Patrick Leahy: “Mr. President, the vote on the resolution to admit Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to NATO, as we have all said…”

“Mr. President, the vote on the resolution to admit Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to NATO, as we have all said, is as important as any we have cast in many years. The debate on this resolution has been gaining momentum for over the year. The issues have been discussed, not always in the depth or with the clarity that I would have liked, but I am not among those who feel that we have not had an opportunity to seriously consider this resolution. I only wish that we had had this week's debate a year ago, when the outcome of the vote was not a fait accompli. I deeply respect many of the people on both sides of the issue. None more than Secretary of State Albright, an ardent proponent of NATO enlargement, with whom I spoke by telephone yesterday while she was in China. I yield to no member of this body in my admiration of her. I also give great weight to the views of the former Senator from Georgia, Senator Nunn, and to my close friend Senator Moynihan, whose thoughtful speeches on the subject I have read with keen interest.”