independents to stand up when he says things like that. i was glad to hear a number of my .republican colleagues say he doesn't have the power to pardon himself. i was proud of senator grassley who always teaches mind to talk about how wrong it was for the president to say you could pardon himself. orthe idea that the president can pardon anyone anytime d, himself included is antithetical to the idea of democracy. president trump, you arenot came by another name . we hope the president will focus instead on the nation's business . ideal the floor and note the absence of a quorum . >> i rise today to sound the alarm about the president's decision to impose the terrorists on our trading partners . make no mistake, we are not as some of this ministration officials have suggested in a

leisurely early innings of a baseball game. we are in the magnificent stages of a full-scale trade war. despite the presidents statements that this work will be easily one, any student of history knows that like a baseball game where winter guaranteed . a trade war only guarantees that there will be losers . free trade allowed the most efficient allocation of labor and capital . protectionism on the other hand stifles innovation and reduces productivity. recognition of this philosophy has been as close to a consensus as we have achieved in more than 70 years and the application of these principles has pprovided the foundation or growth and prosperity that was unimagined by previous generations. >> and the terrace and our adversaries for this disastrous result, what will happen when we target our allies. >> imagine claiming that imports in canada represent

the national security threat. well, that's exactly what we are doing. canada is our largest trading partner. a trading partner coincidentally with whom we have a trade surplus. >> just yesterday we learned of a phone call which canadian prime minister justin trudeau challenged the president's use of national security as a justification for levying carrots against the steadfast ally. these new tariffs imposed on our allies will not and are not unanswered. >> a number of them have already introduced salutary measures in march. when the terrace on steel and aluminum were announced, the proposed legislation to block their implementation. yesterday i joined a bipartisan group of senators

led by senator corker in introducing legislation rain in the president's use of section232 of the trade expansion of 1962 , justified protection measures. this bipartisan group includes senators from coast to coast and from across the rspolitical spectrum. the constitution grants congress the preeminent role in regulating tariffs and trade. we are elected to be leaders, not followers here. it's not our chart just to go along because the president shares our party affiliation. to throw out our long-held beliefs just because they might complicate our political standing. let me speak for a few minutes about our unique standing in the world and the opportunities and responsibilities that, as a result of that mandate. from its very creation the united states of america has played a vital role in world leadership . our founding fathers showed

how a band of colonies break free, holy break free from the despot monarchy but to build a functional democracy, built on a sturdy scaffold of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. >> the entrenched this hollow field of principle within our declaration of independence. making america the first country in the world to be born bottom-up accident of geography or tried with an idea, a powerful idea, the idea of you . more than 100 years later, that the turn of the 20th century, one would be called the american century, president theodore roosevelt used his inaugural address to highlight america's role. the country had broken free from tyranny hmoral obligation to help others do likewise. >> that has been us, he said, and what will rightfully be expected from us. we have duties to others and duties to ourselves and we

sure neither. >> we have become a great nation. by the fact of its werichness into relations with other nations of the earth. and we must pay as the people with such responsibility. >> this declaration alerted americans that the nation had arrived at a new position of low leadership that remains as true today as it was then. the 20th century saw the united states transition from being merely an envoy for freedom and liberty to become the preeminent leader of that sacred cause across the world. >> in the 40 years that followed, residents speech, american men and women with white people on to fight for peace in the face of world war. hundreds of thousands of americans would lay down their lives for others. indeed, nowhere in our national history has that been more clearly displayed than 74 years ago yesterday

when on the beaches of normandy thousands of americans paid the ultimate sacrifice to free our european allies from the most unspeakably irony of the world has ever known. but this nation's transformation as an indispensable nation, a necessary nation was not crafted by military might alone. with our efforts to build up international institutions and norms and that fostering democratic ideals and the free market principles that truly secure the global leadership that some would now squander.i believe president reagan best described the importance of this broader american role when during the british parliament at the death of the cold war he said this. our military strength is a prerequisite for peace but let it be clear, we maintain this strength in the hope

that it will never be used for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that now going on in the world will not be bombs or rockets but the test of wills and ideas. a trial of spiritual resolve and values and beliefs we cherish, the ideal to which we arededicated . by 1945 the united states contributed about half of the world entire economic entity. and in 1991 we emerged from the cold war as the world soul superpower. the soviet union was in a glorious freefall, shedding republics by the day. eastern europe was splitting into life andliberty for the first time in 40 years . free markets and free minds were sweeping the world . i visibly recall the fall of the berlin wall. i was in africa adjusting the transmission to democracy of the newly independent country

of libya as it shrugged off the shackles of apartheid. a continent away, a dissident playwright emerged from a communist prison to become the president of a liberated czechoslovakia. during a joint session of congress, he praised the powerful inspiration of american democracy and he thanked us for liberating europe once again from the tyrants grip. both 1945 and 1991 were most of american global success where this nation could have turned inward, leaving the rest of the community of nations to fend for themselves, or we could have simply maintained our dominance supremacy and military strength. we chose neither. instead, we chose to build the foundations of a global order based on the values we venerate, the beliefs we cherish, the ideas we aspire to. >> a world where leaders must

earn the respect of their peers, not through the coercive tactics and bluster and threats, but through the virtue of their actions and the wisdom of their policies. >> winston churchill famously opined democracy is the worst form of government except for all the other forms that have been tried from time to time. it was arrived acknowledgment that however it may sometimes seem in practice, democracy genius lies in the regular removal of the beatles mandate. thomas jefferson called the consent of the governed. >> is our responsibility tobe the premier example of this democratic order . >> this is the golden thread that leads all the way back to our founding fathers. but today, today that golden brand is in danger of being snapped. today we are to be turning our backs on this responsibility.

