News From Congressman Eliot Engel

ENGEL STATEMENT ON TRUMP’S UN SPEECH

  Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, today made the following statement regarding President Trump’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly:

“America's standing in the world has plummeted so far in the last 20 months, and President Trump's blustery and bullying speech will serve only to isolate us further. As usual, the President exaggerated his accomplishments, literally drawing laughter from world leaders gathered at the UN General Assembly; offered kind words for strongmen and dictators while insulting our allies and international institutions; and, despite making ‘sovereignty’ a key theme of his speech, was silent about the greatest current threat to American sovereignty: Russia's ongoing attack on our democracy. Mr. Trump has repeated these refrains ad nauseum, but it remains deeply unsettling to see an American president stand before the United Nations—a body in which American leadership has changed the course of the world for decades—and espouse a worldview that undermines so much of what we helped build on the global stage.

“With respect to the President's threats to cut off foreign assistance, I want to remind him and Secretary Pompeo that under the Constitution, Congress determines how much we spend on foreign policy and we will continue to assert our prerogatives. But sadly, that's just a small part of the damage this Administration is doing to our leadership, values, and security. Until this Administration drastically changes course, America's standing will continue to diminish and the threats to our security will continue to grow.”