Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first let me thank Senator McCain for his strong leadership on this issue and so many issues that deal with U.S. national security. Montenegro is a small country, but the principle that no non-NATO country can veto accession into NATO is very much a major national security issue for the United States. Make no mistake about it. Russia is trying to interfere with Montenegro's accession into NATO. I am also pleased to hear from Senator Shaheen, who has been one of the great leaders in the Senate on our European transatlantic relations, and I know how strongly she feels. I just want to underscore points that Senator McCain made. I am the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee did approve unanimously by voice vote the accession of Montenegro into NATO. The Presiding Officer was part of that discussion, and I thank him for his help in moving this issue forward. This is not a controversial issue among the Members of the Senate or the Congress. This is something that should have been done by now. As Senator McCain has pointed out, 25 of the 28 nations have already ratified Montenegro's accession into NATO. It requires all 28. Another two are working actively on confirmation, and the last is the United States. We should be first, not the last. We should get this done. It should have been done before now.…”