Roger Wicker: “Thank you very much to my colleagues and to the Chair. The world has grown too dangerous for the remaining NATO members…”

“Thank you very much to my colleagues and to the Chair. The world has grown too dangerous for the remaining NATO members not to meet the 2-percent mark. We all must make it a priority to increase defense spending. It is shocking and unacceptable that some allies, especially some capable ones, have yet to reach the 2-percent requirement that they agreed to. Friends can speak candidly to one another, and so I will. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, is among this group, which has not and, for several years in the future, will not reach its need. I was able to meet with Prime Minister Trudeau just a few moments ago and was glad to hear him say that an announcement will be made from our friends in Canada, perhaps later this week, about a new plan to more quickly reach that 2-percent goal. And I call on him to fulfill that statement that he made to us in private. We look forward to that, and we congratulate him on that effort. NATO allies shouldn't outsource security to others. But this challenge presents an opportunity, one that adds to the mandate we give the incoming Secretary General. The transatlantic industrial base has withered, and we also need to attend to that. And that should be part of Secretary General Rutte's new platform. In the past, our friends of freedom have had to follow our lead as we pursue a ``peace through strength'' agenda. Today, Europe has not kept pace as it should.…”