Joe Biden: “I just rise today to strongly oppose the amendment because its prescription, I think, is both unnecessary for NATO as an…”

“I just rise today to strongly oppose the amendment because its prescription, I think, is both unnecessary for NATO as an organization and, quite frankly, harmful--harmful--to continued U.S. leadership to the alliance. Let me explain what I mean by that. It is unnecessary because the North Atlantic Council, which is now known as the NAC, the principal political organ of NATO, is by its very nature already a dispute resolution mechanism. That is the place we make decisions in NATO. All actions in the NAC--all of them--are taken by consensus, which comes, in almost every circumstance, after very lengthy formal and informal discussions among the 16 nations who are members of the NAC.”