[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S539-S540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Congressional Delegation

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week, Senate Republican colleagues 
and I visited our allies and partners in Europe. We both reassured them 
of America's commitment to strength and leadership but also urged them 
to invest and engage more in security and the transatlantic alliance.
  Our allies are coming around to the realization that security 
assistance to Ukraine is not just helping one nation's citizens defend 
their sovereignty. It is also degrading Russia's ability to further 
threaten Europe or threaten America and sending a powerful deterrent 
signal to other potential aggressors.
  From our own perspective, much of the money that is being described 
as American aid to Ukraine is actually being invested in our own 
defense industrial base here at home. We are procuring new versions of 
munitions and weapons for our own military to replace often decades-old 
versions that we have sent over to Ukraine.
  And, after an ill-advised ``holiday from history,'' European allies 
are now following America's lead. NATO members are making historic 
investments in defense that will keep paying dividends long after 
Ukraine defeats Putin's aggression.
  The West is priming the pump of the industrial capacity that will 
ensure we are prepared to meet the larger military challenges posed by 
systemic rivals like China.
  The recent press reports that Beijing is considering providing 
weapons to Russia should not come as a surprise. China has plenty of 
reasons to fear a Russian defeat and plenty of reasons to hope Russia 
gets away with forcibly seizing another country's territory.
  Yesterday, the Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony from 
Keith Kellogg, a former adviser to President Trump and cochair of the 
Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute.
  Like the vast majority of Republican Senators, he complained that the 
Biden administration had been actually too slow in providing military 
assistance to Ukraine. He noted that the best way to end the conflict 
was to ``enable Ukraine to defeat the Russian army in Ukraine.''
  And what about the claim that the West supporting Ukraine is somehow 
distracting us from the threats posed by the PRC?
  Here is what Kellogg said:

       Make no mistake: weakness against Russian aggression is 
     weakness against the Communist-Chinese threat . . . Russian 
     victory in Ukraine today almost certainly means war for 
     Taiwan tomorrow.

  Likewise, in Japan, senior officials are spelling out the clear link 
between the response to Putin and the prospects of deterring President 
Xi. They have taken historic steps to invest more in their own defense, 
and during our trip last week, Prime Minister Kishida announced that 
Japan plans to direct $5.5 billion in assistance toward Ukraine.
  Other reports indicate that citizens of Taiwan are volunteering to 
fight alongside Ukrainians against Russia.
  Let me say that again. There are reports that indicate citizens of 
Taiwan are volunteering to fight alongside Ukrainians against Russia.
  The very people most threatened by the ambitions of the PRC tomorrow

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understand the importance of Ukraine prevailing today.
  Our friends and partners in the Middle East know the score as well. 
They have had to contend with Russia as an influential force in the 
region ever since President Obama failed to enforce his redline in 
Syria and Putin came rushing in to that conflict. Now our partners see 
the same Iranian missiles and UAVs that have struck their own cities 
being used by Russia to attack Ukraine. They know Moscow will repay 
Tehran soon somehow and that a victorious Russia will be less 
constrained in providing advanced capabilities to Iran.
  So we have seen senior Israeli officials showing up in Kyiv. We have 
seen Saudi Arabia vote against Russia in the United Nations, pledge 
$400 million in assistance to Ukraine, and send its first official 
delegation to Kyiv in 30 years.
  Clearly, America's friends all around the world know that the way we 
respond to today's threats will determine our readiness to face 
tomorrow's. They know it in Europe, they know it in the Indo-Pacific, 
and they know it in the Middle East.
  And, here at home, Republicans know that the safest America is a 
strong--strong--and engaged America. That is why we will continue to 
push President Biden and his administration to move faster to exert our 
leadership, invest in our own defense, equip our friends, and keep 
America safe.