On the recordJanuary 27, 1994
this amendment as modified serves a number of purposes. First of all, it pays a very important acknowledgement to the Partnership for Peace which has been worked out by the President, our allies, and so many others in the recent summit. I believe that Partnership for Peace was a very useful step toward a number of goals. One is the admission of a number of countries that seek admission to NATO after certain conditions have been met and to do it in a way which does not isolate Russia or draw a new line in Europe which could leave a lot of nations on the other side of the line. We have to accomplish both of those simultaneously as we proceed. We want nations to become ready to join NATO and have proven that capability to expand NATO. That is important. That is an obligation which seems to be both for our own security and history that we do that. We have a moral commitment to nations that have been too long under the Soviet yoke, but we also have an obligation to our own security. Partnership for Peace accomplishes both the opening of the door to NATO membership and doing it in a way which does not isolate Russia, because if we did that, we would play right into the hands of the ultraright in Russia that would want us to do exactly that so they could prove to their people that somehow or other we are threatening, which, of course, we are not.
