00:00For the first time in 24 years, this week, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin visited the
00:12North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.
00:18This rare trip was a sign of a new reality, and it amounts to bad news for the United
00:26States and for our alliance and for the forces of freedom around the world.
00:32An axis of aggressors continues to emerge, and this visit by Putin to Kim Jong-un is
00:42just the latest sign.
00:45Our adversaries, Russia, North Korea, China, the Ayatollahs, Iran, have been banding together
00:55to create a world that is less free, less peaceful, and less prosperous for the American
01:02people.
01:03Every member of the Senate knows this, and we have an opportunity to respond.
01:10And there is a glimmer of good news, Mr. President.
01:13Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which I am a member, overwhelmingly voted
01:23to move the National Defense Authorization Bill forward.
01:27We wrote the bill specifically to address this rising danger.
01:33Our near-unanimous support for passage of the NDAA is a sign that we agree on at least
01:38one thing.
01:39The United States is not ready to stand up to this axis of aggressors.
01:47This new group who are banding together and assisting each other as they never have before,
01:55and we don't have time to waste.
01:58The Armed Services Committee has put that conviction into practice.
02:02Senators from both sides of the aisle added an additional $25 billion to the legislation,
02:09to the top line of this legislation, $25 billion, which would invest in the munitions and systems
02:17we need to confront this axis and to prevent war, to preserve the peace and prevent war.
02:25Vladimir Putin's visit to Kim Jong-un was more than just a ceremony.
02:31The two autocrats signed a defense pact between North Korea and Russia, agreeing to help each
02:39other militarily.
02:42This new pact is troubling, but it should come as no surprise.
02:46It is only the latest step in their growing partnership.
02:50For two years, North Korea has been supplying Russia with millions of artillery shells and
02:56hundreds of ballistic missiles for Putin's illegal war against Ukraine.
03:02In exchange, Moscow has helped Pyongyang evade the sanctions that previously held back the
03:10North Korean economy.
03:13The Russian-North Korean partnership is just one aspect of the growing axis of aggressors.
03:20China has supported Russia's unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine.
03:26China has sent weapons components and geospatial intelligence to Vladimir Putin.
03:33In return, Moscow has sold all to China.
03:40Iran, in another section of the world, has supplied hundreds of ballistic missiles and
03:47thousands of deadly drones for Putin's terror campaign against Ukrainian citizens.
03:52Russia has returned the favor by sending Tehran advanced air defense missiles and jets.
04:00All four of these countries—Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Communist China—have supported
04:09Hamas's hateful and illegal attack on Israel, and they've supported the Houthis' reckless
04:17campaign against international commerce.
04:21Time and again, my colleagues and I have been calling attention to this evil alliance.
04:28We in the United States should expect more meetings like the one that took place in Pyongyang
04:33this week.
04:34A year ago, China hosted the first state visit of Iranian officials.
04:40First time ever that Communist China has hosted a state visit of Iranian officials.
04:48Just last month, Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
04:54This is not an accident.
04:57These instances are not unrelated, Mr. President.
05:02At these meetings, handshakes will turn into hardware.
05:09You can be sure of that.
05:11Our adversaries will continue sending the tools of war to each other, further destabilizing
05:18the free world.
05:20And as the world is changing, so must the United States.
05:23We must return to what we know works best, to what has been proven to work best.
05:29We must increase our military capability, and we must do it now, which is why I'm so
05:36thankful to my colleagues on a bipartisan basis for what they have done in the National
05:42Defense Authorization Act in committee.
05:46In May of this year, I released a detailed plan to make sure that we return to a necessary
05:55level of support for our military.
06:00We entitled it the 21st Century Peace Through Strength Document, and it contains proposals
06:06for every theater and every domain of warfare.
06:12A number of elements in the report are particularly relevant to the budding North Korea-Russia
06:17relationship and to China's nuclear breakout.
06:21In my plan, I recommend serious conversations with our allies and partners, conversations
06:27about how to meet the threats we share.
06:31With our allies South Korea, Japan, and Australia, we should discuss nuclear burden-sharing agreements.
