Introduction of A Bill to Prohibit the Department of Defense From Deploying Strategic Assets of the United States in the Republic of Turkey
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Ms. MENG. Madam Speaker, I rise today to announce the introduction of legislation that would prohibit the Department of Defense from deploying strategic assets of the United States in the Republic of Turkey. Since the 1960s, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has had a nuclear sharing policy whereby NATO members can host U.S. nuclear weapons as part of a broader NATO nuclear posture. Enacted during the Cold War, this nuclear sharing policy was intended to deter the posture of the Soviet Union by involving non-nuclear NATO allies alongside the United States, the United Kingdom, and France.
Turkey, a NATO ally, was once considered a friend of the United States. In recent years, however, it has strengthened its alliances with Russia, Syria, and Iran. Notably, Turkey's military incursion into Syria that targeted U.S. Kurdish allies and its purchase of advanced Russian antiaircraft missile systems undermine U.S. national security. President Erdogan's domestic policies have also become increasingly autocratic, as he has cracked down on freedom of speech and political freedoms. As Turkey develops stronger relations with geopolitical adversaries to NATO, it is time to reconsider any future deployment of strategic assets.
Madam Speaker, this bill would prohibit funds authorized to be appropriated or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2020 or any fiscal year thereafter for the Department of Defense from being obligated or expended for the future deployment of any strategic assets of the United States in the Republic of Turkey.
I thank my colleague, Representative Gus Bilirakis, who is introducing this measure with me, as well as my colleagues, Representatives Jackie Speier and Darren Soto, who are original cosponsors. I urge my colleagues in the House Armed Services Committee, and the rest of my colleagues in the House of Representatives, for their swift consideration and support of this urgent and bipartisan legislation.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source