[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 169 (Tuesday, September 28, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6732-S6733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to point out 
the failures of the Biden administration's foreign policies, and 
specifically President Biden's failures in addition to that of his 
administration, because President Biden ran for President based on 
basically two things: what he described as his competence and as his 
foreign policy expertise.
  He has failed miserably at both. It has been nearly a month since 
President Biden withdrew from Afghanistan.
  And what about the Taliban?
  Well, right now, they are more powerful than ever. They have billions 
and billions of dollars' worth of high-tech military equipment. It is 
beyond their wildest dreams.
  Where did they get their weapons?
  Well, they got them from the United States of America.
  As we hear on nightly news broadcasts, and as we know from what we 
are hearing at home, there are hundreds of Americans still stranded 
behind enemy lines. The administration doesn't want to admit a number, 
but there are hundreds of Americans stranded behind enemy lines, if not 
more.
  The detrimental consequences for America are only beginning.
  Our friends are furious. And our enemies? They are emboldened by what 
has happened in Afghanistan.
  Earlier this month, I visited with our NATO allies. Our allies are 
enraged. And a host of foreign policy mistakes by President Biden, in 
my opinion and in theirs, are irreversible.
  Here are just a few examples:
  Angela Merkel's designated successor in Germany called our 
Afghanistan withdrawal ``the biggest debacle'' in the history of NATO.

[[Page S6733]]

  President Biden didn't mind offending our Canadian allies when he 
shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline. Months later, he gave Vladimir 
Putin the green light to build the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, and we just 
heard Senator Cruz talking about that.
  Remember, this pipeline is a geopolitical weapon that Putin is going 
to use to hold our European allies hostage--hostage for money and 
hostage for energy.
  President Duda in Poland, he said recently the Nord Stream 2 giveaway 
is ``grounds for reflection on relations with the United States.''
  France was so offended with President Biden, at one point they 
recalled their ambassador. Never happened in American history. Go back 
all the way to the 1700s. France is a nuclear power. It is one of our 
closest allies.
  This is Presidential incompetence on an unprecedented scale. Our 
allies see the incompetence. Our enemies not only see it, they can 
smell it. China has said so publicly that Afghanistan shows Americans 
cannot defend our allies anymore.
  Now China is threatening Taiwan and building more than 200 missile 
silos. Iran has accelerated its nuclear program. According to Israel, 
Iran is only a few weeks away from having enough material to build a 
nuclear weapon.
  And on the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, American troops in 
Iraq were attacked.
  Russia is preparing to test a nuclear cruise missile near the Arctic 
Circle.
  North Korea is expanding uranium enrichment; and just days after 
America withdrew from Afghanistan, North Korea tested two ballistic 
missiles.
  In every area and region of the world, our Nation--America's 
interests are in retreat. Our enemies are on the march. America has 
grown weaker under Joe Biden; our enemies have grown stronger under Joe 
Biden.
  Because of President Biden's incompetence, mismanagement, and 
weakness, we are all, as citizens of this country, less safe.
  When I think of the last 8 months, I am reminded of something that 
former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said. And, remember, he was 
Secretary of Defense under President Obama.
  He said: ``Joe Biden has been wrong on nearly every major foreign 
policy and national security issue of the past four decades.''
  Forty years of being wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and 
national security issue. At the time he said that, it had been four 
decades. Now Joe Biden is President of the United States, and it is 
five decades.
  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. COTTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.