[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 101 (Thursday, June 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4033-S4035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Foreign Policy

  Mr. President, since this administration--the Biden administration--
came into office, I and a number of Senators,

[[Page S4034]]

Democrats and Republicans, have been trying to work with them on a 
number of important foreign policy issues, particularly as it relates 
to China.
  The President is now in Europe, and a couple days ago, he wrote an 
op-ed in the Washington Post where he stated that the United States 
must lead the world from positions of strength.
  By the way, his National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, also has 
made this argument. It is actually a really good argument, that the 
United States needs to lead the world, particularly competition with 
countries like Russia and China, from positions of strength. I couldn't 
agree with that more.
  But let me just talk about two areas where we have strength relative 
to any other country in the world and where this administration is not 
reinforcing that but is undermining it. And I really, really hope they 
change. Let me begin with the obvious one in terms of our foreign 
relations and national security--the U.S. military.
  We have a position of strength; there is no doubt about it. We have 
the finest fighting force in the world, maybe in the history of the 
world. We need to continue to lead with strength and value the men and 
women who raise their right hand and volunteer for this incredible 
fighting force, not with words but, most important, with actions and 
with funding.
  Here is where this administration is clearly missing the mark. This 
is a breakdown of the Biden administration's blowout $6 trillion 
budget. As you can see, it lays out priorities, and I think we can all 
agree that if you look at this chart, the military and national defense 
are simply not priorities. To the contrary, they are dead last in terms 
of this administration's priorities.
  Look at this. Every Agency you can imagine--Commerce, HHS, EPA, 
Interior--there are double-digit--20 percent or more--increases in 
their budget. Where are the two national security Agencies in the Biden 
administration's priorities? They are down here. Actually, we see a 2-
percent increase in Defense, a 0.2-percent increase in Homeland 
Security, but inflation is now estimated at 4.2 percent, so the numbers 
here are actually declines--inflation-adjusted decreases in the 
Department of Defense's budget and Homeland Security's budget. Dead 
last.
  We had an Armed Services hearing today with the Secretary of Defense 
and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs--two gentlemen I have a lot of 
respect for. They have a tough job because they had to come up to the 
Hill and pitch this budget, when I believe they didn't agree with that 
budget. I don't think Secretary Austin and General Milley want to cut 
defense spending, but guess what--that is what they had to pitch today
  In the hearing, I asked them this question. Budgets are a reflection 
of an administration's priority. If you look at this chart, it is clear 
that the Biden administration prioritizes defense spending in our 
military and our national security last--dead last. So my question to 
them was, how can you tell our troops that we are prioritizing their 
mission, defending America, when it is clear, again, from this document 
and from the Biden administration's budget that it is dead last? To be 
respectful to General Milley and Secretary Austin, they didn't have a 
very good answer because there is no good answer. There is no good 
answer.
  But we know that one country is prioritizing their defense spending.
  I also showed General Milley and Secretary Austin this chart. This 
chart, if you look at it, is where the U.S. annual change in defense 
spending is--that is the blue--and where the Communist Party of China's 
annual defense spending is. That is the red.
  Again, if you take a look, these big declines here, that is the 
second term of the Obama administration, where they cut defense 
spending in the United States by 25 percent. Not good. Not good for our 
troops. The increases here are when the Republicans had control of the 
U.S. Senate during the Trump administration era, when we were 
increasing our defense spending and increasing readiness. And now we 
are starting to go back to the previous Biden-Obama era of cutting 
defense spending. What have the Chinese been doing? Every year, at 
least 6 percent and sometimes 12, 13 percent.
  Again, this is not being from a position of strength for the United 
States, as the President of the United States says we must.
  Let me just make one final point in another area in terms of a 
position of strength. One of the other areas of our country's strength 
right now--and nobody disagrees with it--is in the area of energy. In 
the last 10 years, we have had an energy renaissance in our country, 
turning us into a true global superpower of energy: Largest producer of 
natural gas in the world; bigger than Russia. Largest producer of oil 
in the world; bigger than Saudi Arabia. Largest producer of renewables 
in the world. All of the above.
  Our country has been trying to get to this point where we are the 
world's energy superpower--again, we were in this position during World 
War II--for the last several decades, and this has always been a 
bipartisan endeavor. Jimmy Carter wanted energy independence, and so 
did every other President before and after him, and we are there.
  But we are on the cusp of seeing this enormous strategic advantage to 
our Nation, to working families, to our environment, disappear. Why? 
Because the Biden administration is restricting energy production in 
America, is having senior officials like John Kerry and Gina McCarthy 
go to Wall Street and tell our Wall Street executives: Don't invest in 
the energy sector, and they are stopping the permitting of pipelines 
where we need to move our energy. In fact, the President is fine with 
killing the Keystone Pipeline and the 10,000 jobs that go with it but 
is approving the Russian Nord Stream Pipeline. That is a gift to 
President Putin.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
a Wall Street Journal editorial today entitled ``America's Energy Gift 
to Dictators.'
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                     [From the Wall Street Journal]

