Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Applauding The Biden Administration’s Investment To Strengthen The AUKUS Pact And Counter The CCP

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on President Biden’s announcement of investing in a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to counter the CCP’s influence in the Pacific. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Yesterday in San Diego, President Biden joined his counterparts from the United Kingdom and Australia, and he announced the next steps in a historic arrangement known as AUKUS.

The President's announcement is a bold and generational investment to create a new fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to counter President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in the Pacific. And AUKUS in general will be a critical part of ensuring stability in the region. I applaud President Biden for recognizing the need to forge ahead on this multinational partnership.

During my recent CODEL overseas, our discussions with world leaders stressed the need for the U.S. to continue deepening our security arrangements with our longstanding partners. At the same time, I made it clear that we also must expand and grow relationships with countries like India, which will play a major role in shaping global security and stability in the 21st century. And just like AUKUS serves as a bulwark in the Pacific, so will the Quad powers of the United States, Japan, Australia, and India, working together for democracy and stability in Asia.

The U.S. will only stay ahead of President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party if we can bring other democracies of the world to partner with us—from India, Australia, Japan, the UK, and so many others. And India and Australia can be very important partners in containing President Xi and the CCP.

So I remain committed to deepening our existing relationships and finding opportunities to build new ones. And I look forward to working on a bipartisan basis to advance them.

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