[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 6, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2219-S2220]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           National Security

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, next month will mark 45 years since a 
cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy in an increasingly critical region 
of the world became law. The formal title of the law is worth a read in 
today's context:

       An act to help maintain peace, security, and stability in 
     the Western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the 
     United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, 
     cultural, and other relations between the people of the 
     United States and the people of Taiwan.

  In the 45 years since Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act, our 
friends on the island have continued to write an incredible story of 
resilience. Taiwan has established a strong democracy, a robust civil 
society, and a modern, innovative, high-tech economy. And its people 
have planted themselves squarely--squarely--on the side of free 
societies and free markets.
  America is Taiwan's second largest trading partner. Its military is 
reforming and modernizing, increasingly arming itself with cutting-edge 
American capabilities. And the U.S.-Taiwan partnership has become an 
increasingly important indicator of bipartisan American resolve at a 
time when our allies and adversaries alike doubt--doubt--the 
credibility of our commitments.
  After abandoning allies in Afghanistan, squandering leverage over 
Iran, and slow-walking assistance to Ukraine, America's relationship 
with Taiwan holds unique value. And, like it or not, it will be 
increasingly seen as a test of whether America's commitments to allies 
and partners hold any water.
  Today, investing in our capabilities and defense industrial capacity 
would show our friends across the Indo-Pacific that we do--do--
recognize the significance of that region and of the strategic 
competition unfolding out there--a competition America cannot afford to 
neglect. After all, the PRC is certainly not neglecting it.
  Since 2015, Beijing's publicly reported spending on its military has 
doubled, and, just yesterday, Communist Party leaders announced that 
defense investments would grow a further 7.2 percent.
  Of course, that is just the figure Beijing acknowledges publicly. 
China's real military modernization efforts are

[[Page S2220]]

actually more expansive and more worrisome, and they are intended to 
enable the PRC to dominate its neighbors and counter America's ability 
to project power in the region.
  By word and deed, the PRC is showing the world that it is prepared to 
redraw maps by force. Sound familiar? That is because the revisionists 
autocrats we face are operating from the very same playbook.
  And Taiwan appreciates the links between the threats we face as well 
as any of our allies and partners. Its leaders have been outspoken in 
connecting the dots between an aggressive Russia in Europe and an 
emboldened China in the Indo-Pacific. And the people of Taiwan 
increasingly recognize their interests in preparing to deter and defeat 
aggression. In fact, they are so clear-eyed about challenges posed by 
revisionist powers today, they are helping a fellow democracy halfway 
around the world in Ukraine.
  But the more pressing questions right now are whether America 
recognizes our own interests in maintaining a world in which our 
commitments are trusted, our threats are feared, and what we are 
prepared to do about it.
  Standing by our friends, standing up to adversaries, and investing in 
the military capacity to do both--as Congress considers annual Defense 
appropriations and finishes its work on the national security 
supplemental, these are the fundamental tasks at hand.