As it has for decades, the United States today faces a wide array of challenges abroad. Russian aggression in Eastern Europe puts the international order at risk of collapse. In the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda continue to threaten American lives and interests. Threats that don’t respect traditional borders—like pandemic disease or the climate crisis—continue to grow. New regional powers are emerging in Asia and Latin America, and the United States must find ways to accommodate their rise.
Four years of the Trump administration weakened our place on the world stage, but thankfully, President Biden has reasserted American leadership in a time of unprecedented global instability. We brought our troops home from Afghanistan, marshaled an unprecedented, coordinated response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with our European allies and other international partners, invested billions in global vaccination against COVID-19, and we are finally treating climate change like the global threat it is.
We make better national security decisions when Congress has a seat at the table, but over time, presidents of both parties have dramatically expanded the use of executive power. It’s a broken system that breeds endless wars, unlimited arms sales, and ill-advised trade wars that leave America weaker in the world. Congress needs to reclaim its rightful role as a co-equal branch on matters of war and national security. The bipartisan National Security Powers Act I introduced with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Mike Lee of Utah would make sure that there is a full, open and public debate on all major national security decisions, such as war making, arms sales and emergency declarations.
A strong military is the foundation of U.S. national security. And in Connecticut, we build the systems that keep America safe. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I have fought to secure tens of billions of dollars in additional funding for the construction of Columbia-class submarines, F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, and Black Hawk helicopters. All of these state-of-the-art, made-in-Connecticut technologies are designed to achieve our military objectives while keeping our servicemembers safe.
But if the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that the biggest threats posed to our country really aren't foreign armies. In Investing in 21st Century Diplomacy, I outlined a new State Department budget with a $12 billion increase to address three specific challenges: (1) competing with China; (2) preparing for the next pandemic in a post-COVID-19-era; and (3) fighting climate change. We can still maintain the strongest military on the planet while getting smart about the national security challenges that can only be met with non-military solutions.
As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I’m focused on making sure U.S. foreign policy reflects our values and takes advantage of every tool at our disposal. That’s why I released Rethinking the Battlefield — a road map for rebuilding our foreign policy toolkit in order to keep pace with the global challenges we face today. My comprehensive plan calls for nearly doubling the U.S. foreign affairs budget – which includes the Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other agencies – over a five-year period, with an emphasis on funding for international development, additional foreign service officers, anti-corruption efforts, countering propaganda, crisis response, and humanitarian relief.
U.S. national security and foreign policy still need to catch up to the new set of threats posed to the United States and our allies, and I’ll continue pushing us toward a more modern and progressive foreign policy to better meet these challenges.
