Greenland

Floor Speech

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Mr. LATIMER. Mr. Speaker, in the Holy Bible's Book of Exodus, a book which is sacred to both Christians and Jews, it is written that Almighty God hands down, through Moses, Ten Commandments that represent the bedrock of ethical behavior and rules that govern human conduct.

My colleagues in Texas and Louisiana have State laws that post them inside public facilities. In one form or another, secular laws are written with these commandments in mind to provide civil sanctions against those who would commit murder or lie in a court proceeding under oath. Such laws govern against stealing what others legitimately own, their property and possessions.

We now face one of the most important tests of our democracy in over 150 years: Whether the Federal Government will blatantly steal the assets of an independent sovereign nation, who is our ally, for no legitimate reason other than lust for land.

In the rhetoric of coveting thy neighbor's goods, the President of the United States is fixed on coveting the sovereign land of the kingdom of Denmark, the island of Greenland. The President has spoken about it in his frequent public ruminations, and we have learned he has tasked our military to plan how he might take Greenland by force without the consent of Denmark.

This would open a shameful chapter, as we celebrate the 250th year of our own independence, that we would turn our backs on the principles established by the Founding Fathers and act as if we are one of the thug nations of the world ourselves.

Saddam Hussein's Iraq seized Kuwait. Vladimir Putin's Russia launched war to take over Ukraine. Adolf Hitler grabbed Poland and Czechoslovakia and, for a while, all of continental Europe. Mussolini took Ethiopia, and Chairman Xi has long coveted Taiwan. Each presented their flimsy reasons for their actions, justifications that fooled no one.

Is this who America wants to emulate? Putin, Hitler, Hussein?

The flimsy reason offered by the President and his minions, notably Stephen Miller, references our ability to protect America from an Arctic region threat.

With that very thought in mind, in 1951, we signed an agreement with Denmark that allows us to place military assets in Greenland that we feel we need with the support and agreement of Denmark. They have not reneged on that deal or thrown up roadblocks to American defense needs. We are trying to burst into a room by force when the door is set wide open and the welcome mat is displayed.

Denmark, a NATO ally, owns Greenland legally. If it doesn't choose to sell it, it remains legally theirs. Thy neighbor's ox and house, not ours.

Any U.S. military action against Greenland breaks the NATO rule and puts us at odds with our allies, allies that in the post-World War II era have helped us restrain Russian aggression for nearly a century. Denmark, as an ally, responded to our action in Afghanistan. They lost 43 men there simply because they honored their NATO commitment and stood by their friend, the United States of America.

Perhaps this President hates NATO so much that he has rallied against elements of it before, and in that he supports the wishes of Vladimir Putin that sees NATO as an impediment to his empire building, the desire for retaking Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Ukraine.

We have, as of late, decided that it is okay to insult European leaders at the U.N., threaten the countries of Latin America, disrespect our closest friend, Canada, and generally act with an arrogant swagger. We have the world's greatest military, but it is not a toy to be used to glorify any one man's lust for an expanded control of land. It is not the Department of War. It is the Department of Defense. That is how Americans view our role in the world, to defend ourselves and to defend freedom in a world with dictators and thugs who would subjugate us all if they could.

God stop us if we become the thug, if we become the dictatorship that uses our economic and military strength to bully this world.

The power of any President is not about what one man thinks is moral. It is guided by constitutional limitations, including three branches of government, not a dominant dictator and a subservient politburo and judiciary.

Harry Truman understood this. Dwight Eisenhower understood this. John F. Kennedy understood this, and so did Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. These men, whether you deem their Presidencies good or bad, understood what it is to have allies across the globe and how to keep America as the shining light to guide this planet.

Attacking Greenland for no strategic benefit that they don't already have puts us in a league with Russia and China. We will regret such a decision every day that we live thereafter.

Let this Congress make a strong, unambiguous statement that America does not take land for some trumped up reason.

We stand for the rule of law and for freedom and respect for others. That is what sets our Nation apart. If we snatch Greenland as a show of power, we give no reason for the people of the world to side with us when some other nation confronts us in a future year.

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