House GOP to roll out national security agenda

House GOP leadership on Thursday will formally roll out its policy agenda for national security, which will serve as a blueprint for the party in November’s elections.

“We have learned the hard way that the world is a more volatile place without American leadership,” Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday. 

“That’s why House Republicans this week are releasing a bold agenda to undo the damage of the past eight years, strengthen our national security and reaffirm our country’s role in the world.”

{mosads}The agenda will center on homeland security, countering Islamic terrorism and updating traditional foreign policy tools, according to an advance copy of the plan. 

The plan calls for better protection of borders from terrorists, cyber threats and criminals. That would entail closing security vulnerabilities in transportation and immigration systems, it said. 

While there is no mention of building a wall along the U.S.’s border with Mexico — one of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s key proposals — the plan calls for securing U.S. borders “once and for all by accelerating the deployment of fencing, technology, air assets, and personnel.” 

“Securing the borders is no small task, but it is a fundamental responsibility of our government. The current administration has failed to live up to that obligation and has no realistic plan to fulfill it,” the 23-page plan said. 

It also calls for an overhaul of the U.S. immigration system. 

“Terrorists have used virtually every major immigration route to enter our country, including citizenship applications, tourist and student visas, and even refugee status,” the plan said.

“We are a nation of immigrants, but we cannot tarnish that heritage by allowing bad actors to exploit the system for personal gain or criminal activity.”

While the plan does not mention any kind of temporary ban on Muslim immigrants, as Trump has suggested, it does endorse expanding “the ability of agencies to revoke the visas of foreign nationals when needed to protect the country.” 

The plan also calls for better efforts to prevent terrorist recruitment and self-radicalization within the U.S., including empowering non-governmental partners to push back against militant Islamists.  

And it calls for the U.S. to declare it is at war with Islamic terrorists. 

“Leaders in Washington should also level with the American people by calling the threat what it is. You cannot defeat an enemy you refuse to define, so let’s state it plainly: We are at war with Islamist terrorists,” it said. 

“To win the war against these extremists, we must act like we are fighting a war. Wherever possible, we should rely on local forces to defeat terrorists, but we must also be prepared to do what it takes to win.” 

The plan does not make any specific recommendations, but calls for not taking options off the table. It also calls for bringing NATO more actively into the fight, and for amplifying credible voices to combat extremist propaganda. 

A good amount of the plan marks a return to Republican establishment orthodoxy on foreign policy, with a few tweaks.  

“The United States must begin decisively confronting adversarial powers and rogue regimes when they threaten our interests. We must also restore the confidence of our allies, who often feel ignored and even abandoned by Washington,” the plan said. 

It calls for “modernizing and solidifying NATO,” while pressing members to increase defense spending. It also calls for standing up to Putin, and providing Ukrainian with lethal weapons to defend themselves against Russia. 

It does not comment specifically on the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the U.S. and five other powers with Iran, but calls for imposing “severe sanctions on Iran to punish its aggression.”  

“We should assert that America will keep all options on the table — including military force — to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” it said. 

It also calls for arming Kurds and various Sunni tribes against ISIS, which the Obama administration has been reluctant to do directly, instead funneling weapons through the central government in Iraq. 

The U.S. must also follow through on its demand that Syrian President Bashar Assad step down, it said. 

On Cuba, the plan calls for banning financial transactions with the Cuban military as a first step to not granting further accommodations without concessions from the Cuban government. 

On trade, the plan calls for supporting trade agreements “with clear benefits” and to strengthen U.S. alliances.  

It also calls for modernizing the State Department and diplomacy, foreign aid that is conditions-based, and protecting the freedom of the internet. 

“Under the Obama administration, the State Department has often taken a back seat to the White House and its preference for conducting secret negotiations directly, without involving professional diplomats,” it said. 

“This neglect, combined with the president’s five-year failure to nominate a permanent inspector general to conduct oversight, has limited the effectiveness of American diplomacy and contributed to significant lapses in security and transparency,” it said. 

The plan calls for an improvement in military readiness, oversight of the Pentagon, particularly in weapons acquisition, and “foundational” reform of military health care, the commissary system, and the military justice system.  

The Veterans Affairs Department should be forced to operate more like a hospital system that competes for funding, and allows veterans the options of receiving care through a community partner, it said, and Congress must hold VA bureaucrats accountable for shoddy care. 

GOP leadership aides portrayed the rollout as a response to President Obama, versus Trump. The Republican candidate has questioned the value of NATO, and alliances with Japan, Saudi Arabia, and other allies, and opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership. 

They said in a background statement that Ryan made clear “long before we knew who our nominee was going to be” that he wanted the Republican Party to become the “better proposition party, not just an opposition party.”  

But in perhaps a veiled reference to Trump, they added, “He believes we need to offer the country a clear choice on policy — not just personality.” 

Nonetheless, aides said the policy agenda is meant to unify Republicans, and some areas where there are differences with Trump — particularly in immigration and trade — were not included.  

“The issues included represent the areas of common ground the speaker has with Donald Trump,” they said. An aide said Trump’s campaign was briefed on the agenda ahead of time, and that the candidate has indicated he would help turn the proposals into law. 

The aide also said the agenda is not Ryan’s vision, but is the product of House Republican members’ work throughout this year.

The first plank was rolled out earlier this week, on poverty. The remaining four planks — on regulations, the constitution, healthcare and taxes — will be rolled out in coming weeks.