                   America's Energy Gift to Dictators

                        (By The Editorial Board)

  China, Russia and Iran will exploit the US. retreat on fossil fuels:

       The U.S. is barreling toward one of the greatest self-
     inflicted wounds in its history. This came into sharper focus 
     last week when President Biden suspended oil leases in 
     Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), even as 
     Russia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting 
     Countries (OPEC) announced production increases.
       Mr. Biden's anti-carbon fusillade will have no effect on 
     the climate as global demand for fossil fuel will continue to 
     increase for decades no matter what the U.S. does. Meantime, 
     Russia, China and Iran will take advantage of America's 
     astonishing fossil-fuel retreat.
       Not long ago, the U.S. depended on OPEC for much of its oil 
     supply. But hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling 
     enabled producers to extract oil and natural gas once 
     believed unrecoverable. Shale frackers from North Dakota to 
     Texas unleashed a surge of oil and gas onto global markets, 
     breaking OPEC's dominance on supply. OPEC tried to break U.S. 
     producers by flooding markets, but frackers became more 
     efficient. By 2019 the U.S. was producing nearly two-and-a-
     half times as much crude as in 2008. OPEC and Russia have had 
     to limit their production to lift prices to shore up budgets 
     that depend on petrodollars.
       U.S. producers reduced investment during the pandemic as 
     demand plunged. While prices have since recovered to a two-
     year high, a larger U.S. retrenchment driven by government 
     and progessive investors is on the way.
       Two weeks ago the hedge fund Engine No. 1 allied with big 
     asset managers, government pension fund and proxy advisers 
     ousted three Exxon Mobil board members in a climate proxy 
     battle. Shareholders also passed a resolution requiring 
     Chevron to reduce its downstream emissions. The latter is a 
     de facto mandate to withdraw from oil and gas.
       America's big banks have red-lined U.S. coal companies and 
     refused to finance oil projects in ANWR, which the 2017 GOP 
     tax reform opened up to development. Now the Biden 
     Administration is trying to wall off the Arctic again as it 
     launches a regulatory assault on fossil fuels--from tighter 
     emission rules to endangered-species protections.
       The anti-carbon left says the U.S. must banish fossil fuels 
     to meet the Paris goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 
     degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial temperatures. This 
     is incompatible with a worldwide population that is expected 
     to grow by two billion by 2050. It would require an enormous 
     reorganization of the global economy that would keep billions 
     in poverty.
       Electric vehicles would have to make up 60% of worldwide 
     car sales by 2030, according to a recent International Energy 
     Agency report. ``You have 800 million people who do not have 
     access to electricity. You can't say that they have to go to 
     net zero [carbon]. They have to develop,'' Indian Minister of

[[Page S4035]]

