Speaker Mike Johnson Addresses The Hudson Institute About 'Threats To The US-Led World Order'

thank you so much uh it's so great to be with you John thank you for the kind introduction um I have never had the uh honor of speaking at the Hudson Institute before but I'm I'm really grateful for the opportunity this morning and and really thankful for all the good work The Institute has done over the years uh it's never been more important than it is right now as we all recognize uh last week we we celebrated our 248th birthday as a nation and if you're speaking to a group of high school or college students as I often do that seems like an eternity but we all know uh that's not a long span of time in a whole uh scale of human history uh but we have the greatest nation in the history of the world it's the strongest most powerful most free most benevolent of Any Nation that has ever been and that's no accident it's because we're built on certain principles and we feel right now many of us feel acutely that some of those principles some of those foundational truths are under assault even within our own boundaries even within our own country and as we near our 250th annivers and we debate the future of America's position in the world it is worth us just taking a moment especially on an occasion like this to reflect upon where we've been and where we are and where we're going as a country in the leadup to World War II we understood the primary threat to come from a tyrant in Europe but we were attacked by a tyrant in Asia and we were forced into war in two theaters in the Cold War of course the Soviets were the only real threat to the us but they had a block of proxies around the world and they work together the The tripartite Pact established an axis of pow set on undoing the west and the Warsaw Pact established a block of Soviet Partners set against America in both of those instances we saw a group of enemies joining forces against us today uh we we we don't face one primary enemy as we did in the in the Soviet Union and so far thankfully we don't see a new kind of tripartite pact but we do see we do see a a group of Nations openly aligned against the United States it's an interconnected web of threats I I I refer to it as a China Le axis composed of partner regimes in Russia Iran North Korea Venezuela and even Cuba now they each have their own cultures their own specific Sinister aims but they all wake up every every morning thinking how they can take down America and they are increasingly using their Collective military technological and financial resources to empower one another in their various efforts to cut off our trade routes and steal our technology and harm our troops and upend our economy Iran works with Russia to produce uh Shahed drones to hunt down and Bob ukrainians every day while Russia launches North Korean missiles at Ukraine's electrical grids using technology provided by the Chinese China our our single greatest threat is engaging in malign influence operations around the world and is even working with cartels now uh backed by Cuba and Venezuela to poison Americans with fentel China Russia and Iran all work with Cuban intelligent outposts to Target Americans and provide Safe Harbor for terrorists in transit and all these enemies operating in our hemisphere uh they're doing this and they're trading oil with Venezuela which is pushing illegal aliens and violent criminals towards our borders I I've been around uh the world on Congressional trips and talk to ambassadors and foreign ministers in in many countries around the world and we know right now war is on the minds of many around the globe and some of the threats are eerily reminiscent of the past we hear chance of elimination of the Jewish people we hear calls for territorial expansion and ethn uh driven justifications for Invasion and we hear speeches about the annexation of Pacific Islands and all of these are echoes of some of the same things we heard 80 years ago until recently in the almost 40 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union thanks to America's policy of peace through strength those sounds of war the the interconnected global conflict had mostly been silent but that is no longer the case and under the the current path the world is increasingly destabilized and we are living now in a fateful moment and I think all of us recognize it our actions here in America will continue to determine the path of the Free World and in that sense the survival of Liberty around the world all of us here recognize that while democracy is not perfect it is the burden of self-government is certainly far lighter than the Yoke of tyranny but right now absent American leadership we're looking at a future that could be well defined Ed by communism and tyranny rather than Liberty and opportunity and Security in Europe Putin has made it clear that his plans don't stop with Ukraine he's likened himself to Zar Peter the Great and you can read his essay about restoring the Russian Empire an Empire that would include our military Partners in vilnus Helsinki and Warsaw Xi Jinping made abundantly clear he's interested in expanding his communist footholds including in the South China Sea in the Middle East the Ayatollah wants to resurrect the caliphate and eliminate Israel they say these things out loud and with their Rising hostilities we risk the loss of free Na navigation in the indopacific and the Red Sea and we risk devastating economic harm of course if we lose access to semiconductors in Taiwan or have reduced trade with Europe at the same time we risk returning to an Era where schiks control Jerusalem and the Jewish people have no land to