-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, next month will mark 45 years since a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy in an increasingly critical region of the world became law. The formal title of the law is worth a read in today's context:

An act to help maintain peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan.

In the 45 years since Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act, our friends on the island have continued to write an incredible story of resilience. Taiwan has established a strong democracy, a robust civil society, and a modern, innovative, high-tech economy. And its people have planted themselves squarely--squarely--on the side of free societies and free markets.

America is Taiwan's second largest trading partner. Its military is reforming and modernizing, increasingly arming itself with cutting-edge American capabilities. And the U.S.-Taiwan partnership has become an increasingly important indicator of bipartisan American resolve at a time when our allies and adversaries alike doubt--doubt--the credibility of our commitments.

After abandoning allies in Afghanistan, squandering leverage over Iran, and slow-walking assistance to Ukraine, America's relationship with Taiwan holds unique value. And, like it or not, it will be increasingly seen as a test of whether America's commitments to allies and partners hold any water.

Today, investing in our capabilities and defense industrial capacity would show our friends across the Indo-Pacific that we do--do-- recognize the significance of that region and of the strategic competition unfolding out there--a competition America cannot afford to neglect. After all, the PRC is certainly not neglecting it.

Since 2015, Beijing's publicly reported spending on its military has doubled, and, just yesterday, Communist Party leaders announced that defense investments would grow a further 7.2 percent.

Of course, that is just the figure Beijing acknowledges publicly. China's real military modernization efforts are actually more expansive and more worrisome, and they are intended to enable the PRC to dominate its neighbors and counter America's ability to project power in the region.

By word and deed, the PRC is showing the world that it is prepared to redraw maps by force. Sound familiar? That is because the revisionists autocrats we face are operating from the very same playbook.

And Taiwan appreciates the links between the threats we face as well as any of our allies and partners. Its leaders have been outspoken in connecting the dots between an aggressive Russia in Europe and an emboldened China in the Indo-Pacific. And the people of Taiwan increasingly recognize their interests in preparing to deter and defeat aggression. In fact, they are so clear-eyed about challenges posed by revisionist powers today, they are helping a fellow democracy halfway around the world in Ukraine.

But the more pressing questions right now are whether America recognizes our own interests in maintaining a world in which our commitments are trusted, our threats are feared, and what we are prepared to do about it.

Standing by our friends, standing up to adversaries, and investing in the military capacity to do both--as Congress considers annual Defense appropriations and finishes its work on the national security supplemental, these are the fundamental tasks at hand.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source