Senate report slams Trump foreign policy as 'apparent doctrine of retreat'

[DonViejo]

BY REBECCA KHEEL - 09/11/17 10:52 AM EDT

A recent Senate report shredded the Trump administration’s foreign policy, saying that its budget request for the State Department showed an “apparent doctrine of retreat” from the world.

The lashing came from a report accompanying the Senate’s version of the spending bill for the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs subcommittee, the subpanel in charge of the bill which is headed by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has often been critical of President Trump’s foreign policy.

“Battlefield technology and firepower cannot replace diplomacy and development,” Graham wrote in the report. “The administration’s apparent doctrine of retreat, which also includes distancing the United States from collective and multilateral dispute resolution frameworks, serves only to weaken America’s standing in the world.”

Graham’s subpanel approved the bill last week, followed later in the week by approval from the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill would provide State about $51 billion, nearly $10.6 billion more than requested by the administration. Among its differences is about $1 billion more than the administration requested for humanitarian efforts and about $915 million more than requested for embassy security.

Graham’s report asserted that Trump’s request was not in line with his stated goal of sending a message of America’s strength.

more
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/350055-senate-report-slams-trump-foreign-policy-as-apparent-doctrine-of-retreat

[JimGinPA]

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