Tom Harkin: “Basically, we see this figure bandied about that it is going to cost $1.5 billion. That is common costs. There are other…”

“Basically, we see this figure bandied about that it is going to cost $1.5 billion. That is common costs. There are other national costs to which we have committed to subsidize. Already, just in the past 2 years, the figures that we have been able to unearth and dig into show that the United States has already spent about $1 billion in subsidies to these countries for their NATO expansion purposes. That is not calculated in the $1.5 billion. It should be, because it is still a cost to the U.S. taxpayers. This amendment, plus some others that I will have, will try to fashion this resolution so that we will have a really good handle as we go year by year as to just what the costs are to the U.S. taxpayers. We know already that $1.5 billion is not the total cost to U.S. taxpayers. It is more than that. How much more? We don't know. That is why I was one who wanted to postpone the debate and vote on NATO expansion after June.”