Political Quotes

“yesterday NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addressed a joint session of Congress--the first Secretary General ever to do so. The Secretary General is in Washington this week marking NATO's 70th anniversary. Created after World War II, NATO is a political and military alliance of European and North American democracies. Since its founding in 1949, NATO has been a bulwark for freedom, for peace, and for security around the world. For 70 years--70 years--NATO has been a bedrock of U.S. security. The United States stands firmly behind NATO's collective defense outlined in article 5 of its founding treaty. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate NATO Observer Group, I recently traveled to Brussels, Belgium, for meetings at NATO headquarters. I met with Ambassador Hutchison and NATO officials to discuss ways to strengthen the alliance. These briefings reaffirmed for me that now, more than ever, America needs a strong NATO alliance. For our safety, for the safety of our allies, we must support and we must strengthen NATO. The alliance has expanded from an original 12 to now 29 member nations. These allies are our friends in times of peace, they are our partners in times of turmoil, and they are our defenders in times of war. In armed conflicts around the world, NATO serves as a force multiplier for all of its members. After the September 11, 2001, attacks, NATO allies sent tens of thousands of troops to fight alongside our U.S.…”