Leading From the House on Foreign Affairs | Opinion

On the week of a leadership change in the House Democratic Caucus, much has been written about Speaker Nancy Pelosi's and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's legislative prowess and decades-long impact on U.S. politics. Experts and fellow leaders have extolled their ability to understand members' needs; count votes; persuade and cajole members; and cultivate the party's core infrastructure.

While these kudos are amply due, far less attention has been paid recently to Pelosi's and, particularly, to Hoyer's international achievements and what they mean for democracy activists around the world. Pelosi and Hoyer are, at their core, premier Democratic internationalists who believe in the power of Congress to wage battle against dictators and to act in support of global democracy.

The two traveled the world to meet with dissidents, transatlantic allies, and like-minded democratic leaders who could help push back against autocracy wherever it was emerging or entrenched. They wielded Congress's moral bully pulpit—persuading and, where necessary, castigating adversaries; comforting concerned allies and activists; and giving hope that the United States remains a democratic beacon, especially during the tumultuous Trump years. Democrats' new leaders will be well positioned to build on this legacy and continue the Democratic tradition of muscular internationalism.

Pelosi's anticipation of China's global rise and staunch defense of Chinese dissidents were well chronicled this past summer amid her visit to Taiwan. She has been a champion of dissidents such as Han Dongfang and later Wei Jingsheng, Wan Dang, and Liu Xiaobo, along with the Dalai Lama. These were her friends and fellow travelers, the type of figures on whom she sought to bestow the protective aura of Congress.

Hoyer's efforts to defend democracy are less well known but have come to the fore again amid Trumpism and the rise of illiberal democracy. Hoyer's outlook was shaped during the height of the Cold War through meetings with Soviet Refuseniks and dissidents, when he was chair of the U.S. Helsinki Commission. Hoyer relentlessly advanced the twin goals of freeing political prisoners and opening Communist borders for those who wished to leave. More than that, he became convinced that security among states depends on respect for human rights within states. He even traveled to Russia to meet with Refuseniks during periods of peak tension with their Soviet captors.

Hoyer, like Pelosi, didn't see foreign policy as just another playing field for partisan posturing, but a vehicle to advance critical U.S. interests. The Helsinki Commission under Hoyer's watch was among the first in Washington to call for an international tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and to initiate actions to make that a reality. He provided moral support to those seeking liberty around the world, and he saw the United States as a selfless clarion of freedom—often saying "the United States is the least acquisitive nation," which looks out for the betterment of others.

We saw this dynamic firsthand as Hoyer's successive national security advisors. He was moved to tears meeting with Vladimir Kara Murza, a dissident twice poisoned and now imprisoned by Putin. In a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, some years earlier, he bluntly addressed the false imprisonment of a Russian-American held on specious charges, who was shortly thereafter released.

His first trip as majority leader in 2007 was to Darfur, Sudan, to hear the stories of internally displaced people devastated by the genocide there and to push Khartoum to cease their gross human rights violations. Hoyer was savvy about the foreign policy chess game, too. That trip included an intense meeting with Egypt's then-president, Hosni Mubarak, to encourage him to pressure his friends in Khartoum to accept UN peacekeepers. Hoyer also made a follow-up trip to meet with the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations in New York and the UN secretary general, to urge the same.

Hoyer was deeply inspired by two countries, one adopted—Israel—and one genealogical—Denmark—whose fates he saw as intertwined through a mutual commitment to democracy. He served as a fierce legislative advocate for Israel as it faced terror and delegitimization, and led 17 congressional delegations to Israel.

Hoyer saw in his Danish heritage a kinship with nations ready to defend democratic ideals. Visitors to Hoyer's office were greeted by the Danish flag flown on the day of his knighthood in the Order of Dannebrog in 2013.

This is the legacy that a new generation of Democratic leaders must build on. Congress has fewer responsibilities than the executive branch for the day-to-day management of critical yet challenging relationships with countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Philippines. Consequently, it can afford to take a long-term, morally centered view. Pelosi and Hoyer understood this dynamic, and that Congress should play the foreign policy 'heavy,' forcing the executive branch to impose tough sanctions on adversaries and pushing for assertive U.S. global engagement.

It takes time to build up both the credibility and experience to play this assertive role while finding points of agreement among members. House Democrats' new leadership team will face a myriad of challenges that will test unity within the Caucus, including progressive elements that have already expressed ambivalence on Ukraine. Fortunately, Hakeem Jeffries and his leadership colleagues have been strong, longtime advocates of a centrist foreign policy, including on Israel. If the new team continue tomanifest Hoyer and Pelosi's commitment to Helsinki Commission ideals, we are confident they can and will continue to lead a Democratic Caucus that is internationalist and unafraid to use Congress's moral position in pursuit of a safer, more just, and more democratic world.

Daniel Silverberg is managing director at Capstone, LLC and a senior adjunct fellow with the Center for New American Security. Mariah Sixkiller is General Manager, Strategic Defense, at Microsoft. Both served as national security advisor to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer from 2014-2021 and 2007-2014, respectively.

The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.