call their own now you hear a lot of criticism about Republicans and and as a leader in the Republican party uh we're sure these these threats have been growing for some time but under weak presidents they've been allowed to metastasize rather dramatically as Republicans conservatives we call this out because it's alarming we have to speak bluntly and we have to tell the truth these are objective facts during the Obama Administration we saw eight years of international apology tours we saw the sequestration of our military the buildup of Isis Russia's Invasion into Crimea the spread of malign Chinese influence around the globe and in a nuclear deal that gave Iran everything they wanted and what are we facing today the same failures we saw under Obama have happened under Joe Biden because he's empowered an outof touch foreign policy establishment who has an agenda very different than the one that we need right now their agenda is about uh once again appeasing and apologizing and accommodating Joe Biden doesn't treat China like an enemy he's stopped supporting Israel and has cozied up to Iran to revive the failed nuclear deal and in the most inexplicable policy imaginable he's opened our borders wide to spies and terrorists while reducing sanctions on Latin dictators who wreak havoc in our backyard and the results of this were completely foreseeable we're all living through it Obama's weakness invited aggression and Biden's weakness has fueled that aggression like nothing we've seen seen since World War II things were different when I came to Congress uh during the first administration of Donald Trump 2017 we came to Washington at the same time and I was elected uh chairman of the Republican study committee about a year and a half later in 2019 that was the largest caucus in Congress and one of the first things I did as chairman of RSC was to create a national security task force we published a report with 130 policy recommendations to do some very important things to counter China to deter Russia and to advance American interest in the Middle East and to the Chagrin of the pundits who want to paint him as an isolationist if you look at the objective facts in the history you know president Trump established a solid security posture that advanced the same principles that we outlined in our report remember how he threatened North Korea with quote fire and fury the likes of which the world has never seen I would do it in my trump uh impression but I won't do that for you this morning it's better when he said it remember how he took out solomani in now baghdaddy remember how he was the first president to send Javelin missiles to Ukraine and how he took steps to rebuild our military remember how simple Trump's approach to Arms Control was he ended one-sided treaties he called out Russia for violating the INF treaty and he ensured America was developing the Weaponry to win if challenged he called out the threat to China and he took on their unfair Trade Practices he got our allies to pay their fair share he enforced oil uh sanction on Iran and he brokered the Abraham Accords and the foreign policy establishment absolutely hated it but he did not Retreat and he did not apologize instilled fear on our enemies and with his leadership made clear that American strength is essential to a peaceful 21st century to be sure the Republican party is not uh one of nation Builders or uh careless interventionists we don't believe we should be the world's policemen nor are we idealists who think we can plate tyrants we are realists we don't we don't seek out a fight but we know we have to be prepared we have to be prepared to fight and if we must fight we fight with the gloves off and today when our adversaries don't need the cross oceans to harm our people we need a new policy of peace through strength for the 21st century even as the America last bureaucrats uh regained power under Joe Biden and invited aggression from our enemies in the coming months we have a chance to change course I think you're seeing a ground swell among the American people I think people recognize this intuitively and the momentum is on our side I'm increasingly optimistic I'm very hopeful that we're going to be able to do this and when we do there's basically a three-part foreign policy strategy that I think we need to pursue for the future first we have to strengthen our domestic position because National Security begins at home obviously it's an uncomfortable truth but our biggest National Security challenge is our national debt that's what the leaders of Pentagon say when you put them under oath and we all know that it to meet our defense needs Congress has to work to grow our economy and significantly reduce our overall spending and I can promise you that come 2025 spending reform will be a top priority for our new Republican majority they're not going to be easy conversations but they are essential for our long-term survival Congress has to prioritize the truly essential needs of our nation and our national security has to be at the top of that list at the same time we must address the hollowing out of our defense infrastructure the 2024 index of military strength is something I know many of you are familiar with in this room it ranks the armies and the Marine corps's capacity as weak the Navy's capacity as very weak the air forces's Readiness is very weak and our nuclear capabilities as marginal that is not a good report card and if we're going to present a credible deterrent to our adversaries we have to rebuild while we are also being fiscally responsible that's why we invested $23 billion to restock essential weapons and rebuild our defense capacities