On the recordMay 24, 2018
As the ranking member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, I am absolutely flabbergasted at the announcement that just came out of the White House that President Trump is canceling his meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. The world held out hope that the Trump administration's diplomatic engagement with North Korea would bear fruit. But you cannot have thin skin if you want to make progress with a difficult adversary such as the Kim regime. Imagine how different the course of history would look if every chance for peace was scuttled because one party was too mean to the other. To make matters worse, the President's bizarre letter returns to the same bellicose rhetoric that last year heightened tensions and raised the specter of war. Any type of military conflict on the Korean peninsula would come with horrific consequences. After a year of alienating friends and allies, unwinding our commitments, and drawing back from the world stage, it is clear what the Trump motto of ``America First'' actually means ``America Lashing Out,'' leaving America last and alone. American leadership on the global stage has been laid low, not by a rival, but by a President who has sidelined diplomacy, shut out expertise, and thrown out any rational approach to making policy. ____________________
