Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding me time and including my amendment in the en bloc. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the en bloc package. I thank Chairman Smith and Ranking Member Thornberry for their assistance on my amendment and thank the Rules Committee for recognizing the importance of this issue. My amendment sends a clear signal to the European Union on the importance of the primacy of NATO over our shared defense interests. As some European capitals push for the formation of a European Union army, my amendment expresses the importance of NATO centrality over our defense policy architecture and the necessity of military system interoperability and burden-sharing efforts among NATO allies. We all know that increases in European military capability must be made by our European allies to comply with their NATO obligations. Investments underway in the form of the PESCO pact and the European Defense Fund can risk system interoperability and present divergent spending priorities within our alliance. EU defense investments should take place under the NATO umbrella to ensure accountability and the guarantee of U.S. influence. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleagues again for their support of this amendment. {time} 1615”