in the April National Security Supplemental Bill looking ahead we also have to reinvest in our Maritime sector and begin building new ships and new shipyards 80% of global trade is conducted over the oceans and China currently has a 232 time uh ship building capacity over the United States 232 times more we need to resure and safes sure our suppli chains and restore our domestic manufacturing and building capabilities while safeguarding our military from another sequestration but strengthening our domestic position also means unleashing our energy sector and protecting our borders again it's about priorities when Joe Biden joined the Paris climate Accords and stopped LNG exports you know who won China and Russia won and American families lost as Joe Biden opened our borders and ended remain in Mexico and stopped building the wall and instituted catch and Rel it was the terrorists and the cartels and the fentel traffic fentel traffickers that won and Americans who lost but here's the hopeful part in 2025 as a republican L government works quickly to strengthen our domestic position we must also use our economic might to influence our friends and deter our enemies we can do this we must do this and the recent National Security Supplemental House Republicans push back on the Biden administration's policy of Iran appeasement and ured the toughest around sanctions package in nearly a decade we leveraged our economic influence against CCP controlled Tik Tock we passed the repo act that allows us to seize Russian oligarchs Bank assets to pay for assistance in Ukraine and in the Ukraine supplemental we mandated cost matching for European allies by the way those are key Provisions that were not in the Senate version of the legislation we added that in the house we're we're hopeful that in the days ahead we can push our friends in Europe to establish a self-sufficient defense industrial base that is less reliant on American assistance Russia will not be able to outweight our Collective Strength if we do all this but because at this moment China poses the greatest threat to Global Peace Congress must keep our focus on countering China with every tool at our disposal in the short time remaining in this Congress we're we're busy at this already the house will be voting on a series of bills to empower the next Administration to hit our enemies economies on day one we will build our sanctions package punish the Chinese military firms that provide material support to Russia and Iran and we'll consider options to restrict outbound investments in China we're working on piece of legislation to move this fall to that very thing we will vote on the biocure ACT which will halt Federal contracts with biotech companies that are beholden to adversaries and endanger Americans Healthcare debt will re in the dominous privilege for any good subject to section 301 uh trade enforcement tariffs and that will help styme China's attempts to exploit American trade our goal is to have a significant package of China related legislation signed in law by the end of this year in this Congress featuring these priorities and many more and we'll work aggressively toward that package I'm very hopeful that much of this can be bipartisan and in the next Congress we we'll maintain the status and continue the important work of our house select committee on the Chinese Communist Party threat Beijing is our number one foreign threat they exploit every nook and cranny in our financial and economic systems and the select committee has been very instrumental as you know in exposing the dangers of the CCP it's clear we need to strengthen our domestic position and we need to use all the economic tools available to us but we must also strengthen our alliances make no mistake we don't need more naive idealistic self-proclaimed foreign policy experts who put the wants of other countries before the needs of our own we need a US Le said America First Coalition that advances the security interest of Americans and engages abroad with the interests of working families and businesses here at home a coalition that's good for everybody this week Washington is hosting the 75th NATO Summit and we'll celebrate peace and prosperity that's that's U NATO has brought and I'll be speaking to the NATO heads at the capital shortly after this but for now I just want to say this and I'll deliver the message to them emphatically Republicans of course celebrate the peace and prosperity that NATO has secured and will continue to stand by our partners as we prevent needless Wars but we also believe that NATO needs to be doing more every NATO member needs to be spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense that's the agreement that's the deal there's 10 or 12 of them that aren't doing that yet it's no longer acceptable that not all NATO members have reached their current commitment it may even need to be closer to levels during the Cold War but if we're all going to enjoy a future of peace and prosperity we all need to have skin in the game and I I think that's a very common sense um uh notion as I meet with NATO delegations this week I'm going to raise this very serious issue with each one of them in the Middle East we're seeing the devastating effects of Democrats splintering on our on our historic alliance with Israel because President Biden will not do it come November we will be clear about our steadfast support for Israel and will'll build upon the Abraham Accord so the Jewish people can enjoy safety and freedom in their Homeland likewise in the indopacific America must continue to build upon our military and economic uh relationships with India Taiwan South Korea Australia