[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 23 (Monday, February 2, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S437-S438]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Chagos Islands
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I want to talk for a few minutes about
national security and top-of-the-list, king-of-the-hill, a No. 1
stupidity.
These are the Chagos Islands. The Chagos Islands--there are 60 of
them. They are here in the Indian Ocean. One of those islands is an
island called Diego Garcia, on which the United States and our friends
in Great Britain have one of the most--if not the most--important
military bases in the world. It is jointly administered by both the
U.S. and the UK--though, truth be told, most of the firepower is
provided by the United States of America.
We use Diego Garcia to conduct training missions. We use it to reload
submarines. In fact, it is one of the few military bases where we can
actually reload submarines. We use Diego Garcia to respond to tensions
throughout the Middle East, throughout Africa, and throughout Asia.
Recently, we relocated several B-2 bombers to respond to Iran's
aggression toward demonstrators.
There aren't words in English to overstate the importance of the
Diego Garcia military installation.
Now, the United Kingdom owns the Chagos Islands. In 1814, the Chagos
Islands were owned by France, and they were ceded to the UK.
The UK also owned another island down here called Mauritius.
For many, many years, the United Kingdom, which then owned and still
owns the Chagos Islands and in 1814, was ceded Mauritius--for many
years, the United Kingdom administered the Chagos Islands from
Mauritius. Mauritius never owned the Chagos Islands. Mauritius and the
Chagos Islands were owned--both--by the United Kingdom, and the United
Kingdom administered both islands or groups of islands from Mauritius.
Let me say it again. Mauritius never owned the Chagos Islands.
In 1968, the United Kingdom decided to give Mauritius its
independence, but the United Kingdom kept the Chagos Islands.
Subsequently, as I mentioned, the United States and the UK built one of
the most important military bases in all of human history on Diego
Garcia.
Why am I telling you this? Well, a few years ago, Mauritius filed a
lawsuit with the International Court of Justice.
The International Court of Justice, as you know, Mr. President, is
part of the United Nations, and I don't mean any disrespect, but nobody
pays any attention to them. They don't have any authority. They
certainly don't have any authority over the United States of America,
and they don't have any authority over the United Kingdom either.
But Mauritius files this lawsuit with the International Court of
Justice, and it says: The United Kingdom is a bunch of mean, old
colonialists.
Now, remember, this is the United Kingdom that gave Mauritius its
independence in 1965. Nonetheless, as soon as Mauritius got its
independence, they filed a suit in the International Court of Justice
and said: The UK is a bunch of mean, old, White, racist colonialists,
and we want them to give us the Chagos Islands.
Huh? They actually said: Give us back the Chagos Islands.
Mauritius never owned the Chagos Islands.
But anyway, predictably, the International Court of Justice ruled in
favor of Mauritius. I don't think anybody was particularly surprised,
nor did anybody pay particular attention until, in recent years, United
Kingdom Prime Minister Starmer--the current Prime Minister of the UK is
leading the charge--came up with this idea. Why? I don't understand. I
guess the Prime Minister feels guilty somehow.
He said: OK, we are going to give the Chagos Islands that we own back
to Mauritius--even though Mauritius never owned them--we are going to
give the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but if the United States agrees,
we are going to keep the military base here in the Chagos Islands, on
Diego Garcia, and--get this; this is really special. Even though the UK
owns the Chagos Islands, they said: We will give it to Mauritius, and
we will pay Mauritius squillions of dollars to lease from Mauritius the
military base for 99 years.
Now, I have thought about why they would do this. Real strong drugs
are the only possible explanation for the Prime Minister of the UK to
do this--to give away something that the United Kingdom owns to a
country that never owned it and pay the country to lease what the
United States and
[[Page S438]]
the United Kingdom have already invested billions of dollars in. It has
got to be drugs--real strong drugs. But anyway, that is what they did.
Now, as best I can tell, other than Prime Minister Starmer--I don't
mean any disrespect; I just think he is wrong. The only person on this
planet who thinks this is a good idea besides Prime Minister Starmer is
Xi Jinping of China. He has been for years anticipating that this might
happen, cozying up to Mauritius, and they have become best buddies.
In fact, China has convinced Mauritius to sign on to two Chinese-
instigated--actually, Communist Party of China-instigated--two
treaties. One is called the African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty.
This is a China-backed treaty. They convinced Mauritius to join it. It
prohibits the research, stockpiling, and possession of nuclear weapons
across the African continent.
OK, you say, what is the harm in that? Well, I am going to tell you
in a second.
China also convinced Mauritius to become a partner in what is called
the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation trade and security agreement.
That is between China and 53 African nations. What does that do? That
also maintains a commitment to building nuclear weapon-free zones.
