U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell | Mitch McConnell Official website
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell | Mitch McConnell Official website
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) addressed the Senate floor today on national security priorities, highlighting several pressing issues.
“The challenges facing an American-led order and American interests around the world are no less serious, nor less connected, than they were the last time the Senate convened,” McConnell stated.
He pointed to recent developments involving Iran, Russia, and China. “Last week, Iran was expected to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia in a major expansion of its support for Putin’s war in Ukraine. The PRC is ramping up its destabilizing provocations in the South China Sea. And Russia, for its part, continues to court the fealty of senior officials from a NATO ally, Hungary.”
McConnell criticized what he perceives as Western inaction and moral lapses. He mentioned that “the head of UNRWA... insisted that deserved criticism of his organization’s complicity in terrorism was... tantamount to ‘a weapon’ in the war.” Additionally, he condemned the United Kingdom's suspension of military aid licenses to Israel amid ongoing conflicts.
“This step – and calls for similar restrictions on our own assistance – validate the terrorists’ strategy and broadcast the weakness of our resolve,” McConnell asserted.
He also took aim at the Biden-Harris Administration's response to Houthi actions in the Red Sea: “In a bizarre public message... urged the Houthi terrorists holding international commerce hostage... to think about the consequences of their blockade for the environment.”
McConnell emphasized Congress' unfinished business post-recess: “The President’s meager defense budget request was already an insufficient starting point for topline funding discussions when they began months ago.”
He concluded by stressing that delays in passing crucial legislation like the National Defense Authorization Act undermine national security efforts: “Our adversaries are resolved to exploit American weakness and hesitation. And we’ve given them quite enough.”
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