Legislators discuss foreign policy at Ripon Society event

The shift in U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration was the theme of a Ripon Society meeting on Thursday that featured congressional leaders on foreign affairs.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), both members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, discussed foreign policy matters that included the conflict in Ukraine, drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and plans to reduce U.S. armed forces .

“Let’s talk about Ukraine,” Royce said. “How advantageous would it be if instead of flaring our natural gas here in the United States and capping wells, we instead shipped it to Eastern Europe, where countries like Lithuania are 100 percent dependent on Russia and therefore pay the highest price in the world for gas. This would be an enormous advantage for us. It would help us in our deficit. And it would certainly confound the problem for Russia with respect to their significant deficits as a share of gross domestic product.”

Russia is positioned to export 70 percent of its oil and gas, Royce said, which supports more than half of Russia’s military and government.

Poland and Hungary, despite their dependence on Russia, shipped 2 billion cubic yards of gas to Ukraine last year in the midst of a crisis, Royce said, because Russian President Vladamir Putin had Ukraine “by the throat.”

“Had we stepped in, had we announced some massive strategy or some major U.S. effort where we were going to get gas into Ukraine, it may have done something to cause second thoughts in Moscow,” Royce said. “But we’re not sending the type of message that Russia would consider serious. We’re not saying we will go and compete with you to our benefit and negatively impact your economy should you use your monopoly power this way. No, we’re sending a very different message.”

The Obama administration also erred in terminating a deal to put anti-missile systems in place in Poland and the Czech Republic, Chabot said, and it has decided to reduce the size of the U.S. Army and National Guard at the wrong time.

Kinzinger highlighted the importance of maintaining a close relationship with Afghanistan and Iraq in the year ahead.

“I think that needs to be on our conscience and in our mind going forward,” Kinzinger said. “As a veteran of Iraq, I mourn every day the loss of Fallujah, and now it seems the loss of Iraq. You’ve seen Americans give their lives for a country that now seems to be gone, only because President Obama was eager to keep his campaign pledge to pull all the troops out of Iraq versus keeping a residual force and a strong position there. When America retreats, chaos follows. And we’re seeing chaos all over the world.”

Full remarks made by Royce, Chabot and Kinzinger at the Ripon Society’s event can be viewed on YouTube.