Political Quotes

“since its creation over 70 years ago, no alliance in human history has done more to advance the cause of freedom and democracy than NATO. Today, at a moment when democracy in Europe is under attack, as belligerent autocrats, like Putin, clamor for European dominance, the U.S. Senate is voting in overwhelming bipartisan fashion to approve Finland's and Sweden's accession to the NATO alliance. This is important substantively and as a signal to Russia that they cannot intimidate America or Europe. (Applause.) Thank you, Roger. Putin has tried to use his war in Ukraine to divide the West. Instead, today's vote shows our alliance is stronger than ever. I applaud the leaders of Sweden and Finland, who made a bold choice to depart from their long-held position with respect to NATO. I am confident they will be excellent partners in this alliance. I thank Leader McConnell. Back in May, we met with the Finnish President and the Swedish Prime Minister and promised to approve their accession as quickly as possible. Today, we are keeping that promise. I also want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for springing into action on this matter, especially Senator Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who did such a good job with his ranking member, Senator Risch, as well as Senators Shaheen and Tillis, who have been our leaders in reaching out to NATO, for their leadership roles.…”