AFPI’s Top National Security Priorities for the 118th Congress

TOPLINE POINTS

• Implement a border strategy that stops illegal immigration and ends human trafficking, including codifying the Remain in Mexico policy and Asylum Cooperative Agreements that offer arrangements for processing those seeking entry to the United States to do so elsewhere.
• Ensure effective deterrence in the Western Pacific via supremacy in the naval, air, space, nuclear and cyber domains.
• Unleash American energy to the benefit of Americans and our allies.

1. Secure the Southern Border, Assert U.S. Priorities with Mexico, Defeat the Cartels

• Implement a border strategy that stops illegal immigration and ends human trafficking, including codifying the Remain in Mexico policy and Asylum Cooperative Agreements that offer arrangements for processing those seeking entry to the United States to do so elsewhere.
• Complete the border wall system and hold countries accountable for failure to secure their own borders.
• Enhance criminal penalties and asset seizures to defeat the cartels and keep fentanyl out of our country.

2. Address Threats from Communist China

• Ensure effective deterrence in the Western Pacific via supremacy in the naval, air, space, nuclear and cyber domains.
• Prohibit the theft of U.S. Intellectual Property by Chinese entities, which has cost hundreds of billions of dollars and has fueled the Chinese Communist Party’s technological and military progress.
• Strategically decouple critical supply chains and rely solely on American workers, our allies, or our neighbors in the Americas.
• Support the acceleration of Taiwan into the free world, including engagement on all issues of priority for the well-being of the American people, absent formal pronouncement.
• Vigorously support and equip our regional allies and partners, especially Japan and Taiwan, with advanced military capabilities to counter China’s rise in East Asia and the South China Sea.

3. Unleash American Energy to Restore Security and Prosperity

• Unleash American energy to the benefit of Americans and our allies.
• Address outdated regulatory hurdles and inefficient permitting processes to restore America as a nation of builders.
• Identify and address energy supply chain deficits and vulnerabilities through market-driven capacity expansion across all energy sources and technologies.
• Right-size U.S. international energy and finance engagement to underpin the development of secure, affordable, and resilient energy systems.

4. Plan to End Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine

• Require the Biden Administration to produce a strategy with end-state goals that end the conflict and deter future Russian aggression.
• Institute rigorous congressional oversight over U.S. assistance and institute in statute the requirement of having an Inspector General overseeing U.S. assistance to Ukraine submit regular reports and testify before Congress.
• Call on the Biden Administration to begin the process for talks to resolve the conflict and articulate how his Administration’s plan for ending the conflict will deter Russia.

5. Address Growing Threats from North Korea

• Call on the Biden Administration to appoint a full-time special envoy to address surging threats from North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs.
• Hold congressional hearings and robust congressional oversight over U.S.-North Korea policy.

6. Promote Stability in the Middle East

• Impose legislative restrictions prohibiting talks with Iran to get another failed nuclear deal.
• Hold the Iranian regime accountable for human rights violations by pushing for the international isolation of the Iranian regime and by requesting their removal from any international bodies.
• Promote strong relations with the new Netanyahu government and encourage expansion of the Abraham Accords.
• End the Biden Administration’s feud with Saudi Arabia and repair relations with Gulf states through mutually beneficial economic cooperation and strategic defense to deter regional antagonists.

7. Restore Focus to the U.S. Military, Address Readiness Crisis

• Reinstate all servicemembers who refused to abide by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds.
• Eliminate woke training and anti-American curriculum.
• Halt the Department of Defense’s efforts targeting a politicized understanding of “extremism.”
• Ensure a military force that is prepared to deter, and if deterrence fails to fight and win our Nation’s wars.