[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 209 (Thursday, December 21, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8190-S8191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           NATIONAL SECURITY

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise this morning to outline some ideas 
about our national security as we approach the end of the year.
  Many Americans are heading into the holiday season with some very 
reasonable fears about the threats facing our Nation. In 2017, we saw 
an emboldened North Korean regime testing missiles and nuclear weapons. 
Terrorist groups continue to execute attacks across the globe. Violent 
state and nonstate actors continue to destabilize Syria, Afghanistan, 
Ukraine, Yemen, Nigeria, and others. We saw Russia continue meddling in 
elections, just as they did in ours last year.
  This is a year of great volatility and uncertainty. However, we also 
saw the U.S. military leading an international coalition that is 
loosening the stranglehold ISIS had on parts of Iraq and Syria. We saw 
the recovery of American hostages, including constituents of mine, held 
captive for years by terrorists. In Europe, U.S. and NATO forces 
partnered to counter Russian aggression and dispel propaganda. U.S. 
development assistance projects helped hundreds of millions of people 
across the world, including 11 million farmers and 27\1/2\ million 
children under the Feed the Future Program.
  Even when it seemed like there were many reasons to be afraid, the 
U.S. military, diplomats, and development professionals were 
responsible for a lot of good progress this year.
  On Monday of this week, President Trump laid out his administration's 
national security strategy. I commend the work of the national security 
professionals who crafted the document which warrants a thorough 
review. It is a substantial body of work, but it paints a very dark 
picture of the world and our role in it.
  A little more than 2 years ago, I stood on this floor and invoked the 
words of Senator Vandenberg--the Senator from Michigan back in the 
World War II era--for ``maximum united effort'' and Senator 
Vandenberg's admonition that politics should stop at the water's edge. 
When I spoke these words, this was at a time when it seemed the only 
response my Republican colleagues had to the Obama administration's 
foreign policy moves was categorical condemnation.
  I will not categorically condemn the administration's new strategy, 
but I will pose a challenge to reject the false choice between 
investing at home and engaging abroad; utilize our diplomatic and 
development toolkit as much, if not more, than we exercise our defense 
capabilities; lead by example. The world will indeed become a dark 
place if we hide America's light under a bushel basket, to use words 
from Scripture.
  In the face of our adversaries' aggression, we can choose between 
competition and cooperation. The new strategy outlined by the 
administration references competition nearly three times more than 
cooperation. I suggest to the administration the words of President 
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who said: ``Competition has been shown to be 
useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is 
a thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves 
off.''
  Mr. President, I yield to the distinguished Democratic leader.

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