Click here or on the image above to watch Senator Capito’s floor speech.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, delivered remarks on the Senate floor highlighting the dangerous world President Biden leaves behind after four years of weak national security policies.
Senator Capito’s floor remarks, as prepared for delivery, are included below:
“Mr./Madame President,
“I rise today to bring attention to the dangerous world that President Biden and his administration are leaving behind: a world engulfed in the flames of war in Europe and the Middle East, and teetering on the brink in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
“Our adversaries are testing American resolve in ways we haven’t seen in decades, and that instability puts us, the American people, at risk.
“Now, America has a weak Commander-in-Chief who has sleepwalked the global order into chaos.
“Joe Biden may be temporarily tasked with steering the ship of state through these crises, but Joe Biden didn’t inherit this world. He created it.
“Joe Biden’s foreign policy? He doesn’t have one, aside from flip flops, half-measures, and weak conciliations in place of strong deterrence.
“Whereas President-elect Donald Trump led with strength, defeated the ISIS caliphate, paved a path to peace in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords, exerted a maximum pressure campaign on Iran, and got tough on China.
“Just four years later, President Biden’s weakness fuels violence and aggression the globe hasn’t experienced in decades.
“On January 20th, President-elect Trump is set to take the Oath of Office and, once again, assume the solemn responsibility of Commander-in-Chief.
“The task ahead for him, and for us, is monumental.
“Joe Biden leaves behind a messy world and it’s up to the incoming administration and Congress to clean it up.
“Over the past four years, China has aggressively expanded its military capabilities, including a massive increase in both conventional forces and nuclear weapons.
“In 2020, the Defense Intelligence Agency assessed that China had about 200 nuclear weapons and would reach 400 by 2030.
“Now, four years later, the same agency counts about 500 nuclear weapons in China and predicts they will have more than 1,000 by 2030.
“Chinese military spending has surged, with 2024 being the third year in a row that its military saw growth of more than 7%.
“At the same time, President Biden’s Department of Defense requested four consecutive military budgets that actually cut defense once you account for inflation.
“While China continues to build the largest navy in the world, Biden’s defense budgets called for us to shrink our Navy from 296 ships in 2024 to 294 ships in 2030.
“China knows that these investments have consequences. President Xi knows that our failure to invest weakens America’s ability to project power abroad.
“During its unprecedented buildup, China has increased its assertiveness in the South China Sea and escalated its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace.
“China's cyber capabilities are also emboldened.
“Attacks like Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon reveal a brazen intention to burrow deep into our critical infrastructure and threaten the American people.
“And yet, the Biden administration has appeared more focused on seeking meetings and chasing diplomacy with China.
“China recognizes hard power, and rebuilding ours will be a day one project for the Trump administration and for Senate Republicans.
“Pivoting to the Middle East, our adversary, Iran, has also seized on the openings presented by Joe Biden’s weak leadership.
“Under Joe Biden, Iran has been able to supercharge its support for terrorist proxy groups by increasing its lucrative oil exports without consequence.
“Under Biden’s watch, Iran has used these billions of dollars to arm Hezbollah, ship advanced weapons like ballistic missiles to the Houthis, and orchestrate attacks on American forces across the region.
“Let me repeat: Iran-sponsored attacks on American forces.
“Our troops have faced hundreds of assaults, on the ground and at sea.
“Iran-backed aggression has killed U.S. service members in Jordan and in the Red Sea.
“And let’s never forget that American hostages remain held in Gaza thanks to Iran’s support of Hamas.
“All of this should have been completely unacceptable.
“What’s more, Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon today than it ever was under Trump.
“In 2020, Iran’s so-called ‘breakout time’ to produce enough fuel for a nuclear weapon was 3 months. Now, it’s under a week.
“And, when Israel was thrust into a war for its survival, not of its choosing, Joe Biden publicly questioned Israel’s actions, delayed critical arms shipments, and damaged one of our most vital alliances.
“President Biden should know that U.S. support for Israel is a valuable deterrent.
“This undermining of the U.S.-Israel relationship would never take place under President Trump.
“He understood that peace comes through strength and our alliance with Israel is unshakable, not a conditional agreement.
“And finally, as we stand here today, there is still a large-scale ground war in Europe perpetrated by Russia.
“When Donald Trump assumes office, the war will be entering its third year with an appalling toll in lives and suffering, more than one million Ukrainians and Russians killed or wounded.
“Most recently, Putin has ramped up arms production, used a new ballistic missile capability, and deployed North Korean troops.
“Donald Trump presents just the off-ramp the world needs because, looking to current American leadership, it’s no wonder this conflict has escalated.
“This bloody war, especially with Iran and North Korea as Russian partners, is a stark reminder of what happens when America projects weakness.
“President Biden’s foreign policy missteps, such as lifting sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, emboldened Vladimir Putin.
“And his suggestion that a ‘minor incursion’ into Ukraine would receive a muted response? Well, that certainly didn’t deter this catastrophic invasion.
“Then the Biden administration failed to push the whole of Europe to invest adequately in its military and industrial capacity.
“And for those of us who support military assistance to Ukraine, this administration has made it unnecessarily difficult for them to actually win the war.
“By slow walking payments and stalling authorities, many of which they eventually agreed to, the Biden administration failed to give full support to a sovereign country who was unlawfully invaded.
“Donald Trump understood that Nord Stream 2 was a threat. He sanctioned it.
“Donald Trump understood that sticks work as well as carrots to boost Europe’s defense spending and munitions production. He used that leverage.
“President Trump and his cabinet will get to work on day one to push our NATO allies to meet their commitments and bring peace to the European continent.
“The bottom line is this: Joe Biden made a mess. Now, Donald Trump has to clean it up.
“America may not be at war, but this instability threatens our national peace and prosperity.
“To put it simply: failing to deter conflict makes it more likely that young Americans, young West Virginians, will have to fight someday.
“Weakness is dangerous.
“Our state is proud that West Virginians disproportionately throughout history have answered the call to serve, but their service is not something we take for granted.
“I believe that President Trump and his team are ready to get back to peace through strength.
“They will restore our deterrence, the deterrence that ensures we don’t have to send our men and women into harm’s way.
“Deterrence is much cheaper than war.
“The good thing is that we don’t have to wait till January to get to work.
“Congress must take up the [National Defense Authorization Act] immediately, so our critical national defense policies are in place as the next administration takes office, something we should have completed months ago.
“As for the executive, I’m confident President-elect Trump has the record and resolve to clean up this mess.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues and President Trump to secure our country’s rightful, respected, and preeminent role on the world stage.
“Thank you, and I yield the floor.”
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