[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 185 (Monday, November 13, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7170-S7171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        President's Trip to Asia

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I am going to spend the bulk of my time 
this afternoon focusing on the tax plan, but first I must address 
President Trump's trip to Asia.
  Without exaggeration, the President's trip to Asia has been one of 
the most embarrassing foreign trips a President has taken in my memory. 
It shows when it comes to foreign policy, President Trump is not ready 
for prime time.
  After a campaign in which he routinely criticized China--rightly, in 
my opinion--for rapacious trading practices that have stolen American 
jobs and depressed American wages, President Trump went to China and 
gave them a get-out-of-jail-free card. Instead of speaking sternly and 
truthfully to the Chinese leaders about the realities of our unbalanced 
and unfair trade system--where we play by the rules, and they do not; 
we lose jobs, they gain them--President Trump tried to appease the 
Chinese and their leader.
  Instead of demanding concessions on trade, instead of demanding the 
same equal access to markets we provide Chinese firms, instead of 
addressing the sordid history of intellectual property theft and 
extortion, President Trump was eager to let China off the hook, saying 
it was ``not their fault'' but rather the failure of American 
Presidents. Imagine blaming America for the Chinese trade imbalance and 
letting China get off scot-free. Is that putting America first?
  President Xi flattered President Trump, and he fell for it hook, 
line, and sinker. From each of his interactions with President Xi, 
President Trump has only gotten flattery, pomp, and circumstance but 
nothing for the American worker--nothing.
  If he keeps this approach up with a growing economic power like 
China, President Trump will be the author of a new international 
reality: America second.
  Concerning the situation on the Korean Peninsula, instead of working 
toward a new meaningful understanding of how to best deal with North 
Korea, President Trump traded petty barbs with the President of North 
Korea on Twitter. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine if this was 
the way Roosevelt behaved toward Stalin or Eisenhower toward Khrushchev 
or Kennedy toward Castro. This is below the dignity of the Office of 
President of the United States, and it erodes America's power in the 
world.
  Worst of all, again, President Trump seemed to instinctively accept 
the word of President Putin against 17 U.S. intelligence agencies about 
whether Russia interfered in our election. We know that Russia 
interfered with our elections. Our entire intelligence community--17 
agencies--has concluded it. Why does President Trump continue to give 
President Putin the benefit of the doubt while discrediting and 
demeaning American intelligence officers? It is shameful, unpatriotic--
deeply unpatriotic--and he only halfheartedly walked back his comment 
after the fact. Every American should wonder why President Trump goes 
to such great lengths to avoid criticizing President Putin.
  After 8 years of Republicans questioning President Obama's toughness 
with foreign leaders--an attack that I give no credence to by 
repeating--it seems that President Trump, not President Obama, is the 
one who is afraid to take on America's adversaries. He forgives China 
and cozies up to President Putin.
  For the steelworker in Ohio or in Upstate New York whose job is on 
the line

[[Page S7171]]

because China is dumping cheap steel and aluminum into our markets, 
that is not good enough. For every American concerned about the 
sanctity of our elections, that is not good enough. When it comes to 
standing up for the needs of the American worker, for American firms, 
and for American consumers, when it comes to standing up for American 
democracy, this President needs to wake up and toughen up.