[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 122 (Tuesday, July 13, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4837-S4838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 China

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last night I had an interesting dinner. 
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware and I joined two Republican Senators, 
and we met for dinner with eight Ambassadors from Central and South 
America. It was a rare occurrence which we

[[Page S4838]]

hadn't seen in the last year and a half, the kind of dialogue and 
communication which I think is an important part of my job and an 
important part of understanding the world today.
  They had one consistent message. Despite the fact that they felt a 
closeness to the United States that had been built up over decades of 
generations, there was a new factor in Central and South America which 
each one of them repeated as significant in the future of that region. 
The new factor is the arrival of China.
  In each one of these countries, large and small, China has become a 
player, a force. They have invested their resources in developing an 
economic relationship with these countries, have provided them with 
COVID-19 vaccines when others would not, and were becoming larger and 
larger factors in the future of the economies of these countries.
  Senator Coons said at one point, and I certainly would agree with 
him: We have to take this seriously in the United States. We can't 
assume that long-term relationships and friendships will see us 
through. We need to be actively engaged in strengthening and creating 
alliances with these countries in our hemisphere.
  He added--and I am glad he did--the United States has chosen, over 
recent history, to literally spend trillions of dollars on military 
efforts and those overseas commitments, which is money China wasn't 
spending for the same purpose. China was spending trillions of dollars 
to develop economic relationships, to loan money for infrastructure 
projects in developing countries.
  The United States was spending its money in other places, which takes 
me directly to the statement that was made earlier by the Republican 
Senate leader, Senator McConnell, about Afghanistan. You see, I was 
here on the floor of the Senate when we voted to invade Afghanistan, 
and I voted for it. We were told that al-Qaida was waiting there in 
hiding for the next opportunity to strike America and that if we didn't 
do our part to go after Osama bin Laden, there would be more American 
innocent victims. Overwhelmingly, on a bipartisan vote, a unanimous 
bipartisan vote, in the Senate Chamber, we voted to invade Afghanistan, 
and I was one of those votes.
  Let me quickly add that I was one of 23 who voted against the 
invasion of Iraq. I didn't think the case had been made by the Bush 
administration and still don't.
  But going into Afghanistan was, with the exception of one Member of 
the House, a unanimous bipartisan verdict at that moment in American 
history. As we look back on it now, I don't think a single person who 
voted for the invasion of Afghanistan would have ever guessed that we 
were voting for the longest war in the history of the United States. 
Yes, that is what it turned out to be--over 20 years in the war in 
Afghanistan.
  Well, decisions have been made to change that, and they were not made 
by President Biden alone. They were first made by President Trump. If 
you will remember correctly, he was negotiating with the Taliban for an 
exit strategy, a timetable, to leave Afghanistan, and they were 
reaching agreement on that fact. The Senator from Kentucky didn't dwell 
on that fact, but it is an important one. The decision had been made by 
the Republican administration to leave. Biden inherited it and accepted 
it, and he has been going forward with that.
  Keep in mind, we are not leaving without an effort. It is a supreme 
effort for more than 2,000 Americans who lost their lives in that 
effort in Afghanistan and more than $1 trillion--much more than $1 
trillion--being spent in dedication to that effort over the years. So 
after all that effort, it was clear this long-term war was going to be 
longer still, and the Senator from Kentucky came to the floor today 
with the plea that we should have continued that war in Afghanistan--to 
what end and on what timetable, I have no idea.
  But it is interesting when he mentions the fact that there were 
Afghan citizens helping the United States who were not being treated 
properly. You see, Senator Leahy, the Democratic chairman of the Senate 
Appropriations Committee, has an emergency security supplemental bill, 
which he is trying to move quickly. It has already passed the House. It 
pays for the expenses of January 6 and the mob that invaded the Capitol 
after being inspired by President Trump. But it does more than that. It 
provides resources for those Afghans who did help us in that war to 
protect them.

  I would vote for that in a second, but that emergency supplemental 
has been bogged down by the Republican side of the aisle. And then the 
Republican leader comes and says we are not doing enough for the 
refugees. I commend to him to read the Leahy supplemental 
appropriations. Resources are there for those same refugees. And I 
support that, he should support that and should instruct the Republican 
leader on the Appropriations Committee to join in the effort.