[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                AMERICAN LEADERSHIP ON THE GLOBAL STAGE

  (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, as the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs 
Committee, I am absolutely flabbergasted at the announcement that just 
came out of the White House that President Trump is canceling his 
meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea.
  The world held out hope that the Trump administration's diplomatic 
engagement with North Korea would bear fruit. But you cannot have thin 
skin if you want to make progress with a difficult adversary such as 
the Kim regime. Imagine how different the course of history would look 
if every chance for peace was scuttled because one party was too mean 
to the other.
  To make matters worse, the President's bizarre letter returns to the 
same bellicose rhetoric that last year heightened tensions and raised 
the specter of war. Any type of military conflict on the Korean 
peninsula would come with horrific consequences.
  After a year of alienating friends and allies, unwinding our 
commitments, and drawing back from the world stage, it is clear what 
the Trump motto of ``America First'' actually means ``America Lashing 
Out,'' leaving America last and alone.
  American leadership on the global stage has been laid low, not by a 
rival, but by a President who has sidelined diplomacy, shut out 
expertise, and thrown out any rational approach to making policy.

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