the Philippines Vietnam and the United Kingdom we all have strategic interest in the region and with a strong united front we can protect our trade routes our shipping lanes and all of our shared interests I'm going to wrap all this up by reminding you of a couple of things all this everything that I've talked about today and everything that we know needs to happen involves choices we can choose to lead or we can choose to be a speed bump down the road to Surf decline is always a choice we live in a free country and we ought to make the right choice at one point the West Was facing elimination by fascists and imperialists and the Jews were facing genocide by the Nazis and another point we faced Annihilation by the Soviets today we are threatened again by Chinese Communists by Russian oligarchs and as Islamic terrorist we can choose to ignore them we can try to appease them we can listen to the naysayers who say our values aren't worth defending and that there can be no Victory or or we can choose another course we can respond again with all the fortitude and fight that once ran through every American vein we can rearm rebuild reinvigorate restore and reinstate fear in our enemies we can retake the summit of respect and and thus look out on a landscape of peace and prosperity and security we can show courage we can show Valor and we can give our grandchildren the chance to grow up not in the shadow of tyranny but a top our own shining City on a Hill decline is always a choice but that is not a choice that Republicans will be making anytime soon 50 years ago at a banquet hall a few blocks from where we're sitting Ronald Reagan spoke at the very first meeting of the conservative political action conference it was almost exactly 50 years ago at at the time conservatism was considered by many to be an out-of-date and discredited philosophy but Ronald Reagan didn't buy that instead he reminded us all why America is exceptional he reminded us that we can be that shining city on a hill and and and and so important to the entire world and this is how he famously summarized it at the end of that speech I used to have this when I was in high school I had this printed and put on a little bulletin board behind my uh typewriter when we had I'm very old guys uh this is what he said he said we cannot Escape our destiny nor should we try to do so the leadership of the Free World was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little Hall in Philadelphia in the days following World War II when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return of the Dark Ages Pope pasus I 12th said it this way the American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions into the hands of America God has placed the Destinies of an Afflicted mankind Reagan said we are indeed and we are today the last best hope of man on Earth by God's grace we will always be thanks for your [Applause] time thank you for those remarks Mr Speaker um we are privileged to host you here at Hudson Institute we thank you for your leadership and for your team's uh great work with our team to make this happen so thanks for being here Mr Speaker this is your first National Security address since you led the house to pass that amended National Security Supplemental so as you've gone outside of Washington and gone back home and gone to other districts what has been the response from the American people it's it's been very favorable um I I was saying in the in the back room over here John and I were talking and I said um my my staff keeps track of this but when the speaker is not in session expected to be around the country uh campaigning for our incumbents and our candidates we recruited and I've done events in now 136 cities in in 31 states in the last 6 months and uh since the vote um I have people come up to me at every one of these events and these are Big diverse crowds we have a we're seeing a demographic shift right now in the country that has I've not seen in my lifetime we have a record number of Hispanic and Latino voters for example coming in the Republican party we have a record number of um uh uh Jewish Community the Jewish communities coming in very enthusiastically because they feel like Biden's abandoned Israel and he has a record number of uh of black voters African-American voters and and these are big big diverse crowds and people all say the same thing were so glad that that was done they understand that we do have a role to play in the world and I think people took uh Putin's aspirations seriously that people understand that he would not stop if he could take ke he's a he's a he's a ruthless dictator in my view and and uh I I think people who study these issues understand and there's a consensus that um he would not stop at Kei but he would set up on the border of Poland Baltic states and then we would be in a NATO situation where there we there might be a need for our own troops to go and defend those borders against an invasion it's it's a very very serious time this morning uh the uh there was I think of a bombing at an infant Hospital in ke this morning I mean they're ruthless and they're testing our resolve right now and I I think if we had failed I I really do believe it was a Churchill or Chamberlain moment for our country and I think we did the right thing and I think history is going to record that and well I'm going to get back to that on specifically on Ukraine and Russia but I do I do want to get I can hear a lot of noise outside and we had that initial guest come in here and so I'm going to take her idea here and talk it's like a house Republican conference meeting is you have been a a really leading voice um on on the