The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FOREIGN POLICY” mentioning John Thune was published in the Senate section on page S2205 on April 27.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FOREIGN POLICY
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, now on one final matter, yesterday I discussed how the Biden administration's wishful thinking has set them up for foreign policy failure in Central Asia and the Middle East. The likely catastrophe in Afghanistan may well consume the administration and distract from the challenges proposed by competition with Russia and China.
The President's meager defense budget proposal suggests his administration isn't taking strategic competition very seriously to begin with. Russia and China have spent years--years--investing heavily in military modernization with a specific eye toward threatening U.S. forces. We spent the previous administration repairing the readiness of our forces and beginning to modernize after years on the back foot.
A bipartisan Commission concluded we would need sustained increases in defense funding to successfully counter the growing Russian and Chinese capabilities. Yet adjusting for inflation, President Biden's proposal would amount to a reduction in spending.
This administration has talked tough with both these rivals, and I have given credit where credit has been due, but when the time came to speak in the language that Putin and Xi understand best--money and power--this White House flinched.
Just last week, Russia reminded us of the threat it poses to Europe with a massive mobilization of forces on Ukraine's border. NATO allies are already struggling to meet their commitments on collective security.
So you have to ask, Would declining American spending make Putin more likely or less likely to think twice next time? And what about China? Will China be more likely or less likely to respect its neighbors' territorial waters if the United States stops contending for an edge in naval and long-range capabilities and lets ourselves fall behind?
The head of the U.S. Strategic Command reported last week that both Russia and China are modernizing their nuclear arsenals faster than the United States. He warned that if we fail to keep pace, we will be ``at risk of losing credibility in the eyes of our adversaries.''
Our nuclear triad has preserved the peace for decades, but crucial components are now decades older than the men and women we have operating them. If we want to maintain effective deterrence, we have to modernize.
Whether this administration likes it or not, we are locked in a race with adversaries who plan literally decades ahead. A lack of resolve will compound on itself and invite disaster. Surely that cannot be the legacy President Biden hopes to leave.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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