Angie Craig: “I will speak again in morning business, but only briefly this time, as it relates to the issue before us and the…”

“I will speak again in morning business, but only briefly this time, as it relates to the issue before us and the protocol for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the ascendency to that organization of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. As we began to expand NATO a good number of years ago, I had voted against some of the early expansions because I did not think we had yet effectively designed our role in a post-cold-war era and a post-Soviet Union era and about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as it relates to what it would be doing in the future. As we have seen that role adjust and change over the last several years, certainly the activity in the Balkans and the ability of NATO to participate there in bringing stability to that region has played an increasing role. I have also been concerned that as NATO grew, we effectively changed our posture there and, in fact, even reduced some of our presence there.”