the responsibility held by previous generations. many generations that crafted the marshall plan to rebuild europe and japan. hoping to shape our two most aggressive pennies into two of our most stalwart allies. generations who crafted pivotal international organizations nato, the united nations and wto. multilateral compromise to take the place of more as the primary arbiter of conflict between nations. >> the generations that negotiated nuclear disarmament treaties, pulling us back from the brink of, armageddon. but no more. we find ourselves today led by those sewho express admiration for authoritarianism . by russia and china and the philippines and other places that make common cause with bullies who flirt with tyrants.

we see a world descending into and out of his tribalism , a political prices and where dealings between nations are driven by fear and antagonism, bullying and threats.s. brinksmanship rather than mutual benefit, we find ourselves led by those who would call for isolationist instincts and antiquated te preindustrial protectionist economic philosophies, the very same shortsighted nostrils that ushered in the great depression. those that would reject the decade-long consensus on the virtues of free trade, open markets, international independence, the policies that have led to the greatest sustained growth that our world has ever seen.what shall our friends engage in

such erratic behavior? how will they respond to such confusing actions. and most importantly, how long will they remain our friends naif this irrational approach continues? >> alliances, institutions, facts that took generations to build, generations more to solidify and were paid for in both blood and treasure have shattered and ill tempered second, an ill tempered tantrum, childish toys here, a bellicose insult they are. incoherent policy utterances often as not by to contradicted in the space of a single news cycle, money and material, this is not rona leadership. our allies are left back, confused. often appalled. make no mistake, our allies and those who look to american leadership will not

waste for us to come to our senses.if we abandon our role asleader , we may very well not be there tomorrow. we saw this vividly displayed in the decision to withdraw p from the transpacific partnership. after we hastily pulled out of those negotiations, the 11 other countries involved did not go home. they did not get on trade or come back to us on bennett need. begging us to rejoin the process. they simply shrugged and continued on their own. leaving us behind. countries in southeast asia who would prefer to be part of the american trade orbit will now have no other choice than to be sucked into china's vortex. this is the same china that our president directly acknowledges as america's primary global competitor. once again, the uncertainty

of protectionist policy is laid bare. the question facing us today is this. do we really want to be the generation who finally gave in to the backward aggressive politics of american isolationism? do we want future generations to refer to american leadership in the world only in the past tense with the rueful nostalgia. are we ready to abandon chinese city on the hill. provided by john winthrop and echoed so eloquently by ronald reagan -mark do we believe that the united states of america is stillthe last , best hope on earth as abraham lincoln once proclaimed? we are not perfect. we have faltered in our leadership times and at others we have struggled to determine how best to project our national values. but it is our leadership as the designated driver of a

vehicle of world order, the so-called pax americana back for more than 70 years has maintained ndunprecedented peace and prosperity throughout the world. >> yes, the world we live in is far from perfect. but i believe it is a far better place as a result of americanleadership . it has been said that the universe of abhors a vacuum and if we do not lead, someone else will. those who are most likely to do so do not share our democratic values. we should not wish for future generations of americans to come of age and world led by someone else. >> freedom as john f. kennedy once proclaimed is not merely a word or an abstract eerie. but the most effective instrument for advancing the welfare of man.we go to those generations who have come before us and those who

come after us to recognize that our defense of that freedom in all its forms from free-speech to free thought to free markets to free trade , is not an active recreation. but let us pointedly declare those who would suggest ha otherwise that the crossroads we find ourselves are not the early innings of any game. but an historic moment in which we will either affirm our commitment to the values we have served for so long or engage in a trade war that will only lead to economic disaster. let us not fight through our mission to promote the values offreedom, let us not turn away from this most noble of responsibilities . let us proudly take the torch passed to us by our parents and parents parents . let us continue to serve as a beacon of hope, shining the light of freedom in a

volatile world. this light stretches from the lanterns in boston's old north church, lit during the midnight ride of paul revere to the light that shines in our capital today. it is the light of freedom, the very spirit of america and it must never be extinguished. >> ideal before. >>. >> c-span washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning, new york republican congressman tom lee will discuss immigration and trump administrationtrade policy. california democratic congressman ed lu will talk about the upcoming us north korean summit in singapore. be sure to watch c-span washington journal live easter . join the discussion.