Political Quotes

“earlier this month in Madrid the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held a momentous summit meeting, which brought together the heads of state and government of its 16-member countries to discuss the future of the Alliance in the 21st century. Mr. President, I was privileged to be a member of a bipartisan, bicameral Congressional delegation to the summit meeting. Today, I would like to discuss the results of Madrid and their important implications for American foreign policy. At Madrid, NATO took the historic step of inviting Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary to begin accession talks with the alliance. The alliance now has several pressing priorities as a followup to the summit. As its first priority, NATO must complete these accession talks this fall with the three prospective new members. Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary have all met the basic alliance membership requirements--democracy, civilian control of the military, the rule of law, no conflicts with neighbors, and the willingness and ability to assume alliance responsibilities. NATO and the candidates must now assess the military capabilities of each of the three in detail, and must plainly state each country's responsibilities and tasks within the alliance. Of particular importance is that the issues of cost of enlargment must be forthrightly addressed, both by the three prospective members and by all the current members of the alliance.”