[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 130 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   PRINCIPLES FOR A NATIONAL STRATEGY

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                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 31, 2008

  Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to speak about how the 
United States can best advance its national interests by adopting a new 
strategy. In my prior speeches, I have asserted that we currently lack 
an effective strategy and that the next President should engage in a 
focused effort, in concert with Congress and the American people, to 
identify and adopt a new strategy early in his Administration. I have 
noted that we live in a time when the U.S. is the world's preeminent 
power, but also in a time when transnational events are increasingly 
significant and in which several large nations, and some entire regions 
of the world, are returning to prominence. All of this stresses the 
international system.
  I have asserted that the U.S. should continue to accept the challenge 
of world leadership, serving as the world's indispensable nation, just 
as we have for the free world since the end of the Second World War; 
that we should fulfill this role not to seek or to maintain power for 
power's sake, but by earning the mantle of leadership. We should 
advance our national interests not at the expense of others, but 
wherever possible in cooperation with them, as part of an international 
system that offers fairness and opportunity to all nations.
  So, I advise the next President, whoever it may be, to embark upon a 
process modeled on President Eisenhower's Project Solarium in order to 
develop a new strategy for America. In Project Solarium, President 
Eisenhower selected three of our Nation's top strategic thinkers to 
gather teams to study, propose, and report back to him on a national 
security policy. Should our future President follow this model, I 
recommend that he judge those new proposals against a simple set of 
principles:
  1. The first priority of the Federal Government is the protection of 
the U.S. homeland and its citizens.
  2. The foundation for continued U.S. leadership is the strength of 
our economy and our commitment to our values and principles.
  3. Do not let an outside power dominate Europe or the Western 
Pacific, and in addition maintain freedom of the seas.
  4. U.S. world leadership should be earned by virtue of the esteem 
other nations hold for us, engendered by our productivity and moral 
leadership, and not through a self-justifying hegemony which views the 
peaceful rise of other nations as an inherent threat.
  5. Insulate the Western Hemisphere from hostile outside powers with a 
collaborative approach.
  6. Transnational events that can undermine States and challenge or 
dislocate large numbers of people--the AIDS pandemic, terrorism, and 
global climate change to give a few examples--should be addressed by 
international coalitions coordinating globally, using the full range of 
national power.
  7. Our military strength serves as both a source of deterrence for 
would-be aggressors, and reassurance for our friends and allies, but 
military action is a last resort. When it is used--whether multilateral 
or unilateral--strict adherence to the essential strategic tenets 
propounded by Sun Tzu and Clausewitz is mandatory.
  These principles do not in and of themselves define our strategy, for 
they leave many questions unanswered. What kind of international 
institutions, coalitions and alliances are essential? What red lines 
should trigger a certain U.S. response, even if it must be a unilateral 
response? How do we define what constitutes a fair opportunity to 
advance for those nations which perceive their current share of the 
world's resources as inadequate? And what transnational events require 
a concerted international response? These are judgments for the next 
President; he should make them with input from a wide variety of 
sources. I ask all of my colleagues and all of those who have listened 
to these speeches to take part in a dialogue to help forge a new 
national consensus on a clear cut strategy that fulfills our principles 
and helps us answer these hard questions, ultimately guiding us to 
policies that are wise and just.

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