SENATOR KERRY'S GLOBAL TEST

  Mr. McConnell. Mr. President, during last week's Presidential debate, 
the junior Senator from Massachusetts claimed that he would only use 
preemptive force to protect the American people if that use of force 
passed something he called a ``global test``.
  Let me repeat exactly what he said, because it is significant and I 
think the American people need to hear it again. When asked by 
moderator James Lehrer if he would use preemptive force, Senator Kerry 
said:

       If and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that 
     passes the test, that passes the global test where your 
     countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing 
     what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did 
     it for legitimate reasons.

  I have another test for Senator Kerry. It is called the ``defense of 
America'' test. It is very simple. There is only one question on the 
final exam: Would you, as President of the United States, do whatever 
it takes to defend the American people from another terrorist attack?
  If a President fails this test, Americans could die. Let me repeat 
that, because this is a very serious matter.
  If a President fails this all-important test, Americans could die.
  Let's look at Senator Kerry's record and see how he scores.
  By insisting that any preemptive strike America might take must pass 
a ``global test,'' Senator Kerry would give France, Germany, or the 
U.N. a veto over America's right to self-defense. The final decision to 
protect America would be made not in the Oval Office but in foreign 
capitals. The final decision to protect America would be made not by an 
elected American President but by an unelected U.N. diplomats.
  If America must submit to a ``global test'' before acting to defend 
herself, we may lose the best opportunity to take preemptive action 
while our ``global test graders'' dither and delay. Our enemies might 
attack while we await our ``global test grade.'' Terrorists who cut 
innocents' heads off--gleefully--on camera--won't hesitate to unleash a 
horrific attack while America waits for its ``global test results.''
  To cover for his global test, last week Senator Kerry claimed he 
would do a better job defending the homeland than President Bush. This 
despite the President's tripling of homeland security funding, creation 
of the Department of Homeland Security, and implementation of the USA 
PATRIOT Act.
  I am more of a football fan than a hockey fan, but let me make this 
analogy. Of course we want as strong a homeland defense as possible. 
But ultimately, homeland defense is like the goalie on a hockey team: a 
last chance to stop the enemy. The only way to win is to go on offense, 
and by subordinating America's right of preemption, Senator Kerry has 
put his team in the penalty box.
  Now, let's suppose Senator Kerry passes his ``global test'' and 
decides to use military force. What kind of military would America 
have, if he had had his way throughout his 20-year career in this body?
  He opposed the B-1 bomber that dropped the bombs to destroy the al-
Qaieda training bases and Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan.
  He opposed the B-2 bomber that drove Saddam Hussein out of his Iraqi 
command posts and down a spider hole.
  He opposed the F-14D Fighter Aircraft that sent missiles into Tora 
Bora in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, who Senator Kerry claims to want 
to find.
  He opposed the Apache helicopter that destroyed the Iraqi Republican 
Guard tanks in Kuwait during the first Persian Gulf war.
  He opposed the Patriot Missiles that America sent our NATO allies to 
block the spreading of the Iron Curtain.
  He has opposed for 20 years a missile defense system, which could be 
the last line of defense were a rogue nation like North Korea ever to 
launch a nuclear weapon.
  In the debate last week, he opposed the bunker-buster weapons that 
can knock loose the terrorists who hide in caves deep under the Afghan 
desert.
  In 1994, after the first attack on the World Trade Center, he 
proposed cutting intelligence funding by a whopping $5 billion, and 
defended his proposal on this very floor by saying, ``the madness must 
end.'' Most Senators from his own party, including Senator Kennedy, 
opposed his proposal.
  He has repeatedly voted against pay raises for the troops now in 
Iraq, choosing instead to boost their morale by telling them they are 
fighting the ``wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.''
  He voted against the $87 billion for our troops in Iraq, even though 
it included body armor for our soldiers. He then claimed this was a 
``protest'' vote. Let me suggest we should never use our troops as 
pawns for protest.
  Now it is time to grade this test. Again, there is only one question. 
Would you, as President of the United States, do whatever it takes to 
defend the American people from another terrorist attack?
  Judging from the best evidence--the only evidence--we have, Senator

[[Page S10295]]

Kerry's votes as recorded in the Congressional Record, it is clear he 
is not ready for the final exam.
  A generation ago, Senator Kerry vigorously attacked America for its 
role in another war. He claims to have moderated his views since then. 
But this ``global test'' is strikingly similar to what he said in 1970: 
``I'd like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the 
directive of the United Nations.'' He hasn't changed. He wants to turn 
our troops into blue-helmeted human shields.
  President Bush is playing offense by taking the fight to the 
terrorists, where they live, and he supports giving our military and 
intelligence forces every last tool they need to win the war on 
terrorism. That is the only way to protect America. Only America has 
the will and the means to protect America from attack, and only this 
American Government has the authority to decide how and when. President 
Bush gets that. Senator Kerry does not.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Warner). The Senator from Wyoming.

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