[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 183 (Monday, November 6, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5349-S5351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                 Israel

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, today, the United States is facing 
perhaps the greatest range of security threats both here at home and 
abroad that we have seen in a long time. Here at home, of course, our 
southern border has become a major security liability that is being 
exploited by terrorists, drug traffickers, and, of course, human 
smugglers. In the Middle East, our close ally Israel is defending its 
right to exist following a brutal and unprovoked attack by the 
terrorist group Hamas. In Europe, Ukraine continues to defend itself in 
the wake of Russia's unprovoked invasion, which was nearly 2 years ago. 
In the Indo-Pacific, China's aggressive, belligerent behavior has 
threatened the stability of the entire region and the future of Taiwan. 
So there is a lot at stake, and the eyes of the world are firmly on the 
United States of America.
  You know, I know sometimes people say: Well, we don't want the United 
States to be the world's policeman. And certainly that is true. But the 
fact is that there is no other nation that can actually lead the 
democracies in the world to a greater path of security and safety. We 
know that when the United States does not lead, then that is perceived 
as a sign of weakness and a lack of resolution, and that, I think, has 
contributed to where we find ourselves today with this tremendous array 
of diverse threats.
  So there is a lot at stake, and the eyes of the world are on the 
United States. Terrorists and dictators, from Kim Jong Un to President 
Xi in China, to Vladimir Putin, to the Supreme Leader in Iran--all of 
them are watching to see how the United States responds when our 
friends and our allies become victims of authoritarian aggression. Will 
we brush these conflicts aside as meaningless, regional quarrels or 
will we lock arms with our friends and allies and commit to defeating 
evil in all its forms?
  I am glad that the overwhelming consensus in Congress is that the 
only possible option is to respond with strength. Last week, the House 
of Representatives passed a bill to strengthen America's support for 
Israel while cutting wasteful government spending. That legislation 
provided $14.3 billion in aid to Israel.
  I am disappointed that President Biden, first thing out of the chute, 
threatened to veto the bill. Senator Schumer went so far as to call it 
a joke. So $14.3 billion for Israel while it is under perhaps an 
existential threat by Iran and its proxies, and the majority leader of 
the U.S. Senate calls that $14.3 billion a joke? I don't think there is 
anything funny about the strong desire that most of us have to support 
our ally while protecting the long-term financial health of our 
country.
  The Nation's debt has skyrocketed over the last few years and now 
exceeds $33.6 trillion. The interest on that debt alone will cost 
American taxpayers more than $677 billion this year alone. 
Increasingly, we are seeing the amount of money we have to pay to the 
bondholders that own our debt creep up to approach the amount of 
spending we provide for the Department of Defense. And we know this is 
going to get worse and worse until it gets better. Congress simply 
cannot continue to spend and spend with no regard for the consequences.
  Years ago, Admiral Mullen, who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff,

[[Page S5350]]

said something that at the time I found a little odd. He said our 
greatest national security threat is our national debt. But, as we have 
come to see, those are wise words, because as the interest we have to 
pay to those who own our debt continues to grow with the size of that 
debt, that means less and less money is available for priorities here 
at home and for priorities to help prevent wars and aggression around 
the world.
  Nowhere is this more apparent now than with the $677 billion we are 
paying not for some program that we could agree is important here at 
home or to provide border security or to help arm Ukrainians in their 
fight for survival against the Russian invasion; that money is gone to 
the bondholders, the people who own that debt. We just cannot continue 
down that path without further endangering, as Admiral Mullen wisely 
said years ago. This has created a national security threat we cannot 
ignore as well. We have an obligation to make tough decisions to right 
the ship, and this is as good an opportunity as any to start making 
progress.
  Despite the majority leader's current refusal to allow a vote on the 
House bill--that is his current position, one I hope will change--the 
fact remains, we do need to take action. The Senate must find a path 
forward to strengthen our support for Israel and Ukraine while making 
meaningful steps to address the out-of-control crisis at our southern 
border. Senate Republicans are discussing ways to do this in a thorough 
and thoughtful manner, and I expect that to remain a focus of our work 
for the next couple of weeks.
  This is an important and long-overdue debate, but it cannot distract 
from our other fundamental responsibilities to support our Nation's 
security. We have other longstanding tasks that need to be completed, 
starting with the National Defense Authorization Act. That bill passed 
the Senate in July with overwhelming bipartisan support by a vote of 86 
to 11.
  This year's Defense bill helps replenish our defense stockpiles--
something that has been exposed, the inadequacy of our defense 
industrial base, and our ability to replenish those stockpiles is very 
much in question and needs to be addressed. This year's National 
Defense Authorization Act does that. It also supports modernization 
efforts across the board, from the nuclear triad to next-generation 
weapons. It will help us regain a credible military deterrent by 
investing in modernized aircraft, weapons, and facilities. These were 
the important goals when the National Defense Authorization bill passed 
the Senate 3 months ago, and they are even more critical now.

