Roger Wicker: “I ask unanimous consent that the attached article entitled ``NATO at 75'' by Alan W. Dowd in the American Legion…”

“I ask unanimous consent that the attached article entitled ``NATO at 75'' by Alan W. Dowd in the American Legion Magazine, be printed in the Congressional Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From The American Legion Magazine, Oct. 2024] NATO at 75 (By Alan W. Dowd) Rather than scaring NATO to death, Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine has scared NATO back to life. For years, the alliance had been drifting. But with Putin trying to rebuild the Russian Empire and NATO returning to its core mission of deterrence, there's broader support--and clearer need--for NATO than at any time since the Cold War. ORIGINS After World War II, Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg forged a mutual-defense pact. Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium warned that any alliance without the United States would be ``without practical value.'' 1946-1948 Moscow violates agreements made at Yalta to hold free elections in postwar Europe, supports communist forces in the Greek Civil War, pressures Turkey for basing rights, topples Czechoslovakia's democratic government and blockades West Berlin. The United States and Britain respond with the Berlin Airlift. 1949 The United States, Britain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Portugal sign the North Atlantic Treaty. The heart of the treaty is Article V, which declares that ``an armed attack against one or more .…”