On the recordAugust 3, 2022
I rise today to discuss American national security and the decisions that we must make to keep this Nation safe. The Senate will vote today on whether to expand NATO by admitting Sweden and Finland. I intend to vote no, and I encourage my colleagues to do the same, and I want to say a word or two as to why. Finland and Sweden want to expand NATO because it is in their national security interest to do so, and fair enough. The question that should properly be before us, however, is, ``Is it in the United States' interest to do so?'' because that is what American foreign policy is supposed to be about, I thought. It is about American security, protecting American workers, defending American jobs, and securing American prosperity, and I fear that some in this town have lost sight of that. They think American foreign policy is about creating a liberal world order or nation building overseas. With all due respect, they are wrong. Our foreign policy should be about protecting the United States, our freedoms, our people, our way of life, and expanding NATO, I believe, would not do that. Listen, we should tell the truth about the consequences of the decision that we are going to take today. Expanding NATO will require more U.S. forces in Europe--more manpower, more firepower, more resources, more spending--and not just now but over the long haul. But our greatest foreign adversary is not in Europe.…
