Political Quotes

“today, I rise and urge my colleagues to vote in favor of the Accession Protocols for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. This is probably one of the easiest votes I will ever make in the U.S. Senate. I have listened to arguments about Asia, somehow that it comes in here. Look, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. Certainly, we need to look at what is going on in Asia, pay attention to what is going on in Asia, but what we are talking about here is the defense of the North Atlantic. This organization was put together many years ago. It has grown over those years to be 30-strong. And now we are going to add two more. I have characterized NATO as the most successful political and military alliance in the history of the world; certainly the most powerful alliance in the history of the world. And today we have the opportunity to expand the alliance by including Finland and Sweden. Over the years, we have added various countries, and debates could be had about those countries as to whether or not they are sufficient to join NATO and be part of the article 5 ``an attack on one is an attack on all'' alliance. But on Finland and Sweden, there really is little, if any, argument. These are two very successful countries. This accession process is an important chance for the United States to demonstrate leadership in NATO--we have over the years, and we will continue to do so--and the United States' commitment to its modernization and to its future.…”