On the recordMarch 28, 2017
the most solemn and serious and consequential act that the United States can undertake at any moment is to make the decision to send Americans into war. From time to time, war may be an unfortunate decision but a necessary decision--a necessary and potentially tragic function of any republic. And it might be necessitated by the need to safeguard the rights and the freedoms of the government's own citizens from foreign states--from those who would harm us. Yet we should enter into those wars and enter into any alliances that could lead to war only after utmost deliberation and strategic consideration, focusing specifically on the well-being of the American citizens--those people whom we are sworn to protect, those people whose safety is at stake whenever we go to war. That is why, for the past several months, I have asked that the Senate have a rollcall vote on the measure to ratify Montenegro's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty, and that is why I will be casting my vote against expanding NATO later today. Of course, treaties and alliances with other countries can be beneficial; there is no question about that. But the Founders of this country understood that their seriousness needs also to be considered-- that the seriousness of a treaty needs to be taken into account in the same way that you have to consider very carefully the seriousness of going to war, and for the very same reasons.…
