Foreign Policy

This past Sunday, I spoke before tens of thousands who gathered in New York City’s Central Park, united in their compassion and concern, to call for an immediate end to the genocide in Darfur.  One of the reoccurring themes of the rally, and one that was a focus of my speech, was that the need for a presidential special envoy to Sudan to help push the peace process forward in Darfur.

That request became a reality yesterday, when President Bush named former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Andrew Natsios as Presidential Special Envoy to Sudan during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly.  This welcome news brings additional focus, urgency, energy, and gravitas to U.S. efforts to help the people of Darfur and bring lasting peace to all of Sudan.

However, there are many challenges that lay ahead for the new envoy, including, and most imminent, the need to allow UN peacekeepers on the ground in Sudan to protect the people of Darfur.  This afternoon I will convene a hearing to explore this and other challenges that the new envoy will face in this position.

Mr. Natsios has a full plate from the moment he starts this job.  Not only is the crisis in Darfur is getting worse by the hour, but north-south tensions are rising, putting the peace agreement that ended the 22-year civil war in jeopardy.  At today’s hearing, we will examine the ways that we can effectuate positive change and help settle the protracted disputes that have kept lasting peace from taking hold in the war-torn nation of Sudan.

Tomorrow is the five year anniversary of our military intervention in Afghanistan. That was the right war in the right place at the right time.

It's the place where we should’ve captured or killed Osama bin Laden.

Now President Bush says it's an urban myth that his Administration has lost focus on Osama bin Laden, but the real myth is that Iraq, not Afghanistan, is the center of the War on Terror.

President Bush lost focus on Osama bin Laden at Tora Bora when he held back our military and outsourced the job of killing this barbarian to Afghan warlords.

Where are we today? At a place where America urgently needs a new security strategy to make our country more secure.
There are five principal priorities that demand immediate action: (1) redeploy from Iraq, (2) re-commit to Afghanistan, (3) reduce our dependence on foreign oil, (4) reinforce our homeland defense, and (5) restore America’s moral leadership in the world.  These “5 R’s

The law and policy of the United States with regard to Cuba make clear that there will be no normalization of relations, or weakening of any sanctions on the Cuban regime, until all political prisoners are liberated, all political parties are legalized, and a democratic transition leading to free and fair elections is clearly underway in Cuba.

President Bush has reiterated our policy. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon recently restated our policy, as has Secretary Gutierrez in the past. The inclusion of a new suggestion such as the one for a "referendum" associated with the Organization of American States (OAS) made Friday by Secretary Gutierrez, was unfortunate and inappropriate. While we all celebrate the referendum that took place in Chile in 1988, it is well known, for example, that Hugo Chavez, who has embarked upon on a campaign to destroy all democratic institutions in Venezuela, carried out a fraudulent referendum in August 2004 that was "validated" by the OAS. The statement by Secretary Gutierrez last week served to diminish the necessary clarity with which U.S. policy toward Cuba needs to be conveyed.

History has proven that the Democrats have a horrible track record when working toward stability in the Middle East and it's laughable that they would blame President Bush for enabling Iran to become a global menace.  It was Democratic President Jimmy Carter who stood by as Ayatollah Khomeini overthrew the Shah of Iran, ushering in the dangerous, volatile theocracy that is still in existence today.  Most importantly, it was Carter, not President Bush, who in 1979 watched as the American Embassy in Tehran was overrun and American citizens were held captive for 444 days.

During the Clinton Administration, it is now clear that the secret Iranian nuclear program was up and running and Iran was providing support for Hezbollah and al Qaeda terrorists.  In contrast, President Bush has approached the Iranian problem from a position of strength, not appeasement and has rallied support from the world community to put an end to the Iranian nuclear program.  After all that's happened the Democrats still don't get it.  The pattern of unspoken appeasement clearly does not, and never will, work.  It didn't work in the 70's, didn't work in the 90's and especially won't work now.

While there is plenty of speculation on what it will take to secure our borders, there has unfortunately been a scarcity of any real field research with specific recommendations based on findings. I hope the delivery of this report on the northern border to the respective chairmen will provide some factual data of use in legislative planning, and will foster additional detailed, non-partisan field research. At some point we have to abandon rhetoric and start adopting practical solutions to address our startling lack of real border security.


