[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 127 (Monday, July 20, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4259-S4260]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  Mr. ROMNEY. Mr. President, I rise to address the administration's 
plan to withdraw some 10,000 troops from Germany, and I rise to advance 
a bipartisan amendment to slow that process down and potentially even 
to stop it.
  The administration explains that Germany needs to get to 2 percent of 
its spending on military matters, a direction I support. Germany is 
already at 1.5 percent and is on track to get to get to 2 percent.
  By all appearances, the withdrawal of 10,000 troops in Germany is a 
very bad idea. First of all, it is a slap in the face at a key ally, a 
friend, and a great country. This country is an economic powerhouse. It 
is dynamic and productive people who have created that economic 
vitality. It has been driven to global leadership not by virtue of 
having cheap labor or polluting the air with pollutants or 
CO2.

  China buys more from Germany than Germany buys from China. Why? Not 
because Germany threatens China but because Germany is making products 
that China wants. It is a democracy noted for its strong, steady, and 
firm leader. Germany pays an equal share to the United States into 
NATO, and NATO, of course, has preserved peace in Europe for over 70 
years.
  Now is also a time to draw our friends closer and to link arms with 
our allies, in part because of China's ambition to become the dominant 
player on the Earth, to displace the West, to displace the United 
States, and to supplant democracy with authoritarian despotism. China 
brutally represses its minorities. The Uighurs, we read, even today are 
being forced into labor. China invades sovereign lands and nations of 
its neighbors. It is propagandizing our children here through Confucius 
Institutes. It steals technology in our country and other countries in 
the West, and it attacks our cyber bases relentlessly day in and day 
out.
  Its military procurement is equal to that--or nearly so--of the 
United States. Even though we spend far more money than they do on 
military, as reported, our procurement budgets procure about the same 
amount of military hardware.
  Of course, the tip of its spear is its economic predation. China has 
attacked one industry after another, and through subsidy and predatory 
pricing techniques, it has driven western businesses out of business. 
In my view, to divert China from that dangerous path, we need allies--
allies like Germany.
  Now, there is a second reason that I am opposed to this idea of 
withdrawing troops from Germany, and that is, it is a heck of a time to 
give a gift to Russia. We just learned about Russia's support of the 
Taliban--even reports that they may have been paying bounties for 
killing Americans. Russia has stepped in to support some of the world's 
worst actors, like Assad and Maduro. It has invaded Georgia and 
Ukraine, and it violates nearly every arms agreement it enters into.

[[Page S4260]]

  It is a wounded and declining nation. It has an uncompetitive 
economy. Senator McCain used to joke that Russia is a gas station 
pretending to be a country. Its declining population, of course, 
contributes to its decline. Nations in decline may lash out, and that 
is what we have seen time and again.
  This is a time not to give a gift to Russia but to show solidarity 
with our dear friends, like the people of Germany.
  One final reason: Germans welcome American troops in their country, 
and our presence there is of enormous aid to our own military. In 
Landstuhl, we have a hospital that cares for some 250,000 military 
personnel and their families across Europe. We also care for those who 
come in injured from Afghanistan or Iraq. It is a staging area for 
training exercises that are done with NATO. It is a central hub for our 
troops in the EU and the Middle East and Africa. In Stuttgart, the 
European Command, the African Command, and the Special Ops Command are 
there. Ramstein Air Base is the largest in Europe for our Nation. It 
also hosts extensive infrastructure of schools, housing, hospitals, and 
airport maintenance. Moving from those facilities--it would be 
expensive and wasteful to abandon them.
  Finally, we are so welcomed by the German people that the leaders of 
their various states--their state premiers wrote a letter to the 
Senate, and it said this: ``Do not sever the bond of friendship'' 
between the United States and Germany. I also got a personal letter 
from leaders in Germany saying: Do not do this. This sends exactly the 
wrong message at the wrong time.
  To slap an ally, a great friend, and a great country like Germany and 
at the same time give a gift to a malevolent adversary like Russia is 
ill-conceived and ill-considered. I implore the Senate to consider an 
amendment to slow this process down and to study it.
  There is a real question as to whether there will be a chance for a 
vote of such a nature. In my view, the Senate needs to speak on 
something of such magnitude. This is a matter of extraordinary 
significance to American foreign policy. How could we possibly allow 
the administration to make a decision like this without the input of 
the Senate?
  We must vote on this. I will be satisfied if we come together as a 
body and vote no. People say: No, let the President take out the 10,000 
troops. But I won't be satisfied if we don't get a chance to even vote 
on this.
  We have a national defense authorization amendment coming forward. 
This is the time for this amendment to be seen on the Senate floor or 
in the managers' package. Barring that, I don't see how I can support 
the managers' package. I don't see how I can support, as a Senator, 
proceeding without taking up this vital provision of our support for 
our friend Germany, of our support for our interests in NATO, the 
interests of our military, as well as our desire not to give Russia a 
gift, particularly at a time when America has been silent as Russia has 
been supporting the Taliban and potentially even paying hostages to 
kill Americans.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Boozman). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum 
call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sullivan). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Alexander pertaining to the introduction of S. 
4231 are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.''
  Mr. ALEXANDER. I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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