  Despite the fact that the Senate and the House each passed a version 
of the NDAA, as it is called, we have yet to formally begin the 
conference process where those differences can be worked out and where 
that bill can be signed into law. This legislation should have reached 
the President's desk earlier, but we are now a month past the due date 
and watching a new war unfold in the Middle East. So it is absolutely 
critical that we get the NDAA conference process moving as soon as 
possible.
  As the Senate and the House prepare to iron out the differences 
between the two bills, there are two items in particular that I have 
been fighting to include. One is called outbound investment 
transparency, which was included in the Senate bill but not the House 
bill.
  Senator Casey from Pennsylvania and I offered our bipartisan bill as 
an amendment to the Defense authorization bill here in the Senate, and 
it was adopted by a vote of 91 to 6. The reason this measure receives 
such strong bipartisan support is because it provides much needed 
visibility into a looming national security threat.
  We know that American investors have been sending capital 
intellectual property and some of our cutting-edge innovation to China 
by investing in that country, but unfortunately, as we have learned, 
the Chinese Communist Party, which controls that country, basically is 
using that investment from American investors to fuel its economic and 
military rise.
  At the end of 2020, U.S. investments in Chinese companies totaled 
$2.3 trillion in market value. That includes $21 billion in 
semiconductors, $54 billion in military companies, and a whopping $221 
billion in artificial intelligence. Those are enterprises that are 
being funded by U.S. investment in China, which is now turning out to 
be our near-peer competitor and a threat to stability not only in Asia 
but worldwide. Intentionally or not, American companies are investing 
in products and capabilities that one day could be turned against us.
  A recent investigation by Newsweek uncovered another grave cause for 
concern. Private U.S. entities aren't the only ones fueling China's 
rise; taxpayer-funded research is being exploited by the Chinese 
Communist Party. The scientist who is now at the forefront of China's 
artificial intelligence development received at least $30 million in 
Federal grants--U.S. Federal Government grants--through the Pentagon 
and the National Science Foundation. He received this amount of funding 
from American taxpayers as he built up a parallel research system in 
China.
  The United States, simply stated, cannot continue to bankroll China's 
economic and military rise, and that is why this outbound investment 
transparency provision that Senator Casey and I have authored and which 
is included in the Senate version of the NDAA is so important.
  This legislation requires U.S. companies to notify the Department of 
the Treasury of certain investments in China and other countries of 
concern. This is a targeted measure. It only applies to sensitive 
technologies like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, hypersonics, 
and other capabilities that can ultimately be used against the United 
States.
  To be clear, this does not stop investments from happening or 
interfere with the free market. It is strictly about transparency. It 
is about visibility. It will help us as policymakers see and understand 
the threats from China and other countries of concern so we can respond 
accordingly. I don't care how much American investors want to build a 
Burger King or Starbucks in China, but I do care if they are investing 
in cutting-edge technology that is going to be used to compete against 
the United States, either economically or militarily.
  The second provision I am fighting to include is an extension of 
something called lend-lease authority, which expired at the end of 
September. This provision was created by legislation I introduced with 
Senator Cardin from Maryland which is modeled after a similarly named 
program in World War II. But this is called the Ukraine Democracy 
Defense Lend-Lease Act, and it was signed into law in May of last year. 
It was rooted in the same principle as the World War II provision, 
which allowed the United States to supply Great Britain and other 
allies with military resources during World War II. President Roosevelt 
at the time vowed to transform the United States into the arsenal of 
democracy, as he called it, and the Lend-Lease Act is how he did it.
  As I said, Senator Cardin and I introduced this bipartisan 
legislation to remove some of the big bureaucratic hurdles that prevent 
us or slow us down from providing Ukrainian forces with the weapons 
they need, when they need them. Given the level of aid being provided 
by Congress for Ukraine, the Biden administration hasn't explicitly 
used that authority granted under that bill, but it doesn't mean it is 
not needed now.
  Ukraine has committed to doing what it needs to do to defeat this 
invasion by Russia, but it will need additional assistance from the 
United States and our other allies in order to succeed. We all know 
that Ukraine's arsenal is shrinking, and it has asked the United States 
and other democracies around the world for additional aid, but the path 
forward, as we all know, is extremely muddy.
  There is broad bipartisan support for the fact that America should 
support Ukraine, but there is growing concern over the cost of that 
assistance. That is why this legislation is so important. Lend-Lease is 
not a blank check. It gives the administration the option to lease or 
rent defense articles to Ukraine, just like we did Great Britain in 
World War II. This legislation will allow us to answer Ukraine's call 
to provide more of what they need and ensure it is done in a fiscally 
responsible way.

[[Page S5351]]

  Over the last several months, the United States has provided Ukraine 
with unprecedented defense aid--Javelins, Stingers, grenade launchers, 
small arms, tanks, ammunition, and much more. These weapons have 
allowed the brave Ukrainians to punch above their weight against the 
Russian Army, which was once thought to be among the strongest in the 
world.
  Additional American and allied assistance is vital to Ukraine's 
ultimate success, and we need to reauthorize the Lend-Lease authority 
as part of the Defense Authorization Act. This provision was included 
also in the House's NDAA, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to 
fight for its inclusion in the final version of the bill.
  Given the threats democracies are facing around the world, there 
could not be a more important time to prioritize America's defense. The 
National Defense Authorization Act, which I believe has been signed 
into law for 60-plus years in a row, should have already been signed 
into law before the end of September. Given the threats we face around 
the world, it is absolutely crucial that we finish the job as soon as 
possible.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.