need for the United States to truly provide moral and diplomatic and Military backing if necessary to provide support to Israel's um uh efforts to defend itself against the various Iranian proxies why is Israel security so important to the United States well for so many reasons I mean obviously it's the only stable democracy in the Middle East but there are a very critical partner and Ally in us for for for our own interests and concerns I mean in terms of you know counterterrorism and and uh and for the economic benefits we have in our alliance with them and and and for security in every way for a lot of Americans it's also a matter of faith I mean this is something uh that's uh written in the Book of Genesis in the very beginning of the of the book that um we we stand with and bless Israel um so you can ask a lot of Americans if you pulled a 100 who are in favor of supporting Israel they give you 100 different reasons and I I think they're all important what's also important for us in in a setting like this we'd be very realistic about this if Iran and the enemies of Israel were able to eliminate Israel as a state they would then shift their focus from Jerusalem to Washington I mean they hate us as much as almost as much as they hate Israel um so this is a a partnership I spent a lot of time with um prime minister Netanyahu over the last certainly since I became speaker and um and and when we were in Israel on an APAC trip years ago he he said um the only reason that we're able to stand is because our enemies know that America Is Our Big Brother standing behind us looking over our shoulder and we understand the importance of that and and the the importance of maintaining that geopolitical stability and we can't do it without a stable Israel and sir you mentioned that there is this this growing alignment of China Russia Iran North Korea various authoritarian uh countries that all seek the same thing which is to to undermine US influence and stability um in the world but are you of the mind um the school of thought that believes that because China has the most capacity to do the most harm that we should focus on the Asia geographic region to the exclusion of the middle eastn Europe we we can't afford to I mean we we we can't of we don't have the resources to be engaged all around the world and nor nor should we be but China and Russia in particular are working together to try to present to us a false Choice do we engage in the Asia Asia region or or the Middle East or in Europe because there's confrontation all around and all of those countries are working together and flaunting it they're trying to test our resolve because they know the only thing standing between uh their their tyrannical uh overrun of the entire Globe is the is the might of the US just like it was as Reagan said 50 years ago um and and they they see us as weakened right now to be frank because they see weakness projected from uh the Oval Office and it's a very very dangerous situation for us now I've been uh quick to point out and in interviews I've done over the last couple of weeks uh I look right into the camera as often as I can and I would encourage all you to do the same in every setting and and sphere of influence you have and remind our enemies do not think this is an opportunity for you regardless of the drama surrounding our current commander-in-chief the US military is well equipped and ready to strike at any time we will defend our interests and I think we've got to be very bold in that assertion and make sure they understand the resolve of Congress and uh and and the rest of this country don't mess with us okay but China Russia have made their big pack now with all the you know celebrated that in the media that you know Iran and is joining in North Korea doesn't want to be left out I mean it it's a China Le axis and I think we uh do great damage to our cause if we underestimate it and so then on that point I mean I noticed in that the Trump Administration still viewed Russia as an acute threat um on peer a peer adversary threat that the United States had to contend with and it seems like the Biden Administration also wants to do sort of an Asia pivot like what the Obama Administration did so but is your view though you mentioned about Russia's continued to threat to the Baltic countries into Poland so you take Putin seriously at his word that if he's not stopped in Ukraine that he will continue to advance on NATO I I think it's a a real concern now we have the only good thing that's come out of the conflict in Ukraine the war in Ukraine is that we've shown that Putin was overestimated in terms of his ability to um prosecute a war and by some estimates they've lost over a half a million Russian troops in the conflict and they've obviously gone through a lot of their assets and their equipment um their their Munitions and so uh in a certain sense uh engaging their has been very helpful for our long-term interests because you're you're weakening Russia in the process but he's realigned his economy to be a wartime economy and by all appearances he could go on for quite some time and I I I think it's it's very serious he said it in his own words he he aspires to have the the great Zar Empire again and I think if he had the ability and he did not have deterrence I I'm of the mind that I think he would and I think most people who study this seriously believe that's a real real serious threat and so I you know I I don't think it could be underestimated I think we have to watch China Russia Iran North Korea Venezuela Cuba all of them at at the same time and we can we have to be very smart and we have to project peace through strength if