     New and Renewable Energy Raj Kumar Singh said in March.
       Unless there is some technology breakthrough, demand for 
     fossil fuels will continue to grow for decades. And Russia 
     and China will take advantage of U.S. energy disarmament. 
     Russian oil giant Rosneft warned last fall that retrenchment 
     by U.S. and European companies would result in higher prices 
     and shortages. ``Someone will need to step in,'' Rosneft 
     senior executive Didier Casimiro said.
       In November Rosneft announced a $170 billion oil and gas 
     project in Russia's north, which it claims can supply the 
     entire world's oil demand for a year. It says the project 
     will become the world's largest liquefied natural gas 
     producer by 2030. Russia is also laying down thousands of 
     miles of oil and gas pipelines to supply Europe and Asia.
       Vladimir Putin is gloating that Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas 
     pipeline to Germany will soon be finished, as Mr. Biden has 
     refused to sanction Russian companies running the project. 
     But he didn't care about upsetting Canada when he killed the 
     Keystone XL pipeline. Nor Alaskans when he suspended the ANWR 
     leases. Mr. Biden wants to curtail North American energy 
     development while he stands by as Russia uses its natural 
     resources for strategic gain.
       That includes coal, by the way. Russia is spending more 
     than $10 billion on railroad upgrades to boost its coal 
     exports. According to a new report by the Global Energy 
     Monitor, coal producers--in Australia, China, India, Russia 
     and South Africa--are planning mining projects that would 
     increase global output by 30%. China has 112 coal mines under 
     construction. It is also developing shale.
       Progressives want to surrender one of America's major 
     strategic economic advantages in the name of saving the 
     climate. But banishing fossil fuels in the U.S. won't 
     eliminate carbon emissions, which will be produced somewhere 
     else. So will the jobs, economic growth and geopolitical 
     leverage.

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, here is how this excellent editorial 
begins:

       The U.S. is barreling toward one of the greatest self-
     inflicted wounds in our country's history.

  I could not agree more.
  The editorial goes on to list the different actions that I just 
mentioned--restricting energy production in America, including in 
Alaska, with ANWR, restricting pipelines, encouraging defunding of the 
energy sector. It is not good for the country.
  The editorial also notes that this will have no impact on global 
greenhouse gas emissions. None. None. It is virtue signaling at the 
expense of working families, working Americans, and our national 
security.
  Right now, we are beginning to import more oil from Russia than we 
ever have. How does that make any sense? How does that help a working 
family in Alaska or Maryland or anywhere? It doesn't. It does one 
thing: It empowers countries like Russia and Putin and Saudi Arabia at 
the expense of the United States. This is a fact. Yet, every day you 
hear a new action. You read a new quote from someone in this 
administration focused on killing the energy sector of the United 
States. Again, as the Wall Street Journal just mentioned, this will be 
recognized in history as one of the greatest self-inflicted wounds, 
with no upside. No upside.
  We have the highest environmental standards in the world in Alaska 
when we produce oil. Highest in the world. Russians have the lowest, 
and yet we are now preferring Russian oil over American oil.

  Can anyone tell me how this makes sense? It doesn't.
  Here is how the editorial concludes:

       Progressives want to surrender one of America's [most] 
     strategic economic advantages in the name of [so-called] 
     saving the climate. But banishing fossil fuels in the [United 
     States] won't eliminate carbon emissions, which will [just] 
     be produced [elsewhere]. So will . . . jobs [and] economic 
     growth and [the] geopolitical [advantage that comes with our 
     energy dominance].

  Let me conclude by saying this. As I mentioned, I agree with 
President Biden and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. We need to 
address challenges, particularly with our adversaries like China and 
Russia, from positions of strength. Two of the most prominent positions 
of strength--the U.S. military and our energy dominance--right now are 
being undermined by this very administration.
  They need to change course, and if they do, we will support their 
actions.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana is recognized.