Political Quotes

“Mr. President, one of my chief responsibilities as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is to help protect the men, women, and institutions that keep America safe, including not only the State Department but the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance. NATO was founded in 1949 as an alliance that was committed to the collective defense of its members--that an attack on one constitutes an attack on all. The alliance's self-defense clause has only been invoked once, after 9/11, when our allies deployed with us to Afghanistan. Our militaries, in their working together, allow NATO to function. NATO members have committed to spending 2 percent of their GDPs on their militaries, but only the United Kingdom, Estonia, Poland, Greece, and the United States currently hit that goal. While the other members are working on growing their defense budgets, I have long held the belief that they must do so faster. Regardless, part of what makes NATO great is its open doors. States that are interested in becoming allies are encouraged to join the Partnership for Peace. When those states then meet the criteria for membership, they are welcomed into the alliance. This process is exactly what occurred with Montenegro. Just after becoming an independent country in June of 2006, Montenegro joined the Partnership for Peace in December 2006. Exactly 3 years later, Montenegro obtained its Membership Action Plan.…”