Political Quotes

“I am on the floor to speak in favor of the pending business before the Senate--to allow for Montenegro to join NATO as a new member. I have been a proponent of this move for a long time, having spent time in Montenegro and having chaired for a period of time the Europe and Regional Security Cooperation Subcommittee of the Foreign Relations Committee, now serving Senator Johnson as his ranking member. I am convinced that NATO will be stronger if Montenegro joins. I am convinced that our alliance will be stronger if Montenegro joins. It is a small country with a very small military, but it occupies an incredibly important space on the world map. It is the only part of the Adriatic coast that breaks up the current NATO map, and it will provide a strengthening of our alliance in that region. Montenegro is ready. It has made significant progress on internal reform, especially in the area of the rule of law and security sector reform. The Ministry of Defense has met all of the requirements for NATO membership. It is moving to modernize its military. It is moving to try to operationalize itself in a way that it can interact with both U.S. and European equipment. It is replacing its aircraft that previously had required Russian spare parts so that they are more compatible with European and American air equipment. There is still work that Montenegro needs to do, but now it can continue under the umbrella of the alliance.…”