Media Contact 202-226-8467

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul delivered closing remarks on the House Floor in support of his bill H.R. 8038, the “21st Century Peace through Strength Act,”  which will serve as the fourth pillar of the House Republican national security supplemental package.
 

Watch his closing remarks here.

-Remarks as Delivered- 

In the late 1930s Winston Churchill described what he saw as the gathering storm. The forces of Hitler and the axis of evil threatening freedom and democracy.  
 
I recall Mr. Meeks and I were on the border between Poland and Ukraine watching thousands of mothers and their children fleeing in fear. Fleeing their own country after the invasion.
 
The Poles told us – this was just like 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. 

Today we are at a similar inflection point in history. 
 
The fall of Afghanistan sent a powerfully dangerous message to our adversaries that America was weak. 

Almost immediately after, the Russian Federation began moving towards Ukraine. 
 
And once Chairman Xi met with Putin at the Olympics and cemented their unholy alliance, they invaded. 
 
Chairman Xi has become more aggressive in the Pacific. And mark my words – Xi is watching what happens in Ukraine to determine whether he invades Taiwan in the Pacific.
 
Then the Ayatollah raised his ugly head in the Middle East.

And last Saturday the world watched as Iran – for the first time in history – invaded Israel, sending 300 missiles and drones to kill innocent Israelis. 
 
These dictators including North Korea are all tied together. They are all tied together.
 
We cannot separate them. We don’t pick and choose our enemies – they choose us. 
 
My father served as a bombardier in World War II. He was part of the greatest generation. 
 
I recently took my son to my father’s air base in England where he was stationed. 

While there, we visited the church where my father prayed – not knowing if he would live or die. 
 
I took my son to National cemetery for the U.S. airmen, who never made it home. I pointed to the 4000 white crosses and said, son those are people who did not make it home. 
 
In the chapel there, it is inscribed on the ceiling, quote “In honor of the airmen who on their last flight met the face of God.” Met the face of God.
 
It was a moving experience. Teaching my son – like my father taught me – about the importance of patriotism, and the cost of freedom. It was also a reminder of the dangers we face today. 
 
For today like then, it could have been prevented. Deterrence is the key. 
 
As Churchill wrote in his book “The Gathering Storm,” quote “One day President Roosevelt told me that he was asking publicly for suggestions about what the war should be called. I said at once, ‘The Unnecessary War.’

Think about that. He said, “there never was a war more easy to stop than that which has just wrecked what was left of the world from the previous struggle.”
 
I often think about the blood and treasure that could have been saved from my father’s generation had we stopped Hitler earlier. 
 
And now we are faced with that same opportunity. 
 
As Reagan told us, quote “We know only too well that conflict comes not when the forces of freedom are strong, but when they are weak.” 
 
He was right, our adversaries are working together to undermine our western values and demean our democracy. 
 
We cannot be afraid at this moment in time. We cannot be afraid of our shadows. We must be strong. We have to do what’s right. 
 
Evil is on the march. History is calling and now is the time to act. 
 
For the world is watching. Our adversaries are watching us here today. And history will judge us by our actions here today and now. 
 
So as we deliberate on this vote – you have to ask yourself this question. Am I Chamberlin or Churchill?

###