Mark Warner: “I think it was an unwise movement by the President. We all have great compassion for those three states, the courage of…”

“I think it was an unwise movement by the President. We all have great compassion for those three states, the courage of their people, their desire to affiliate more and more with the Western World. But to have held out that hope which, once it is translated from the United States across the ocean into the states and down to the people, almost is equivalent to an absolute commitment to see that it is going to happen. That is precisely why I am concerned about leaving open the opportunity for new accessions to begin tomorrow unless the 3-year moratorium, which is a reasonable period for study, is put in place. I close with, once again, do we not have that obligation to the American taxpayers who pay the costs associated, do we not have that obligation to the men and women of our Armed Forces who will proudly wear their uniforms as a part of the NATO force to have clarity with respect to future missions, which we will not have until 1 year hence, April of 1999? I say to my colleagues, let's just pause and take stock and think about the seriousness of the decisions we are about to make and consider that it is not unreasonable to allow 3 years of experience to transpire to make future decisions regarding other nations.”