we don't return to the Reagan Doctrine we're going to be in serious trouble and um as you mentioned um NATO is is in town this week um Hudson has the privilege of being one of the the think tanks um helping to host them how do you view the role of the alliance today some have said it's outdated what would you say to that um well it it served its purpose right we we have um it has largely been helpful in in uh deterring uh war and conflict and and maintaining peace um historically it's it's been a very important organization and it has tremendous potential but at the same time we have to note that what is certainly outdated Is the participation rate of everyone who's involved I mean if if you make a commitment you're going to spend 2% of your GDP you need to do that um as I noted in my remarks earlier it arguably U there may need more needed now we're almost at the level of the Cold War war I at this point um and so there might need to be a greater contribution but I I think it's a very important thing to maintain and we support it we celebrate um its accomplishments but uh there needs to be uh A Renewed sense of commitment I would say on the part of the member nations and there's others who aspire to be a part of it but we've got to make sure that there's an entrance fee to this everyone cannot write along in the coat Tales of America and Donald Trump says this as bluntly as anyone it's just it's just right and fair for us to demand that others do their part and I think that message is being received we're encouraged to see more Nations um you know bringing that to the table but we we got a lot more more work to do in that that respect and and we'll be trying to encourage that sir I have noticed too in in your press relases and your remarks you're you're always um you were you were often very careful to mention the the countries who are doing their part and and I've noticed those are the ones that are on the front end of where the danger is so you want to talk a little bit about just the the Baltic countries and and what you've observed for meeting with them and and seeing their troubles yeah when when the grenades are close to your own backyard it gives you a renewed sense of um priority and commitment um I mean by contrast shamefully Canada announced in the last few days or last couple days that they won't be U ponying up they're not going to do their 2% um why talk about riding on American as cailes they have the you know they have the Safety and Security of being on our border and not having to worry about that I think that's shameful I think if if you're going to be a a member nation and participant you need to do your part um some have a greater sense of urgency about that clearly uh because the threat is at their own back door but here's the here's the reality if we don't stop it there it will come here there's no guarantee we we live under this false assumption or you know false sense of security that we would never have a war on our own Shores but but guess what the enemy is here the Border has been wide open for three and a half years by some estimates 16 million illegals have come across and they're not all good people in January uh January 3rd I took the largest uh Congressional Delegation to the border that had ever been we went to Eagle Pass at Del Rio sector in South Texas and it the time is the epicenter they told us there the border and Customs agents told us there that at the Del R sector alone an estimated 70 70 70% of the people who crossed illegally are single adult males to need the ages of 18 and 49 these are not huddled masses of families seeking you know running from persecution they're not seeking Asylum these are people coming here with bad design we know we have by the end of this year it's estimated uh we'll have a 23% increase 2,300 sorry 2,300 per increase in the number of Chinese nationalists who come try to come across that border illegally in two years okay 2300 increase you can't leave China if you're a you know military aged adult male and just kind kind of come take a Voyage to the US I mean the CCP is involved in this right we know we have terrorists on the terrorist watch list suspected terrorists who have been apprehended over 250 of them by last count but how many came through totally univaded I mean Isis Fighters are here I mean they're coming across in full fatigues now you know you've seen the videos so this is no longer something that's happening way over there it's it's potentially happening right here and you know the FBI director testified multiple times now on Capitol Hill that all the red lights are flashing director Ray what he's talking about is we've got very likely we have terrorist cells set up all around America and we don't know what they're plotting or when and that would alarm every American and we ought to demand that the Border be closed and then you just answered my next question then which is tying border security with this era of Maximum danger against these these authoritarians that they are related it's not a domestic issue versus a a foreign affairs issue you know again National Security begins at home it's it's pointless to talk about deterrence if you can't if if you don't have your own border secured and and Joe Biden began on day one by the way he issued all the executive orders I mean the first day in office they started unwinding all the security measures that President Trump had put in place we impeached Secor may orcus I mean that's that's a historic thing it was a desperate measure because desperate times called for it Senate didn't go along of course but I think he's the single worst cabinet secretary in the history of America because of