[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 37 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1052-S1053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           National Security

  Mr. President, on another matter, the serious challenges facing 
America's national security today illustrate some pretty timeless 
lessons about how the world works--basic realities about geopolitics 
that were true before I got a front row seat to President Reagan's 
foreign policy 40 years ago and which are just as true today.
  The first lesson is the value of alliances. America is the world's 
preeminent superpower--economically and militarily. But our influence 
and prosperity are facilitated by a network of partnerships. I don't 
mean this so-called international community of

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multinational debating societies; I mean the hard power of America's 
military alliances and partnerships. The strength of these alliances 
rests on the credibility of the commitments we make to our friends.
  The second lesson is peace through strength. Those who wish us harm 
speak the language of power, and we have to be able to speak it as 
well. In other words, our deterrent capabilities here have to be as 
credible to our adversaries as our commitments are to our allies.
  Congress's most fundamental constitutional obligation is to provide 
for the common defense. That is why I urged the Senate so forcefully to 
pass a national security supplemental and why I believe passing full-
year defense appropriations is absolutely critical.
  When America is strongest, Congress provides sufficient funding to 
preserve America's military primacy. And our adversaries and allies 
alike actually trust that the Commander in Chief is prepared to use 
force decisively.
  The last lesson is the importance of clear strategy. Even the most 
capable force--the most formidable hard power--is only as effective as 
the strategy it serves. Understanding our interests is a prerequisite 
to actually advancing our interests.
  The challenges we face today test whether and how well America 
understands these lessons. The threats to our personnel, our interests, 
and our allies in the Middle East are particularly illustrative.
  Since October 7, America's closest ally in that region has been 
engaged in a serious fight to rescue its people and restore its 
security against Iran-backed terror. As I said repeatedly since that 
day, we owe it to Israel--a fellow democracy under assault by savage 
terrorists--to provide the time, the space, and the support necessary 
for them to destroy the threat posed by Hamas.
  To prioritize a cease-fire at all costs is to actually ignore that 
the terrorists exploited precisely such a cease-fire to slaughter 
innocent Israelis on October 7. To blame Israel for conducting 
operations to free hostages and kill terrorists in hospitals and 
schools is to excuse Hamas for violating laws of war and exploiting 
civilians by militarizing such civilian infrastructure in the first 
place.
  As negotiators work on further hostage releases, it is critical that 
Israel operates from a position of strength backed by a rock-solid ally 
whose policies are driven by our Nation's interests, not influenced by 
one party's perceived political interest.
  I hope that President Biden will demonstrate enough political courage 
to stand up to those in his party who want him to tie Israel's hands or 
put his own hands on the scales of Israel's domestic politics.
  Meanwhile, the chief architect of chaos in the Middle East--the 
world's most active state sponsor of terrorism--speaks the language of 
power. Plain and simple, America has to invest in rebuilding our 
arsenal, but we also have to show Iran that we are not afraid to 
actually use it. Flattening a few warehouses in response to hundreds of 
Iran-backed attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria, frankly, is 
not a meaningful exercise of strength. Nor is wasting expensive 
precision weapons to intercept expendable drones launched by Iran's 
expendable proxies.
  The commander of the U.S. task force contending with Houthi terrorism 
in the Red Sea acknowledged recently that even though his forces were 
succeeding tactically, the Houthis and their Iranian patrons were 
simply not deterred. Frankly, tactical proficiency and hitting Houthi 
targets with F-35s and Tomahawk missiles should be a low bar of the 
world's most advanced military. It is also beside the point.
  In reality, unless these tactics are nestled in an effective strategy 
to change an adversary's calculus to sufficiently degrade his ability 
to threaten our interest, it doesn't matter how tactically proficient 
our efforts are.
  So this isn't a matter of dense, academic theories of international 
relations. The questions we need to ask ourselves are really quite 
basic: Are we being reliable allies to our friends? Do we credibly 
strike fear into the hearts of our enemies? Are our tactics aligned 
with a coherent strategy? If not, what are we doing here?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). The Republican whip.