Today, more than ever, alliances are critical to our national security. Alliances and allies matter.

This trilateral will change the power dynamic in the South China Sea.

AUKUS was a striking innovation in terms of security and deterrence.

The North's unrelenting pursuit of nuclear weapons, the means to deliver them, and its unmitigated aggression toward South Korea and America should concern us all.

This trilateral will change the power dynamic in the South China Sea.

Clearly, this is no path toward peace.

We need to level with the American people about just how much trouble we are in.

I've called for ending the almost 44-year U.S. policy of strategic ambiguity in favor of strategic clarity.

They recognize that Americans have wearied of bearing so much of the burden of being that guarantor of the free and open global system.

No country can shape in a positive way the future of the region in isolation.

Our biggest weakness is our political division, is our inability to show that confidence, that bipartisan strength.

We must never allow the PRC to dictate America's Taiwan policy.

We need to get that message out. It needs to be done by leaders in both parties.

I think sometimes those of us on this side of the dais understand some realities, but we do not explain them that well.

the United States intends to still be the indispensable global partner with this network of alliances, this lattice of security arrangements we have.

An aggressive North Korea is building and testing nuclear weapons; a revisionist PRC seeks regional, even global, dominion.

This comprehensive bill will make our-- will make a generational investment in the workforce that will help us care for our loved ones who need support.

We should be less concerned about provoking China than we should be concerned about bolstering our friends, allies, and partners in the region.