Sullivan Says National Security Legislation Is Not an Exhibit of Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Triumphs, But a Response to His Failures

04.23.24

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), delivered remarks on the Senate floor today advocating for passage of the national security legislation he played a lead role in crafting and voted with 30 of his Republican colleagues to advance. In his speech, Senator Sullivan emphasized that the legislation will help improve America's capacity to produce weapons and military readiness, and is necessary because of the Biden administration's failures that have unleashed chaos across the world. Referring to those failures, Senator Sullivan cited President Biden's botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, his policies opening the United States' southern border, the President's proposed cuts to U.S. defense spending, his delays of important weapons systems to Ukraine, as well as the President's inability to rally the country on matters of national security.

"This bill is not some kind of exhibit of Joe Biden's foreign policy triumph-it's a needed correction of Joe Biden's foreign policy failure," Senator Sullivan said on the Senate floor. "Since Vietnam, just look at what every president who is a Democrat who has occupied the White House has done-Carter, Clinton, Obama, now Biden. They come in and they cut defense spending, and they cut readiness. This is in the DNA of the national party. Republicans have a different tradition. It's this tradition: Peace through strength. Peace through strength. That's our tradition. To my Republican colleagues and friends in the Senate, our tradition is much more serious. It's prouder. And I will tell you this: It's much more supported by the American people. Peace through strength, not American retreat."

Highlights from Senator Sullivan's remarks:

SULLIVAN: This Bill Is Not an Exhibit of Joe Biden's Foreign Policy Triumphs but a Response to His Failures

"Is the world a safer place for America and its allies today relevant to four years ago? I think everybody knows the answer is no. It's not even close. There's chaos all over the world. And I think what's really important is to focus on how we actually got to this point, why we need this defense supplemental in the first place. And the reason we do is the failure of the current occupant of the White House's policies with regard to foreign policy and national security. That is the entire reason we have to bring this bill, this national security bill to the floor and why it is so urgently needed now.

"This bill is not some kind of exhibit of Joe Biden's foreign policy triumph-it's a needed correction of Joe Biden's foreign policy failure.

"First, as I've noted, Mr. President, the Afghan debacle certainly emboldened Putin to invade Ukraine. I think that's a view that's commonly held. Secondly, our own border debacle has been something that has made it so Republicans who would normally support strong national security were, with a lot of good reasons, saying, 'let's take care of our own open borders and national security at the southern border first.' The president has not done that. We have an open border that is a humanitarian and national security fiasco in America.

"Third, Mr. President, this president, with regard to Ukraine, has not been in it to win it. What do I mean by that? Every major weapon system that the Ukrainians have said they need, they have delayed and delayed and delayed because they are fearful of Putin. Let's just call it like it is. The list is long. HIMARs, stingers, javelins, Abrams tanks, even F-16s, that are in the House bill forcing the president to say, 'we're going to get this long-range artillery to the Ukrainians.' This is the number one issue we heard from President Zelenskyy a couple of months ago when we were in Munich. That they're just not getting the weapons they need. Imagine if the Biden administration had gotten all those weapons systems I just mentioned to the Ukrainians a year and a half ago. And what has happened every time? This body, Democrats and Republicans, have gone to the President to say, "Mr. President, give them these weapons.' 'Well, we're going to delay. We don't want to escalate with Putin.' Escalate with Putin? He invaded a country. They're not in it to win it. The president called an LNG [export] pause on our allies. Our allies in Europe are apoplectic about that. Not in it to win it."

SULLIVAN: Speaker Johnson Has Done More To Explain the Stakes in the Last Two Weeks Than President Biden has Done in Three Years

"This president has never explained the stakes of why this is so important. He's given two speeches on Ukraine. Two. Two major speeches. And you know what he does? He attacks Republicans in his speeches. That's not leadership. That's not leadership. Especially on a big national security issue, you want to bring people together, explain the stakes. Speaker Johnson has done more to explain the stakes in a calm, reassuring manner in the last two weeks, than President Biden has done in three years."

SULLIVAN: Since Vietnam, Every Democrat President Has Tried to Cut Defense Spending. Republicans Have a Different Tradition: Peace Through Strength

"The president puts forward budgets to cut defense spending every year. I've asked the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs, three hearings in a row on the Armed Services Committee, 'if this is the most dangerous time since World War II, why are you cutting defense spending? Why are you going to bring defense spending in America next year to below three percent of GDP? We've only been there four times in the last, well, since world War II. Why are you dramatically undermining readiness?' They don't want to do that. The Secretary of Defense doesn't want to do that. The chairman of the joint chiefs doesn't want to do that. So why are they doing it? The answer to that, Mr. President, is this is where our democratic colleagues always are.

"Since Vietnam, just look at what every president who is a Democrat who has occupied the White House has done-Carter, Clinton, Obama, now Biden. They come in and they cut defense spending, and they cut readiness. This is in the DNA of the national party.

"Republicans have a different tradition. It's this tradition. Peace through strength. Peace through strength. That's our tradition. To my Republican colleagues and friends in the Senate, our tradition is much more serious. It's prouder. And I will tell you this, it's much more supported by the American people. Peace through strength, not American retreat. So, Mr. President, as I'm encouraging my Republican Senate colleagues to vote on this national security supplemental, this is in line with the peace through strength tradition we have in this party. Think about it. Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Reagan of course, the Bush presidencies, and very much in the tradition of peace through strength, the Trump presidency.

"Mr. President, I was here, heck, I ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014 primarily because the second term of the Obama administration cut defense spending by 25%. Readiness plummeted, plummeted. Shocking how badly ready our troops were. When the Trump administration came in, working with Senate Republicans when we were in the majority, we reversed it. Peace through strength.

"So, Mr. President, through arguments, facts, understanding history, a serious view of the world, peace through strength, my Republican colleagues, we need to keep this tradition going especially during these dangerous times. We certainly can't rely on our Democratic colleagues to support that. We certainly can't rely on this White House, President Biden who cuts defense spending every year, to support that. And that is a really important reason why I encourage my colleagues to support this national security supplemental, imperfect bill, yes, but needed during these very dangerous times."

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