Cloture Motion

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, 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. forces in Afghanistan. NATO is helping the United States defeat ISIS in Iraq and in Syria, and its role in the global war on terrorism continues to expand.

At the same time, NATO members are working together in Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression. NATO isn't just protecting Europe from Russian interference; it is serving U.S. security interests in the region.

Given the emerging threats around the globe, NATO must have the tools and the resources it needs to deter our enemies. This means that all members need to recommit themselves to NATO's mission and fully meet their pledges.

Secretary Stoltenberg has focused on meeting alliance targets through ``cash, capabilities, and contributions.'' That is what we discussed in Belgium, it is what he discussed yesterday, and that has been his focus--cash, capabilities and contributions.

At the Wales summit in 2014, every NATO country agreed to spend a minimum of 2 percent of their GDP on defense. The United States continues to pay more than its fair share--about 22 percent of NATO's entire budget and more than 3 percent of our Nation's GDP.

President Trump, to his credit, has pressed NATO and our allies to bear the full share of their burden, both financially and militarily. NATO's Secretary General projects that the alliance will spend $100 billion more on defense by the year 2020.

Now, 22 NATO nations have already increased their defense spending since the 2014 summit in Wales. In 2014, only three allies met the Wales summit spending target; seven met that target in 2018. Still, 22 allies are falling short of the 2 percent target. They must contribute more if the alliance is to meet its financial goals and provide a capable and credible deterrent.

This is especially important as NATO faces more formidable foes. It is critical for their contributions to fund military readiness, to develop new capabilities, and to improve alliance cohesion.

NATO allies and partners are increasingly involved in terms of doing more with their troop contributions as well. Allies and partners now contribute more than half the troops in NATO missions.

We have made real progress on burden sharing, and today we celebrate 70 years of NATO achievements. NATO has helped bring about the democratic and economic transformation of Central and Eastern Europe. NATO has enabled European and Canadian soldiers to fight alongside U.S. forces on the frontlines of the war on terror. NATO supported U.S. sanctions against Russia and insisted on Russia's compliance with international law. Without a doubt, NATO is the most successful security alliance in our Nation's history.

The United States remains as committed to NATO's mission today as when it was founded 70 years ago. We want a strong NATO serving as a cornerstone of international freedom, peace, and security for another 70 years.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source