Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: “I am so pleased to support this very timely legislation. This measure is a further step in helping to ensure that NATO…”

“I am so pleased to support this very timely legislation. This measure is a further step in helping to ensure that NATO, its member states and those aspiring to join this alliance are united in pursuit of European democracy and security. Since its formation in 1949, NATO's mission has been to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of its members by promoting stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area. The measure before us serves to express America's continued support for these important goals. The NATO Freedom Consolidation Act should help to nurture all those European states that may eventually join that alliance and give it a sense of common strategic peacekeeping goals, by encouraging them to prepare, assume and maintain the responsibilities of membership. Specifically, the legislation calls for the timely admission of Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia, and Ukraine to NATO and authorizes security assistance for these countries in fiscal year 2008. The standards for joining NATO should not be lowered in any way and each country should be evaluated individually on the merits.”