Now, why did China do this, and why should we care? Because once
Mauritius owns the Chagos Islands--even though they say they are going
to sign a lease and allow the UK and America to continue to operate the
military base, once Mauritius owns the islands, I can guarantee you
that China is going to put the pressure on Mauritius to allow China to
force inspections of military equipment on all of the Chagos Islands,
including Diego Garcia.
Isn't that special? President Xi Jinping can't wait. He loves this
idea of giving all this away to assuage Prime Minister Starmer's guilt.
He loves this idea as much as the devil hates holy water.
Now, President Trump early in his second term--I have given several
speeches about this--agreed to it. And I said at the time it was a
mistake. A lot of people said it was a mistake.
He got some bad advice, and I know who gave him that advice. And they
are no longer there. But be that as it may, I called the President and
talked to him about it. And he said: No, I am going to listen to my
adviser, and he agreed to it.
The President has recently changed his mind. Thank you, Mr.
President. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Many in the United Kingdom
are starting to question the decision of Prime Minister Starmer.
The House of Lords, one of the legislative chambers in Great Britain,
has started asking a lot of questions. The people of Great Britain have
started asking a lot of tough questions.
Prime Minister Starmer--there will be an election soon. There may be
a snap election in the UK at some point, but Prime Minister Starmer is
polling right now--he is in a lot of trouble politically. He is polling
right now right up there. I think he is just a little bit below toenail
fungus among the people of the United Kingdom. He is in deep trouble
politically.
Every prognosticator who studies UK politics says that the next Prime
Minister and the next party in leadership will be the Reform Party.
And if the Reform Party takes over in the UK, the Reform Party has
already announced publicly that the first thing they will do is stop
paying money on the lease that Prime Minister Starmer has signed with
Mauritius. What happens if the Reform Party does that? I tell you what
happens: The lease becomes null and void.
Anybody who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog knows that if you
sign a contract, that is all a lease is. And if you stop making
payments, the contract becomes void. And so Mauritius will have the
right--they will probably go back to the International Court of
Justice, since some people in the leadership of the United Kingdom love
it so much, and get a judgment to declare the lease invalid. And then
what?
And then Mauritius, which China is courting, is going to become the
owner of a joint American-United Kingdom military base on Diego Garcia,
one of the most important in the world.
I have got rocks in my driveway that are smarter than this. And many
people in the United Kingdom--God bless them. I love the UK. They are
our oldest friends in the world. I spent some time there. Went to
school there. I love the people of Great Britain. But many of them are
waking up.
And they are starting to say to the Prime Minister: This is just a
terrible--terrible--idea. And they are saying to the Prime Minister, no
disrespect: But, look, we understand that your testicles are on back
order from Amazon, but in the meantime, you just can't do this just
because you feel guilty--just because you feel guilty because the
United Kingdom at one time owned other countries.
Now, look, I don't know what is going to happen. President Trump--
thank you, President Trump, for objecting to this. But I don't know
what is going to happen if Prime Minister Starmer, who is polling right
up there with fungal infections, decides to go forward and President
Trump says no. I don't know what will happen.
If Prime Minister Starmer, because he feels guilty because the good
people of Great Britain at one time owned other countries to which they
have given their independence--if Prime Minister Starmer is determined
to do this, here is what I hope he will do: Rather than giving up the
islands to Mauritius, which eventually will end up giving our base to
China, allow the United States of America to buy the Chagos Islands.
Let's just buy them.
The United Kingdom will get money. The military base will become
ours. China will not own the military base. And Mauritius, which has
never owned any portion, not one square inch of the Chagos Islands,
will not own them either. And the world will be safe.
I am going to end on this note. This is something that the Presiding
Officer knows very, very well because I have talked to you about it.
This military installation is very serious. It is very important.
Why? Well, President Xi in China and President Putin in Russia and the
Ayatollah in Iran have formed a partnership, and the managing partner
is Xi Jinping.
And their goal is to have Russia dominate Central and Eastern Europe,
to have the Ayatollah in Iran dominate the Middle East, and to have
China dominate the Indo-Pacific and be free to roam in Sub-Saharan
Africa and South America.
And while they are doing this, Russia and China want to control both
the Arctic and space. We all know that is what is going on. The
Presiding Officer has seen the same classified information that I have.
That is not a world that is safe for America. That is not a world that
is safe for America.
I don't want America to be the world's policeman, but I will be
damned if I want Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin or the Ayatollah in Iran
to be the world's policemen either.
This military base is key. So I am asking you, Prime Minister
Starmer--I shouldn't have said what I said. Your testicles aren't on
back order from Amazon. I take it back. Please do the right thing here.
If you are determined to give away these islands to Mauritius, which
never owned them, which inevitably is going to help China, if you are
determined to divest the people of the United Kingdom of these islands,
please sell them to the United States. I will sponsor the legislation
happily, enthusiastically to appropriate the money to do it. And then
the United Kingdom can be out of the picture, and the United States can
continue to control one of the mightiest and most important military
bases in all of human history.
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