Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has been very outspoken about the Biden administration’s handling of China, voicing alarm over the likelihood of reversing the Trump administration’s tariffs on Chinese imports.
In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Cotton criticized members of the Biden administration for pursuing their Chinese communist counterparts with the enthusiasm of love-struck teenagers. “It’s embarrassing and pathetic: in fact, it projects weakness to China.“
Cotton’s comments came shortly after a Chinese warship drew within a mere 150 yards of a United States Destroyer late Saturday night in the Taiwan Strait. The United States Indo-Pacific Command had verified that the incident occurred when the USS Chung-Hoon was participating in joint exercises with Canada.
Cotton claimed it gave China an excuse to get dangerously close to American aircraft and ships. It’s also an incentive for China to launch spy balloons to float across the United States.
In 2018 and 2019, former President Donald Trump enacted tariffs, which were implemented after an investigation revealed that China was violating United States intellectual property regulations by pressuring American businesses to transfer sensitive technology to Chinese firms to gain access to China’s market.
According to Cotton, who has been vociferous in his condemnation of the defense cuts included in the debt ceiling measure, the only way to discourage China and other similar countries is with a military presence.
Cotton argued that having a military that is capable of deterring countries like China, Iran, and Russia is one of the most important historical lessons.
While criticizing the military budget in his statements on the Senate floor on Thursday, he had earlier sponsored an amendment to increase defense money in the debt limit agreement, which there was no support for the change.
To prevent a default on the nation’s debt, President Biden on Saturday signed a bill to increase the borrowing limit of the federal government. The Fiscal Responsibility Act reduces non-defense spending to levels almost identical to those in the fiscal year 2022, setting growth limitations of 1% for the next two years and suggesting non-mandatory caps for the four years beyond that.
Cotton argues that the law’s rise in defense spending of 3% in the first year needs to be higher compared to inflation and is potentially dangerous for the country.
There is little doubt, according to Cotton, that the Pentagon can find savings. Still, more is needed to make up for the losses in this plan or to counter the dangers America faces from countries like China, Iran, and Russia.