[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 21 (Tuesday, February 6, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S401-S402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Supplemental Funding

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, Iran-backed terrorists 
carried out another deadly attack on a base that houses U.S. personnel 
in Syria. The Iran-backed Houthis continue to threaten U.S. vessels and 
international shipping in the Red Sea.
  Three days after President Biden directed strikes in response to the 
killing of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan, Iran and its proxies are 
demonstrating that their particular calculus has not changed.
  The President said on Friday that our adversaries should know that 
``if you harm an American, we will respond.'' Well, by their actions, 
our adversaries are turning the President's words back around. They are 
essentially saying: We will attack America at times and places of our 
choosing.
  Iran and the expendable terrorists it trades for American blood are 
demonstrably undeterred, and they are hardly the only ones. For 3 
years, America's adversaries have luxuriated in a world that no longer 
takes us at our word. Embarrassing retreat from Afghanistan, fawning 
climate diplomacy with our top strategic competitor, failure to take 
Putin seriously until it was too late, and fears of escalation that 
delayed lethal aid to Ukraine at every turn--for 3 years, America's 
foreign policy has been defined by hesitation, half measures, and self-
deterrence. President Biden has dug our credibility--the value of 
America's word--into a hole.
  Meanwhile, our adversaries are aligning and coordinating to an 
unprecedented degree. As America gives our allies and partners reasons 
to doubt our resolve, Russia and China are engaged in a ``friendship 
without limits.'' The contrast couldn't be starker.
  But it doesn't have to be this way. Take it from practitioners who 
know that better than anyone. For example, just yesterday, former 
National Security Advisor retired Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster had 
this to say:

       The abandonment of Kyiv would be a gift to the Moscow-
     Tehran-Beijing-Pyongyang axis of aggressors. Allies and 
     partners would lose trust in America as those aggressors are 
     emboldened. The result could be cascading

[[Page S402]]

     conflicts even more costly than the interconnected wars in 
     Ukraine and across the Middle East.

  Of course, General McMaster was the National Security Advisor to 
President Trump.
  Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the Trump administration, 
put it this way, after his recent visit to Ukraine:

       It will be far more costly and dangerous if Putin wins.

  Another former National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien, also with 
the previous administration, expressed his support for supplemental 
security assistance to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, saying simply:

       The free world has been attacked, and we're the arsenal of 
     democracy.

  It is in America's direct interest to take growing threats seriously, 
to invest even more urgently in our capabilities to meet them, and to 
support our allies and partners on the frontlines.
  The reality of hard power competition simply does not wait for the 
President or Congress to take it seriously. Either we confront 
challenges we face with clear strategic and firm resolve or we lose. 
Around the world, 21st-century autocrats and medieval theocrats will 
continue to challenge the U.S.-led order that has underpinned global 
peace and prosperity for generations, and their proxies will continue 
to target American personnel and American interests with lethal force.
  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.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. 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.