Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) appeared on Newsmax’s broadcast of “The Record with Greta Van Susteren” on Tuesday evening, where he expressed concern over China’s efforts to surpass the United States in all aspects of public life, including militarily and economically. The senator urged Congress and the Pentagon to keep up with China technologically, which will help maintain peace.
Rounds highlighted that China is challenging the U.S. in various domains such as air, land, sea, cyberspace, artificial intelligence, and space. He said that in all areas, China is trying to gain an advantage over the U.S. To prevent this, the senator called for upgrading the U.S.’s heavy weaponry and nuclear capabilities. According to him, this will help maintain peace as long as the U.S. stays on course and on time.
Sen. Mike Rounds to Newsmax: China Trying to Take Upper Hand 'In All Areas' https://t.co/Sflb4z50Qu via @newsmax
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He said: “Probably the one thing that’s moving us in a peaceful direction is the creation and the deployment of the B-21 Stealth Bomber and the creation and the deployment of the Sentinel missiles. We’ve also got our deep-sea submarines that we are upgrading.”
The senator’s comments come in the wake of the U.S. shooting down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon off South Carolina’s coast. The incident resulted in a reaction from China, which called the move an “obvious overreaction.”
Rounds questioned the decision to allow the balloon to enter American airspace, citing it as a policy question. He asked Van Susteren, “Who made the decision that we should allow this information-gathering system to enter our airspace and then to proceed across the entire continent?”
Rounds has also been active in the new Congress in taking steps to defund the IRS. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), he urged the Senate to take up the House Republicans’ first bill of the new year that cuts funding for the IRS. He stated that the IRS needs to work for the American people and that reform is needed, not more money for an out-of-control government agency.
He added, “The IRS should not employ more than the Pentagon, the State Department, the FBI and the Border Patrol all combined.”
Rounds demanded a vote by the full Senate on the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act, which is designed to return more than $71 billion to American taxpayers over ten years instead of further weaponizing the IRS.
