On the recordJuly 9, 2024
today, world leaders are descending on our Nation's Capital for an important NATO summit, the 2024 NATO summit-- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is fitting that this gathering is taking place in our Nation's Capital because this is where the story of NATO began. In April of 1949, leaders of the United States and our closest allies gathered here in the Nation's Capital to sign the North Atlantic Treaty. With the stroke of a pen, those 12 countries became the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The core mission of NATO can be summed up in only two words: collective defense. An attack against one ally is considered an attack against all allies. Of course, Europe had been through two devastating world wars, and the hope was, by creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that aggression could be deterred and, thus, the peace maintained. Seventy-five years ago, this commitment aimed to deter the Soviet Union from expanding its influence into Western Europe. Nearly 23 years ago, the collective defense clause was invoked for the first and only time in history in the wake of the attacks on the United States on 9/ 11. America's NATO allies were there when we needed them--an act of friendship and support that we should never forget. Today, the collective defense clause continues to serve as a firewall that safeguards NATO member states and underpins global security.…
