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Recognizing the 70th Anniversary of Nato

Floor Speech

Date: April 4, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Foreign Affairs

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Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 70th Anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

NATO emerged out of the ashes of World War II and has been the cornerstone of our security across the Atlantic and around the world. It has also been an important building block for our relationships with transatlantic partners.

NATO remains the most important and critical security link between the United States and Europe. NATO has been an important way for the United States to demonstrate a strong commitment to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democratic development of the countries that have emerged from the former Soviet Union, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova. NATO allies and partners in both Central and Eastern Europe have stood alongside the United States in joint peace operations in the Western Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.

NATO stood with the United States in one of the darkest days of our history when we were attacked on 9/11. When the United States invoked Article 5, the first time done so by a country in the history of the Alliance, NATO joined our fight and are still engaged in Afghanistan to this day.

Last year, I was proud to introduce and see the House of Representatives pass H. Res. 256, a resolution expressing support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The House of Representatives sent a strong message that no matter what President Trump says during the NATO Summit in Brussels, Congress strongly supports our treaty allies and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our friends in Central and Eastern Europe.

We will continue to work to counter Russian aggression in Europe including the occupation of Georgian territory, the annexation of Crimea, continued violations of Baltic airspace and threats to Moldovan territorial integrity and sovereignty.

We will stand by our allies, as they have stood by us.

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