Tom Udall: “I would like to say how glad I am to have Senator Menendez back in the saddle as our ranking member on Foreign…”

“I would like to say how glad I am to have Senator Menendez back in the saddle as our ranking member on Foreign Relations, and I thank him so much for his speech and for his leadership on our very important committee. I join my colleagues from the Foreign Relations Committee in their critique of President Trump's handling--or maybe we would call it mishandling--of foreign policy. I am most concerned about how U.S. power, prestige, and diplomacy have been weakened across the world as a direct result of this President. The United States has stood as a world leader of liberal democracy, the rule of law, and human values since the end of World War II. Our actions abroad have not always been perfect, but over the decades, we have earned the world's respect because we have acted on our principles. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, authoritarian regimes were in retreat. Today, authoritarianism is back on the march. The President himself even cheers them on, praising Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and others who fashion themselves President for life of one-party, repressive regimes. In this President's short but raucous and chaotic tenure, he has diminished our standing within the world community by grossly offending other nations and their leaders, including many of our closest allies, by abruptly changing foreign policy with no clear policy basis, and by denigrating countries and an entire continent with comments laced with racism.…”