[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 5, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Chagos Islands
Mr. President, I want to talk about one other subject real quick. I
talked about it before. I am not going to repeat it.
This is India. This is China, which wants to run the whole world.
China is already trying to take over the shipping lanes in the South
China Sea. This is the Chagos Islands, right down here.
Years ago, the Chagos Islands were owned by France. France ceded the
Chagos Islands to our friends in Great Britain.
A number of years ago, the United Kingdom and America got together
and we built--mostly with American dollars, by the way--we built a
military base in the Chagos Islands, on one particular island called
Diego Garcia.
This is a really important military base. For one thing, it is very
close to the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean and China, so we can
watch it. For another thing, it is one of the only bases where our
nuclear submarines can dock--hugely important.
Well, the United Nations got mad at the United Kingdom. They said:
Great Britain, you are bad people. You used to be colonialists. You
acquired other countries, sometimes freely, sometimes by force.
Every country I know of in the world of any strength has done that.
It doesn't mean we ought to be proud of it, but it is part of our
history.
But the United Nations said: Shame on you, UK. Shame on you--bad,
bad, bad, bad. You have to give back the Chagos Islands and the
military base there.
The U.N. doesn't have any jurisdiction over the United Kingdom. But
the U.N. said: Not only do you have to give it back, but you don't give
it back to the people of the Chagos Islands; you give it back to
another group of islands way down here called Mauritius. Mauritius used
to own the Chagos Islands when France ceded them to Great Britain. They
were run by Mauritius. But the people of the two island groups--
archipelagos--the people don't have any affinity.
What does Mauritius say? Of course, we will take it.
But they want to start charging the United States and the UK 9
billion for a 99-year lease. So we can lease our own military base all
because the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom feels guilty because
somebody, some tofu-eating ``wokerati'' at the United Nations, says
they are bad people--bad, bad, bad colonialists.
And the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, he is going along with
it, but he says: I am negotiating with Mauritius. And the leader of
Mauritius just issued a press release saying: Yes, he is negotiating.
He increased the price and shortened the leash.
Do you know who is loving all of this? China, because China has a
close relationship with Mauritius. And do you know what? It is going to
get a lot closer.
This is insane. This is cell-deep stupid. This is bone-deep, down-to-
the-marrow stupid, because the United Nations wants the United Kingdom
to feel guilty, they want to give our military base and their military
base to Mauritius.
Now, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom can stop this, and
Marco Rubio, our new Secretary of State, is against it. I haven't
talked to him directly, but I think President Trump is against it. The
United Kingdom is our friend. I went to school there for a while. I
love it.
I want to see the Prime Minister do well, but he needs to put down
the bong. He needs to put down the bong.
This makes absolutely no sense, and it is going to be a big part of
his legacy if he gives away this island and our military base to, in
effect, what will eventually be China.
I would say to the Prime Minister tonight--I don't mean any
disrespect. I want to say this respectfully. I shouldn't have said the
``bong'' part. I take it back.
Please, Mr. Prime Minister, don't do this. Don't do this. We will
stand with you in telling the United Nations, who is upset with you, to
go fill out a hurt feelings report because we are not doing it. We will
stand with you. Please say no. Don't give our military base away. It is
going to really hurt the relationship between the United States of
America and the United Kingdom.
I know Donald Trump pretty well. I know Marco Rubio pretty well. They
will forgive, but they will never, ever forget. Don't do it, Mr. Prime
Minister.
I have taken too much time. I am sorry.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I know my time has been squeezed a little
bit. I have other colleagues. I want to mention one thing to my friend
from Louisiana. I love to listen to him talk. There are a lot of things
he says that I tend to agree with, a lot of things I tend to disagree
with.
I do want to make sure folks know what I have some concern about. You
want a debate about any of these programs; that is fair cooking. If
there are ways to save spending, count me in. In fact, you are a former
Governor; I am a former Governor. Virginia got named best managed State
in the country when I was Governor. And you know how we got that
information about line item programs? Because about a decade ago--maybe
12 years ago--Rob Portman and I did something called the DATA Act,
which gives you that line-by-line information.
We can debate about the validity of these programs. What you don't
need to do is to put two--I have the name of one person, maybe not the
name of the other--into the Treasury with, to my knowledge, at least
for one of them, we are not sure if they have any security clearances
at all--to look at $1.3 billion of checks being written out by the U.S.
Treasury.
You want to debate about USAID; have at it, if the programs can't be
defended.
But why would you give someone--a coder--the potential keys to the
kingdom of the U.S. Treasury? Why does this coder--or Mr. Musk's DOGE
bros--need to know how much the U.S. Government paid the Senator from
Louisiana on a tax refund or the Senator from Virginia or anyone? I
will make it a simple question to ask. Come in and explain yourself.
I would love to go through more, but I know I have colleagues waiting
too.