{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-on-the-senate-floor-the-biden-harris-age-of-appeasement-is-ending/", "Ricketts on the Senate Floor: \u201cThe Biden-Harris Age of Appeasement is Ending\u201d", "2024-12-07", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "Senate", "NE", "Pete Ricketts", "R000618", "www.ricketts.senate.gov", "ricketts", "https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/?jsf=jet-engine:press-list&pagenum=", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Earlier this week, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) spoke on the Senate floor, criticizing the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s foreign policy for failing to keep America safe and secure. Ricketts also condemned the administration for their appeasement-first approach and emboldening adversaries.\n\n\u201cAbout a month ago, the American people delivered a message that they were no longer going to stand for a government that was failing to keep them safe,\u201d Ricketts said. \u201cThe Biden-Harris appeasement-first foreign policy strategy has made America weaker and less safe. The world that the Biden administration is leaving is a more dangerous place today than it was four years ago, when they took over.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy returning President Trump to the White House, the American people are sending a clear message,\u201d Ricketts closed. \u201cThere\u2019s a new sheriff in town. The Biden-Harris age of appeasement is ending. The resurgence of American strength is about to begin. And I am excited to see what the future holds.\u201d\n\nWatch the video HERE.\n\nTRANSCRIPT:\n\nSenator Ricketts: \u201cI\u2019ve always said that keeping people safe is one of the most fundamental roles the government plays. Keeping people safe.\n\n\u201cFor four years, the Biden-Harris administration has failed at this most fundamental mandate the government has.\n\n\u201cAbout a month ago, the American people delivered a message that they were no longer going to stand for a government that was failing to keep them safe.\n\n\u201cThe Biden-Harris appeasement-first foreign policy strategy has made America weaker and less safe.\n\n\u201cThe world that the Biden administration is leaving is a more dangerous place today than it was four years ago, when they took over.\n\n\u201cWeakness and appeasement have defined the current administration, starting with their disastrous pull out of Afghanistan.\n\n\u201cThat pull out in Afghanistan, cost American lives, including a Nebraskan, Marine Corporal Daegan Page.\n\n\u201cWe also left behind Americans, unbelievably, and we also left behind our Afghan security partners \u2013 abandoned them \u2013 in addition to the billions of dollars of American equipment, through this poorly executed debacle.\n\n\u201cSince then, we\u2019ve seen poor foreign policy fumbles and flip flops that have left our allies questioning our commitment. And worse yet, has the bad guys \u2013 Russia, China, Iran, North Korea \u2013 questioning our resolve.\n\n\u201cMost disturbing example of this is Iran.\n\n\u201cUnder the Trump administration, they knew that the way to deal with a dictator like we have in Ali Khamenei in Iran, is through strength and imposing sanctions.\n\n\u201cThe sanctions the Trump administration imposed took Iran\u2019s foreign reserves down from $122.5 billion to less than $14 billion.\n\n\u201cAnd what did that mean? Well, that meant that they couldn\u2019t fund the terrorism around the world that they\u2019ve been doing for the last four years.\n\n\u201cWhen you cut off their money supply, they couldn\u2019t give it to Hamas or Hezbollah. And so those terrorist organizations were going broke.\n\n\u201cThey didn\u2019t have the resources to be able to fund that terrorism. And then came along Joe Biden.\n\n\u201cJoe Biden and his administration relaxed the sanctions on Iran through a naive policy that somehow if we just give them enough money, they\u2019re going to be nice to us.\n\n\u201cBut that\u2019s not the way it works with dictators.\n\n\u201cIt enabled Iran to generate $100 billion in oil money, and that has consequences.\n\n\u201cIt was because of this appeasement-first policy and giving money to Iran that Hamas had the ability to attack our ally Israel on October 7th. And how Hezbollah has then since attacked Israel as well. How the Houthis have been able to shoot at ships in the Red Sea.\n\n\u201cIranian proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis have been emboldened by Biden\u2019s appeasement-first policy.\n\n\u201cThis is what is causing the chaos we are seeing right now in the Middle East.\n\n\u201cAnd while these attacks may seem far away, we must remember that Iran not only chants \u2018Death to Israel,\u2019 they chant \u2018Death to America.\u2019\n\n\u201cOver 40 Americans were killed on October 7th. Three American service members were killed by Iranian proxy drone attacks in January. The Houthis continue to shoot at American ships in the Red Sea.\n\n\u201cIslamic terrorists across have crossed our open border.\n\n\u201cAnd for crying out loud, Iran is trying to kill President Trump.\n\n\u201cAnd what has the Biden administration done? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There has been no price for Iran to pay for all of this.\n\n\u201cOur adversaries, they see this and understand the weakness.\n\n\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party has been emboldened. They\u2019ve repeatedly violated our sovereignty. Spy balloons have been allowed to travel across our country spying on our sensitive military installations. We\u2019ve seen espionage operations set up in New York City and fentanyl has been killing Americans across our country. And while it may be coming across the southern border, the precursors are being made in China.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ve also seen what Vladimir Putin has done, when Russia invaded Ukraine.\n\n\u201cOur freedoms, our way of life depends on peace. And how do we maintain peace? We maintain peace through strength.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what the American people chose a month ago when they elected President Donald Trump. Under President Trump\u2019s first administration, we saw the dismantling of the ISIS caliphate and historic peace deals in the Middle East. The Middle East\u2019s first peace agreement in 26 years.\n\nAnd by the way, that should have been cause for a Nobel Prize award to President Trump. But the feckless Nobel Prize committee didn\u2019t see it that way. They couldn\u2019t bring themselves to acknowledge the great work that President Trump did.\n\n\u201cBy returning President Trump to the White House, the American people are sending a clear message. There\u2019s a new sheriff in town. The Biden-Harris age of appeasement is ending. The resurgence of American strength is about to begin. And I am excited to see what the future holds.\n\n\u201cThank you, Madam President.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:07:19Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.ricketts.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ricketts-on-the-senate-floor-the-biden-harris-age-of-appeasement-is-ending/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3006660155951977, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}