On the recordSeptember 14, 2016
I thank the Senator very much. It is an honor to join my freshmen colleagues on the floor of the U.S. Senate to talk about our failing national security strategy. This past weekend, we all bowed our heads in remembrance of the nearly 3,000 brave souls we lost on September 11, 2001. The response to those horrific attacks was not as our Islamic extremist enemies had hoped. America did not falter. We bonded together and we fought back. We fought back. The response to 9/11 was a comprehensive one, with an object as clear as its name--the global war on terror. From places like Sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, and the Philippines, U.S. troops operating under Operation Enduring Freedom showed those responsible for 9/11 the true power of the United States of America. From combat operations in Somalia to advising missions in South America, there has long been a global and a comprehensive strategy to our response to 9/11. There was American leadership. Today, the administration has dismantled that global strategy. There is no leadership. Their failure to develop a strategy in 2011 for the troop withdrawal in Iraq and their continued fight for lower troop numbers in Afghanistan, those are just a couple of examples that are the tip of the iceberg. One of the most alarming things in this administration--one of the most alarming things they have done is not only ignore threats but also fuel those threats, just as they did with the Iran nuclear deal.…