the we'll be dealing with a catastrophe that they engineered they engineered the open border we will be dealing with this for decades to come president Trump has said we want to start the largest deportation effort uh in history it's it's NE it's needed we need to find all these dangerous people criminals they've empted out prisons in Central America and sent them all over the Border yes but here's the problem we will not be able to locate all these people because DHS is not keeping track of their whereabouts as you know it is completely subversive and it's anti-American and it's anti-immigrant because the people who follow the law and do it the right way are the most upset about this and that's why you're seeing the demographic shift in the elector as well so I mean I just this is the thing to me that is so maddening and I've asked the president about this one on one President Biden Mr President why would you do this he doesn't have an answer these are interest groups that encouraged him to do it and he does he has no an to what the policy is or how he could fix it he says he doesn't have the authority which is a joke um can back over to to the to the the problem of China's military AG increasing really really military aggression and something that we tracked here at the scholars here at Hudson Institute that the aggression even in sort of the hybrid Warfare zone is getting worse um China is becoming increasingly comfortable acting aggressively against our treaty Ally the Philippines um really being threatening against Taiwan can you speak to um what what is your view how should Americans understand why it's important that Taiwan remains safe and secure if if for no other reason one word semic conductors okay I mean do you like your appliances do you like do you use your cell phone do you need your electronics I mean if if if China takes Taiwan imagine China being in charge of almost all the semiconductor production in the world and controlling the trade routes uh through that part of of uh you know overseas trade I mean I it's an unimaginable Prospect and so we defend freedom of people we stand for Freedom we we the the Taiwan the nation of Taiwan is important to defend for all of its merits but it also is directly in our economic interest our stability interest think of your methods of communication think of think of all the equipment at your local hospital right you know Imaging devices I mean everything everything that is necessary for economic stability and health now is tied into semiconductor production and so if you had no if it was just purely selfish interest um every American should be dialed in on this we have to make sure that doesn't happen uh which then leads me to to to wonder you talked about how the Republican party is realist we have to have clear eyes and yet you also speak very eloquently sir about the principles of freedom and what the United States stands for especially in contrast to our to our adversaries what what role should the United States take in supporting dissident groups pro- Freedom groups uh persecuted religious groups in countries like China North Korea Iran and Russia well diplomatic efforts are really important in that regard and our advocacy for Religious Freedom I mean the First Freedom listed in the Bill of Rights is religious liberty and the founders understood if religious freedom is taken from a people their political Freedom soon follows and you've seen that throughout history we we defend the right of conscious the most fundamental Freedom that we have is the right to believe and act upon it and um and That's essential to who we are as Americans I talk a lot about what I call the seven core principles of American conservatism but they're really the seven core principles of America itself I think it's about individual Freedom limited government the rule of law peace through strength fiscal responsibility free markets and human dignity um we believe as we boldly proclaimed in our declaration that we just celebrated July 4th that that it's a self-evident truth the original draft that Jefferson wrote before he handed it to Franklin and Adams to edit was he said it was sacred and undeniable we hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable or self-evident something that's obvious that all of us are created we're not born equal we're created equal and God's the one that gives us our rights not the government I mean that is the that is the the Revolutionary statement that started America and set us on the course to be the most powerful Nation ever that there was yeah I take tours late at night as many members of I don't do it anymore I used to before I became speaker but I take take groups into the house chamber late at night and um and show them all the cool things around the you know the house chamber all the symbolism a lot of it's religious by the way and uh and we having God We Trust as you know that's you know right there in big gold letters above the speaker rostom and I always point that out and I say um do you know when that was put there and why uh turn in your Himel to page 14 there's this this um visitors guide okay when you come to the house chamber people's house and open it up to page 14 and it says very clearly about halfway down the page it says oh you'll see In God We Trust above the speakers roster that was placed there in 1963 by the by the um uh by the Congress um because it was in the beginning of the Cold War and it says it was a rebuke to the Soviet era's philosophy the Soviets philosophy in that era Marxism begins with a premise that there is no Creator there is no God right and so it leads to false assumptions the whole thing about why