(One of the better protected of the estimated 1,000 remote rural unguarded road crossings on the northern border - by virtue of a steel gate secured with a chain)

On Wednesday, I chaired a hearing aimed at bringing reform to the UN's human rights agenda, specifically the United Nations Human Rights Council.  The Council, which was just created earlier this year, is already broken and we need to step up our efforts to repair the body.

The Council was created in response to the generally-recognized failure of the UN's previous human rights body, the UN Commission on Human Rights.  The new Human Rights Council was given the mandate of promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and addressing violations of human rights - including and especially - gross and systematic violations.  However, the Council has failed to exercise its mandate in a fair and equal manner, instead allowing itself to follow the biased and narrow agenda of some of the nations that serve on the Council.

Since the Council's creation, there has been no condemnation of the systematic use of torture by the People's Republic of China, no special session on Cuba's abuse of political prisoners, and no actions against the brutal dictatorship of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe.  The Council hasn't even addressed the genocide in Sudan - which if ever a situation called for international intervention - it would be the tragedy in Darfur.  Instead, in their inaugural session - and its only two special sessions since - the Council has unfairly and myopically targeted Israel, most recently placing the blame on Israel for the increased violence in the Middle East, with nary a mention of the egregious actions by Hezbollah or Hamas and the role of Iran and Syria in the conflict.

Victims of abuse throughout the world deserve better than what the UN Human Rights Council has given them and we have an obligation to correct this injustice.  It is critical that the US and other human rights defenders act, as quickly as possible, to reverse the direction in which the Council is heading.

This Administration, like its predecessors, has a broad pool of talent to choose from in filling this critical post.  At a time when Iran is thwarting the will of the international community, North Korea is testing missiles, and the Middle East is a powder keg, Mr. Bolton has not demonstrated that he is the best choice for job.  And we need the best.

A successful strike during Friday's test of our national missile defense system is proof positive that this technology is improving to better protect our nation from the threat of a missile strike. In a world where rogue regimes like North Korea and Iran seek to acquire missile technology and nuclear weapons to threaten the sovereignty of the United States, we must remain committed more than ever to the development of a national missile defense system.

Friday's launch mirrored a scenario in which North Korea launched a Taepodong-2 missile toward a city on the West Coast of the United States. North Korea currently possesses the technology to achieve the capability to strike a target in the western United States, and I am confident in our efforts to develop a missile defense shield that thwarts a North Korean attack.

I encourage Lt. General Obering and the Missile Defense Agency to continue its rigorous testing to enhance the reliability of our defense strike capability. Not every test will be as successful as Friday, but it is through these tests that the United States will be able to better protect its citizens and allies.

It is mystifying that we would roll out the red carpet to a person who has incited violence against civilians and who has expressed incendiary rhetoric against the United States and our allies.  Khatami, who has gone on record as saying "Above all, we have received the greatest harm from unjust policies of America," and "If we abide by the Koran, all of us should mobilize to kill," is being extended the honor of visiting our national monuments, and even speaking at the National Cathedral -- the incarnation of our nation's treasuring of the kind of freedoms - religious and otherwise - for which Khatami has expressed derision.

This Labor Day, politicians across the country will make speeches and release statements praising the efforts and sacrifices American workers have made to our country. They will talk about the debt we owe American workers and their families, and about respect and gratitude for those who form the backbone of our economy. They will make promises, shake hands, and they will stand before crowds to celebrate Labor Day.

But when they return to Washington, and when it comes time to vote, many of these same Representatives will forget the promises they made and their words of gratitude. What matters most is their actions, not their words. Will they raise the minimum wage? Will they protect pensions? Will they stand up for workers' rights? Will they do what they can to stop outsourcing and the flow of jobs overseas? Will they vote against trade agreements that are neither free nor fair, like CAFTA or the Oman Trade Agreement? Or will they block a fair vote on the minimum wage, sit on their hands while executives with golden parachutes cut promised benefits, and endorse policies that reward corporations for shipping jobs overseas?

President Bush continues to claim the economy is strong and getting stronger. And maybe it is - for those at the top. But American workers haven't seen the benefits. Median salaries are shrinking, the number of uninsured is climbing, and despite this "stellar economy," Americans who work full time can't make ends meet. This week, the Census Bureau released the 2005 data on income, poverty, and health care. It confirmed what American families already know -- that Americans have not fared well over the first five years of the Bush Administration. Since Bush took office, there are 5.4 million more people in poverty, 6.8 million more without health insurance, overall median household income has declined by $1,300, and wages as a share of income this year are at their lowest level since at least 1928. Read more...