06:41It's time for them to step forward and join us in nuclear burden-sharing.
06:47Just as former Japanese Prime Minister the late Shinzo Abe suggested in 2022, we should
06:56also explore redeploying American nuclear weapons back where they have been in the past,
07:03to that region, to keep North Korea and China in check.
07:08The Senate Armed Services Committee has taken a first step to fix our nuclear shortfalls
07:14in the Pacific.
07:15And Mr. President, this is as a result of a panel of experts that this Congress authorized,
07:24that this president signed legislation for, and which has met over the past several years,
07:31and which reported to us on not a bipartisan basis, but a unanimous bipartisan basis.
07:40Our action in the NDAA reflects that unanimous recommendation of experts.
07:48In that regard, we authorize the continued development of a sea-launched nuclear cruise
07:52missile.
07:54This will help us rise to the challenge posted by our adversaries' tactical nuclear weapons.
08:01The committee has also focused its defense budget increase on exactly the kinds of weapons
08:07and infrastructure that will be most helpful as we seek to deter our adversaries, to deter
08:13our adversaries from making a fatal mistake, so that we can continue the peace.
08:19Those steps are tailored to the Pacific, but the goals match the overall theme of this
08:26year's National Defense Authorization Act.
08:32Just as we did under the administration of Ronald Reagan, we can achieve peace through
08:40strength, but we must achieve it through strength.
08:44That's the way Reagan did it.
08:46And he did it with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House for many of those years.
08:57We can contain the rising axis of aggressors, but we can do so only if we make a once-in-a-generation
09:04investment in our armed forces.
09:07This is not a luxury.
09:09This is not a frill for our military that is to be desired by some of them.
09:14This is an absolute necessity.
09:17Listen to the witnesses that have come before us in open sessions of our committee.
09:25And almost to a man and a woman, they have said, this is the most dangerous defense situation
09:34that we've had in, if not decades, in generations.
09:40These are the people that we look to for information and leadership.
09:45And this is the non-classified testimony.
09:49Those of us who see all of the information see further need for this necessity, not this
09:58frill.
09:59So as I said earlier, Mr. President, my Senate Armed Services Committee colleagues agree
10:04we recognize the danger and we've taken the first step to meet the moment.
10:09Last week, we did agree to the defense top-line increase of $25 billion.
10:15And frankly, experts who've done this before tell you that we really needed twice as much.
10:22But this is what we could get passed out of the committee.
10:26The top-line increase is a down payment on the defense investment that is necessary to
10:31keep Americans safe.
10:33It would help reverse the downsizing of our Navy, help reverse the downsizing of our Air
10:38Force, and would bring the next generation weapons to the field faster.
10:48It includes $5.5 billion to accelerate production of key munitions and counter drone gear.
10:57The increase would invest over $1 billion in space capabilities crucial for 21st century
11:05warfare.
11:06And Mr. President, you know this and every member of the Senate knows this.
11:12The next war, if we cannot avoid it, will be fought in space and it will be fought with
11:18lasers in addition to the oceans and in addition to on the ground.
11:25We are in need of providing ourselves with the resources to meet that kind of new warfare
11:37that we've never seen in the history of mankind.
11:41It would invest $6 billion in military construction and maintenance for our barracks, training
11:47ranges and military infrastructure, and a pay raise for those Americans, those brave
11:53young Americans, those brave young men and women who are willing to step forward and
11:57say I'm going to take an oath to serve my country during dangerous times.
12:02So Mr. President, Putin's visit to North Korea is just another sign that we have no time
12:07to waste.
12:09The axis has already started solidifying, as I pointed out.
12:14Senate leadership needs to bring the NDAA to the floor for a vote.
12:21Soon.
12:23Delays only diminish American strength and embolden our adversaries.
12:28Again, I commend my colleagues on the Armed Services Committee and I call on our leadership
12:35to bring this essential legislation forward now so that we can let the appropriators know
12:42what we actually need.
12:44Thank you very much, Mr. President, and I yield the floor.
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