Roger Wicker: “to speak for a few seconds in opposition to this amendment, it is absolutely unnecessary. I cannot think of any…”

“to speak for a few seconds in opposition to this amendment, it is absolutely unnecessary. I cannot think of any currently serving elected official of significance who is calling for suspending or withdrawing from NATO. If I didn't know better, I would think that this amendment might be aimed as a slap at former President Trump, but surely that is not the case. If it is, however, we should be reminded that the former President was concerned about some of NATO's members not meeting their obligations to spend 2 percent of GDP but that he was fully committed to article 5 of NATO. You will be pleased to know that this bill, NDAA, addresses the concern of the 2 percent. We adopted an amendment at markup, sponsored by Senator Sullivan, that would require the Secretary of Defense to prioritize NATO members who are meeting or exceeding the 2 percent GDP defense spending target when the DOD is making decisions on basing, training, and exercises. I yield the balance of my time.”