WASHINGTON – Today during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hearing on the nomination of U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (NY-21) to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations under the Trump administration, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) discussed with Rep. Stefanik the need to reestablish deterrence on the world stage following former President Biden’s record of weakness. Excerpts are below, and video can be found here.

On Deterrence Through Diplomacy:

CORNYN: “Pleased to support your nomination.”

“What do you think our policy should be in dealing with Mr. Putin?”

STEFANIK: “I would point to President Trump’s success in his first term… He is the only modern president where Putin did not invade another country, and that’s because of the strong leadership that President Trump brings every day.”

“We did not see that with our previous president in President Joe Biden, and I think the catastrophic withdrawal led to this cascading of weakness around the globe.”

CORNYN: “It seems like the Biden administration has tried to use diplomacy without the credible use threat, at least, of the use of force. Do you think diplomacy works without deterrence?”

STEFANIK: “Deterrence is our strongest way to ensure that we have peace. I’ve been proud to help rebuild our U.S. military in the first term of President Trump when he signed the National Defense Authorization Act in my district at Fort Drum, so I’m a deep believer in deterrence.”