Rahm Emanuel on Foreign Policy Democratic Rep. (IL-5); Chief of Staff-Designee

The less said on Cuba, the better

[Emanuel] announced Cuban Americans will be permitted to travel to Cuba and to send remittances. But he did not even mention US citizens' right to travel [to Cuba]. The Cuban Adjustment Act and the blockade deserved no comments from him.

Build new arrangements for the new economic era

Our failure to recognize the need for new arrangements is not only costly, but dangerous. When totalitarian communism threatened our security after WWII, we created new institutions and arrangement to meet the new threats: the UN, NATO, and the Marshall Plan. Yet today, in a war against a decentralized enemy, when friends are more important than ever, we've abandoned old arrangements and refused to build others in their place.

We cannot bring back the stability of a more tranquil era. But we ought to be able to make this era secure enough and rewarding enough to restore our faith in progress--and to make that progress happen.

Voted YES on cooperating with India as a nuclear power.

• Approves the US-India Agreement for Cooperation on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy.
• Declares that it is US policy to prevent the transfer to India of nuclear equipment, materials, or technology from other participating governments in the Nuclear Suppliers Group or from any other source; and
• any nuclear power reactor fuel reserve provided to India for use in safeguarded civilian nuclear facilities should be commensurate with reasonable reactor operating requirements.

Proponent's argument to vote Yes:Rep. HOWARD BERMAN (D, CA-28): Integrating India into a global nonproliferation regime is a positive step. Before anyone gets too sanctimonious about India's nuclear weapons program, we should acknowledge that the five recognized nuclear weapons states have not done nearly enough to fulfill their commitments under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, including making serious reductions in their own arsenals, nor in the case of the US in ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Opponent's argument to vote No:Rep. BARBARA LEE (D, CA-9): In withholding my approval, I seek not to penalize the people of India but, rather, to affirm the principle of nuclear nonproliferation. Jettisoning adherence to the international nuclear nonproliferation framework that has served the world so well for more than 30 years, as approval of the agreement before us would do, is just simply unwise. It is also reckless.

Approval of this agreement undermines our efforts to dissuade countries like Iran and North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. By approving this agreement, all we are doing is creating incentives for other countries to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Voted NO on deterring foreign arms transfers to China.

• Denial of participation in cooperative research and development
• Prohibition of ownership and control of any business registered as a manufacturer or exporter of defense articles or services
• Removal of all licenses relative to dual-use goods or technology
• Prohibition of participation of any foreign military sales

Voted NO on reforming the UN by restricting US funding.

• Requires the creation of an Independent Oversight Board with the authority to evaluate all operations of the UN
• Instructs the UN to implement procedures to protect whistle-blowers, individuals who reveal wrongdoings within an organization to the public or to those in positions of authority
• Obliges the creation of a uniform code of conduct for all UN officials
• Requires the shifting of the funding mechanisms of certain organizational programs from the regular assessed UN budget to voluntarily funded programs
• Compels the US President to influence the Secretary General of the UN to waive diplomatic immunity for UN officials under investigation or charged with serious criminal offences
• Creates a certification of UN cooperation to provide documentary evidence to member states investigating the Oil-for-Food program

Progressive Internationalism: globalize with US pre-eminence.

Build a Public Consensus Supporting US Global Leadership
The internationalist outlook that served America and the world so well during the second half of the 20th century is under attack from both ends of the political spectrum. As the left has gravitated toward protectionism, many on the right have reverted to “America First” isolationism.

Our leaders should articulate a progressive internationalism based on the new realities of the Information Age: globalization, democracy, American pre-eminence, and the rise of a new array of threats ranging from regional and ethnic conflicts to the spread of missiles and biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons. This approach recognizes the need to revamp, while continuing to rely on, multilateral alliances that advance U.S. values and interests.

A strong, technologically superior defense is the foundation for US global leadership. Yet the US continues to employ defense strategies, military missions, and force structures left over from the Cold War, creating a defense establishment that is ill-prepared to meet new threats to our security. The US must speed up the “revolution in military affairs” that uses our technological advantage to project force in many different contingencies involving uncertain and rapidly changing security threats -- including terrorism and information warfare.

Goals for 2010
• A clear national policy with bipartisan support that continues US global leadership, adjusts our alliances to new regional threats to peace and security, promotes the spread of political and economic freedom, and outlines where and how we are willing to use force.
• A modernized military equipped to deal with emerging threats to security, such as terrorism, information warfare, weapons of mass destruction, and destabilizing regional conflicts.