we defend Freedom why we defend the the Dignity of the individual the value the inestimable dignity and value of every human is because our founders believed and most of us still believe that we are made in God's image and so every single person has an estimable value that's that's that's worth fighting for it's what defined us as a nation if we lose that we lose an essential ingredient about what it means to be an American Mr Speaker we're running out of time here but I do then want to want to turn back on the subject of of Russia and Ukraine because you you you really also have come out in in support of the um Christians in Ukraine can can you talk because I think sometimes we're a little bit con we can be confused maybe as it there's a lot of disinformation out there and it's just a confusing situation what is the state of of Christians in Ukraine and how Russia Russia's authoritarianism and aggression against Ukraine is is harming them they're targeted I mean specifically I've met with multiple times with uh religious leaders pastors who were there um some of my own denomination Southern Baptist have missionaries there and and uh and and a lot of these clergy are are are are in fear for their own families and some of them have been targeted I mean I I I've seen examples and photographs of families who are taken out by targeted Rockets to their apartment building on you know level five of an of an apartment building because they are Christians I mentioned earlier the importance of maintaining religious freedom is you know if you can the Communists always do this they go after the Christians first they target Christians why because they believe they ow an allegiance to a power higher than the government than the state right and so you have to eliminate that and then just out of just I mean I you know it's it's a demonic thing in my view but they target people who have that belief and they want to stamp it out and it's it's vicious and vile and and um it shows exactly what Putin and his regime is all about and I think it's an important thing to highlight um and and I don't think it's something that ought to be underestimated last question we we talked about how you've got Global strike command in your district and and my area of focus is making sure the United States has a robust nuclear deterrent that's credible to deter both China Russia and any other nuclear threat and we've hosted General busier here so if anything you want to say about the importance of just the American making sure that we have a credible robust military and especially our nuclear deterrent are yes it's a good thing to close on um a week ago Thursday we dropped my oldest son off at the Naval Academy he's a midshipman and he's going through b summer right now so pray for Jack um the um they're rough on the kids but yeah that's yeah um but we got our first family phone call last night um because they give them 30 minutes to call home for seven weeks when they're in this thing so we're anxiously awaiting it and it's 12:30 yesterday afternoon and we're um the whole family's around and we had them on the speaker phone jack can you do FaceTime no Dad we're staring in a gym I have you know 1100 other PES around me we're 3 feet apart and they won't let us we have to hold our phone right here and we can't you know it's very very strict um I tell you what when we dropped him off for induction day they call it if you've never been to one of theems for like the day where they all you know all the freshmen come in it it would make your heart swelling Pride I mean just the the flags waving the national anthem and all these these really sharp kids that are there to serve and they had servants hearts and they want to serve their country and their families are all there cheering and I mean it it it'll make you love your country if if you're down on it um I highly recommend showing up for one of those things but um the importance of of a strong military the importance of nuclear deterrence has arguably never been more important at least since World War II era I mean this the Cold War was an important thing but again we were focused on primarily one enemy this is multifaceted and it is dangerous and with the advance of technology and all the other capabilities I mean we heard you know the Russians wanted to put a nuke on a satellite right like this is this is next level stuff and so we cannot take this for granted we're being outspent and outgunned by China right now right and we have to take seriously Reagan reminded us freedom is not inherited in the bloodstream right it's got to be fought for it's got to be defended protected passed along Next Generation or our children and our grandchildren will not enjoy it so we all need skin in the game in one respect or another part of it is our investment and as a nation we have to understand how important that is um so we'll be advocating for that and we'll be using every sphere of influence we have and I know all of you will as well I hope you will to explain to our fellow Americans that we cannot take this freedom for granted we have not had a conflict here uh but it's not inevitable that we won't and so we've got to be ready for it and so that's why this work is so important the Huston institute's scholarship and work is so important truly truly grateful for it and I think it's more important now than it's ever been sir we are thankful for Jack's service and we thank you for your leadership and the work that you've done please join me in thanking the Speaker of the House

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Length: 43min 29sec (2609 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 08 2024