Thomas Daschle: “I commend Senators Lugar and Biden for their historic achievement this morning. This has been an effort that has enjoyed…”

“I commend Senators Lugar and Biden for their historic achievement this morning. This has been an effort that has enjoyed strong bipartisan support within our country and within the Senate. I commend them especially for their remarkable leadership in bringing us to this point. I also welcome the Foreign Ministers and Ambassadors who join us on this momentous occasion from Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. I welcome them to NATO; I welcome them here. This is truly a historic day. We continue today what we did on VE Day, now more than 50 years ago, what thousands of our GIs, including my father, started more than 60 years ago with the landing at Normandy, the creation of a Europe that is whole and that is free. This is the beginning of a partnership that will produce greater world stability, greater international involvement in world affairs, and a partnership with countries that will increasingly become valuable partners and allies of the United States. Expanding NATO to include these seven democracies will make NATO stronger and the United States safer.”