U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, delivered the following remarks today after announcements that the Obama administration will abandon plans to place a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland after Russia expressed displeasure with the idea:

Only a year since Russia invaded Georgia, and 70 years to the day since the Soviet Union invaded Poland, the Obama administration is continuing its policy of appeasing adversaries at the expense of our allies.

History teaches us that weakness and appeasement invite aggression against peaceful nations. In advance of direct talks with an Iran that has publicly ruled out discussions over its nuclear program, the administration now seems to be appeasing Russia, a country with deep ties to that dangerous regime.

The first nine months of the Obama administration have emboldened rogue dictators across the globe, and now an increasingly antagonistic Russia has been rewarded for bullying and threatening its neighbors.  Not since the Carter administration has America looked so weak on the international stage.