WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin told reporters Thursday he hopes for democratic values in the United States and around the world but has “grave concerns” about foreign policy under the up-to-date Trump administration.
The outgoing senior senator from Maryland and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reflected on his nearly two decades in the upper chamber during a briefing with about a dozen reporters. The Democrat is leaving as Republicans move to gain control of the Senate.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, will become the ranking member of the influential committee in January.
Cardin suspected the role of chairman in September 2023, after Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey was impeached, and later sentencedon federal bribery charges over accepting cash, gold and other valuables from the Egyptian government.
Asked to summarize the past four years, Cardin said the United States had led the way “in defending democratic institutions” and encouraged allies and other countries to join the West.
“I think the Biden administration has a lot of hope for this. I think there is a question mark under the Trump administration,” said Cardin, sitting with the visiting press at the huge oval table in the visiting heads of state committee room.
Photography is prohibited in the room where the senator regularly held intimate “pen and pad” sessions for reporters.
“The risk could not be higher with the alliance, not formally, but with the alliance between the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Iran and Russia,” Cardin said.
Ukraine and Russia
President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly promised during his campaign that he would end Russia’s war against Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.
“There will be no peace in Ukraine within 24 hours,” Cardin said.
“We all want to see the end of the energetic war, but we must make it clear that Russia cannot win here because that will not end the war.
“If you put up a line and say, ‘Okay, this is where it will be now,’ Russia won’t stick to it. They will move that line and move into other countries,” Cardin said, reiterating his support for a security agreement that maintains Ukraine’s borders.
Asked whether Trump’s presidency could herald the end of cash and arms support to Ukraine, Cardin said he hoped his Republican colleagues would not let that happen.
Trump’s vice president-elect, U.S. Senator JD Vance of Ohio, was among the most vocal opponents of continued aid to Ukraine. Congress agreed $174.2 billion as aid to Ukraine since Russia further invaded its territory in February 2022. (Russia had already forcibly annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.)
“The United States needs to continue to be very actively engaged in all of these areas, and I can tell you there are a lot of Republicans – Democrats are almost in complete agreement on this – there are a lot of Republicans who believe strongly in what I’m saying right now said. “So we rely on them to have a functioning majority in the U.S. Congress that will ensure that Ukraine receives the kind of international support it needs,” Cardin said.
A staunch supporter of Israel
Cardin, a staunch supporter of Israel, will soon cede the top Democratic post on the Foreign Relations Committee to Shaheen, one of 19 Democratic senators coordinated At the end of November to stop some arms shipments to Israel.
A joint decision led by Vermont’s senior senator Bernie Sanders, an independent, received a floor vote amid continued outrage over it graduation Death toll in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. According to Palestinian health authorities, the number of people killed in Gaza has exceeded nearly 45,000.
“There is frustration and that showed in the vote. To me that was the wrong way to put it,” Cardin said.
Cardin said Israel remains a “reliable partner” in the region, including for reasons of security, information sharing and economic partnership.
“I don’t think there is significant resistance to the idea that the United States has to stand with Israel so that Israel can defend itself in a very dangerous part of the world. And I think there is almost universal agreement that Israel has been singled out by the international community,” Cardin said, citing anti-Semitism as a cause.
Cardin acknowledged that there could be differences of opinion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while at the same time supporting Israel.
The country has been on the offensive since militants from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 200 hostages, including Americans.
Asked about U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s suggestion Thursday that a ceasefire deal could be on the horizon, Cardin said he hoped Netanyahu was “sincere” but also had “very little confidence” that Hamas would agree to the terms will agree.
“Before this meeting, I had some information that there were positive signs of a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages. But as I’ve told my staff, this is about the 30th time they’ve come to me to tell me and it hasn’t come out, so excuse me for putting my guard down until I get an answer “I see,” said Cardin.
What’s next for Cardin?
Cardin, 81, said he has not yet made a decision about what he will do after he retires after nearly six decades of public service.
“No regrets, I really mean it. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. There is certainly a lot of work to be done, but there will always be more to do,” he told States Newsroom when asked what he will do next.
Cardin was first elected to the Maryland House of Representatives in 1966 and served as the body’s speaker from 1979 to 1986. Cardin was subsequently elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served from 1987 to 2007. The Democrat from Maryland has been a US Senator since 2007.
In his final months in office, Cardin introduced legislation that he hopes will stick after his term, including: The invoice to end preferential treatment of Hong Kong by the US following the government’s crackdown on democratic activities.
Cardin often spotlights democracy advocates around the world and distributed a fact sheet to reporters on Thursday detailing the recent detention of Azerbaijani activist Rufat Safarov. Safarov, head of the Defense Line organization, was arrested on December 3 before flying to the United States to receive the State Department’s annual Global Human Rights Defender Award.
The senator said he met with former colleagues who have retired from public service and heeded their advice to think carefully about his next move.
“As you know, I am also interested in the Chesapeake Bay and environmental issues in my state,” Cardin said. “And I will definitely work hard to promote human rights.”
Last updated on December 12, 2024 at 5:56 p.m
