DPCC Co-Chair David Cicilline Discusses Escalating Tensions With North Korea
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman David Cicilline, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy & Communications Committee (DPCC), joined CNN's Wolf Blitzer Thursday to discuss the rising tensions between the United States and North Korea over the North's nuclear program. Below are excerpts from the interview and a link to the video:
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"We have to do all that we can to really deescalate this potential conflict. What I think is really happening here is symptomatic of a larger problem: the absence from this Administration of an actual plan whether it is in Syria or North Korea; the lack of staffing with hundreds of positions remaining unfilled at the state and at the Defense Department, important positions; and thirdly, the absence of a coherent decision making process. These are complicated foreign policy questions they require the best and brightest and a real system for evaluating options. I think what we're seeing in a number of areas in North Korea, [which] is just the most recent example, is the absence from this Administration of a real understanding of the importance of a thoughtful plan of consistency [and] of professional staff to help create options. What I think we cannot do is continue to escalate this rhetoric, this is a very serious situation. We have to continue to rely on China's intervention and keep pressure on the Chinese, who of course don't want to unify the Korean Peninsula, but also don't want a military conflict in the region."
"What we want to be certain of is that [the] President is not responding to the political benefit of an action. I think the President saw a sort of bump in his popularity after the Syria strike. It wasn't part of a plan. It wasn't something that was developed in response to a real strategy. It was sort of a one-off response…We want to be sure our President is making decisions that are in the best interest of the American people and in our national security interest after thoughtful consideration of all the implications with really the best advice from people deeply knowledgeable about the region and not in response to what he might see as a political benefit."
"One military action is not a substitute for policy. We need to hear from the President, what role does he expect the United States to play in ending the war in Syria. If that includes military action then he has a responsibility to come to Congress and seek an authorization for use of military force…What I do think we have is a President who is obsessed with his standing in the polls - I think more than any President we've seen in recent history. We need to understand and demand that this Administration make decisions and explain them to the American people that are in the best interest of the American people and not for any other reason. We have an unusual kind of devotion to polls and standing in polls so much so that when the polls don't reflect him doing well he denounces the polls and says they're not reliable…We all have to be on guard that decisions are being made at the highest level and are in the best interest of the American people and free from the hope that in some way some value will be added because it will make him more or less popular. We want these life and death decisions to be made wisely and prudently and considering all of the implications."