Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking the author of this bill, the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta). I was glad to join him as an original cosponsor, and I am grateful as well to our ranking member, Mr. McCaul, for his strong support of this legislation. Mr. Speaker, for nearly 70 years, the NATO alliance has been the bedrock of transatlantic peace, security, and stability. For seven decades, NATO has been synonymous with Western democracy. The organization's architects had a tremendous vision, and that vision translated into the most successful political military alliance in history, an alliance that won the Cold War, that brought peace to the Balkans, that fought terrorism in Afghanistan, that today is guarding against Russian aggression in Europe and training forces in Iraq and elsewhere. Now, Mr. Speaker, we have heard, most notably from the President, that NATO is obsolete, that it is ill-suited to 21st century challenges. That is just plain wrong. Would we be safer without Article 5, the principle that says an attack on one is an attack on all, an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all NATO members, the commitment that brought our NATO allies to fight at our side after September 11? Would we be better off without 28 other countries that share our values and that know how to fight together effectively? Of course not. NATO is not a burden, Mr. Speaker.…”