[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6989-6990]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATIONAL SECURITY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Westmoreland). The Chair recognizes the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Quigley) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. QUIGLEY. Mr. Speaker, as the world hurdles toward an era where 
climate change impacts our everyday life, we must recognize the 
consequences of our inaction.
  Secretary Hagel said it best when he stated: ``Climate change is a 
global problem. Its impacts do not respect national borders.''
  Despite this, we continue to live in a bubble of denial. It is 
abundantly clear that climate change is rapidly altering the world 
around us, contributing to higher temperatures, changing seasonal 
patterns, and driving the loss of species and habitats.
  The scientific evidence demonstrating the realities of climate change 
is vast and ever-growing. Just this week, NASA reported that April 2016 
was the warmest April ever recorded. In fact, NASA said there is a ``99 
percent chance that 2016 will be the hottest year ever recorded.''
  If this proves to be true, 2016 will beat our previous record holder, 
2015. And 2015 beat our previous record holder, 2014. Sensing a trend 
here?
  Earth's changing temperature does not just threaten the existence of 
plants and animals: climate change also affects our national security 
at home and abroad. As a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, I 
am briefed weekly on our most pressing and urgent threats, and it is 
abundantly clear that climate change is one of those threats.
  Climate change is what we consider a threat multiplier, meaning it is 
exacerbating many of the challenges we confront around the world today, 
and will produce new challenges for us in the future. As a global power 
with strategic interests around the world, climate change is immensely 
important to us because of the impact it has on the regional stability 
of our allies.
  Internationally, climate change is already causing humanitarian 
disasters and resource scarcity that accelerates instability, 
contributes to political violence, and undermines weak governments. 
Examples of these repercussions are being seen around the world today. 
Climate change-induced drought in the Middle East and Africa is leading 
to conflicts over food and water, escalating longstanding regional and 
ethnic tensions into violent clashes. Rising sea levels are putting 
people and food supplies in vulnerable coastal regions at risk, 
threatening to displace countless people.
  The increasing scarcity of resources in regions across the globe is 
stressing governments that are trying to provide basic needs for their 
citizens. In already volatile regions of the world, these are highly 
dangerous conditions that can enable terrorist activity and exacerbate 
refugee crises. As these threats around the world continue to multiply 
due to climate change, the U.S. is forced to extend our limited 
resources in humanitarian aid and military security to more locations 
in an effort to keep the peace, protect our interests and allies, and 
avoid major conflicts.
  It is not just the wonky scientists and policymakers that are 
sounding the alarm. The Department of Defense declared that the threat 
of climate change will affect the Pentagon's ability to defend the 
Nation and poses immediate risk to U.S. national security. The CIA and 
the Department of State have already identified climate change as a 
national security challenge, yet Congress continues to refuse to act on 
this issue.
  We are already experiencing the impacts of climate change from 
superstorms in the U.S. to devastating droughts in the Middle East. As 
climate change continues to strain economies and societies across the 
world, it will only create additional resource burdens and impact the 
way our military executes its missions, forcing our

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military to spend more on crisis prevention, humanitarian assistance, 
and government stabilization.
  This is why we have to act now. It is time for my colleagues to 
realize that the debate is over and that now is the time to deal with 
the very real consequences of climate change. As President Obama said: 
``To make collective decisions on behalf of a common good, we have to 
use our heads. We have to agree that facts and evidence matter. And we 
got to hold our leaders and ourselves accountable . . .''
  While we can't reverse climate change, we can work with our partners 
around the world to slow the process, assist in adaptation, and protect 
our national security interests. The health and security of future 
generations depends on our actions today.

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