‘Peace Through Strength’ to Confront Modern Security Threats
In 1981, speaking to a national conference of the building and construction trades, America’s 40th president, Ronald Reagan, famously said: “Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.”
Indeed, the fundamental responsibility of any government is to ensure the peace and safety of its people. A free and prosperous society cannot endure without this essential condition being met.
By now, it’s evident that our 46th president, Joe Biden, has either forgotten or disregarded Reagan’s timeless admonition. As a consequence, the world is a more dangerous place, and the American people face significant security challenges at home and abroad.
The defining foreign policy blunder of the Biden presidency was America’s chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Our haphazard exit conveyed weakness and confusion to foreign adversaries, undermining America’s credibility as a deterrent force and emboldening international actors with malign intentions.
Only months later, Vladimir Putin staged his invasion of neighboring Ukraine, a conflict that has destabilized eastern Europe while resulting in over half a million casualties. Inspired by the Russian incursion, Chinese President Xi Jinping now speaks openly about “reunification” with the free and independent nation of Taiwan.
Further complicating matters, the Biden administration announced a deal with Iran last August that would see five U.S. hostages released in exchange for five Iranian prisoners and the release of $6 billion of frozen Iranian funds.
In October, the world watched in horror as Hamas – with the full support of Iran – perpetrated unspeakable acts of terrorism on innocent Israeli citizens, including in Be’eri, a kibbutz I personally visited in 2022. On the heels of this catastrophe, Houthi rebels, proxies of Iran, have launched attacks on Red Sea shipping vessels, threatening more lives while disrupting international commerce.
Iranian hostility has even touched southwestern Pennsylvania in recent months. In November, Iran-backed cybercriminals hacked the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, jeopardizing the critical infrastructure on which we all depend.
In response, freshman Rep. Chris Deluzio urged Attorney General Merrick Garland “to conduct a full investigation and hold those responsible accountable,” but Deluzio misses the bigger point: none of this should have happened in the first place, and President Biden’s $6 billion hostage deal did nothing to deter Tehran.
To restore international order and America’s primacy on the global stage, we must confront these existential and geopolitical threats head-on, with moral clarity and with the interests of American citizens front of mind.
The Ukraine conflict has already cost American taxpayers over $75 billion, with the Biden administration and Congress actively pursuing additional investments.
To demonstrate solidarity with NATO allies like Poland and to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific, continued American intervention is appropriate. Americans, however, are tired of “forever wars” and are rightly dismayed by a litany of urgent domestic problems. They deserve transparency, accountability, and a well-articulated endgame before additional aid is sent. Congress should also take steps to ensure that European nations share this burden and contribute their fair share.
As the late Henry Kissinger once said, “The security of Israel is a moral imperative for all free peoples.” As the leader of the free world, America must provide unconditional and unwavering support for Israel as it defends its people and its sovereignty. Now more than ever, antisemitism and weak-kneed equivocation from the Left cannot be tolerated.
Furthermore, America should exercise military force against Houthi rebels and any other Iran-affiliated actors who sow chaos in the Middle East and here at home. Long term, we must exercise all available options – diplomatic, economic, and otherwise – to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program once and for all.
These ongoing foreign policy challenges are second only to the self-inflicted national security and humanitarian crisis unfolding at America’s southern border, a tragedy I witnessed firsthand during a recent congressional delegation visit to Yuma, Arizona.
Since President Biden took office, there have been over 7 million illegal encounters along our southern border – a number roughly equal to the population of Massachusetts. Last year alone, 169 individuals on the terrorist watchlist were apprehended at the border and U.S. authorities seized over 27,000 pounds of fentanyl – enough to kill more than 6 billion people.
The Biden administration’s catch-and-release policies have inundated American cities and immigration courts, strained public resources, overwhelmed hospitals and schools, and given drug cartels unfettered access to American black markets.
Pennsylvania is not insulated from the effects. The southern border crisis has brought human trafficking, gang violence, and illicit drugs to our doorstep. The American people deserve better.
Congressional Republicans took a meaningful step to address these problems with the passage of H.R. 2 last year. The legislation, which Rep. Deluzio voted against, proposes several logical enhancements to the American immigration system, including limits on asylum eligibility and requiring employers to use an electronic system to verify the employment eligibility of new workers. The bill has been sitting on Senator Chuck Schumer’s desk since May.
These commonsense measures, along with additional resources for expanded physical barriers and a heightened presence of border patrol and ICE officers, are concrete policy solutions that must advance in Washington. Congress and state governments must also act to defund sanctuary cities that provide perverse incentives to lawbreaking migrants.
In the face of these imminent threats (and others), the United States has arrived at a pivotal crossroads. The decisions of our elected leaders will echo for generations. For our children and grandchildren to realize the American promise, we must act with intention and restore the longstanding doctrine of “peace through strength” before it is too late.
