As our enemies and competitors like Russia, China, and Iran expand their footprint in our hemisphere, we need to strengthen security and economic cooperation with our democratic neighbors to protect our interests.
Strengthen security and economic cooperation with democratic neighbors in the Western Hemisphere to counter the influence of adversaries like Russia, China, and Iran.
Occurrences
Evidence
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Risch said the U.S. should strengthen security and economic cooperation with democratic neighbors to push back against Russia, China, and Iran in the hemisphere.
Risch backed actions aimed at Venezuela, said Congress should review the kinetic actions, and said he would continue supporting efforts to protect U.S. security and promote stability in the Western Hemisphere.
Assessments
The evidence shows Risch advocated in committee for stronger security and economic cooperation with democratic Western Hemisphere partners to counter Russia, China, and Iran, and later issued related regional-security statements. However, the cited record does not show an enacted law, funded program, ratified agreement, or completed federal policy outcome that delivered the promised strengthened cooperation. Because the evidence supports serious same-term advocacy but not a completed result, the claim remains unresolved rather than delivered.