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Floor Speech

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Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President, I am really pleased to be able to come to the floor this morning to join my colleagues Senator Tillis, from North Carolina; Senator Ernst, from Iowa; Senator Blunt, from Missouri--and we are hoping to be joined by Senator Coons, from Delaware--to talk about the very successful congressional delegation we took in the first week of the 2-week break to Finland, Sweden, and the NATO summit in Madrid.

I want to especially acknowledge my colead for that delegation, Senator Tillis. He and I cochaired the Senate NATO Observer Group. And we have both been fervent supporters of NATO and efforts to ensure that the United States continues to be a leader on the world stage and a champion for freedom.

We were also joined on that trip by Senator Durbin, from Illinois, and Senator Fischer, from Nebraska.

A couple of months ago, Majority Leader Schumer and Minority Leader McConnell asked Senator Tillis and I to lead that bipartisan delegation to the NATO summit in Madrid to convey the Senate's strong bipartisan support for the alliance, especially amid Putin's unprovoked war in Ukraine.

I was very honored to represent the Senate amid what has been one of the most consequential moments in the history of the transatlantic alliance. And I think probably Senator Tillis and everyone who was part of that delegation felt the same way.

Our visit to Sweden, Finland, and Spain affirmed three important points: first, the NATO alliance is stronger than ever before--and this year's historic summit reaffirmed that; second, the Strategic Concept that was approved at this year's summit will ensure that NATO is prepared to address immediate threats on all fronts, from Putin's attempts to threaten the sovereignty of our allies to China's challenges to our alliance.

And, finally, as Putin attempts to rewrite history, working with our allies and partners is critical to ensuring that Putin or any leader that attempts to follow in his path is met with the might of NATO's democratic resolve.

One of the other things that I was very impressed with as we met not just with some of our NATO allies but with NATO aspirant country delegations and talked to leaders from the Indo-Pacific who were in Madrid is how everybody we talked to reaffirmed the importance of America's leadership in the world. So I think as we think about the future of NATO, about what we need to do in the United States, it is important to remember just how important our role is.

Now, our trip coincided with Turkey's announcement to support Finland and Sweden's ambitions to join NATO, which will significantly strengthen the alliance. In fact, as we landed in Madrid, we got the news that Turkey had dropped its hold on those applications. So we were able to celebrate.

Sweden and Finland's accession into NATO sends an unmistakable message to Putin: The alliance is stronger than ever and Russia does not have veto power over who joins NATO.

Our delegation was pleased to meet with the leadership from both Sweden and Finland to reaffirm the bipartisan support in the Senate for the swift approval of their NATO applications.

Our delegation's bipartisan message of support for Ukraine and NATO was reciprocated by our allies, which was evident during the meetings that we had with Japan and Germany. We met with Ukrainian officials and underscored our strong support to not only help Ukraine defend itself but to help Ukraine win. And that is what we heard from all of the allies we met with.

It is critical that, as Members of the Senate, we continue to do all we can to coordinate with our allies and support Ukraine's heroic efforts to defend itself against Putin's aggression because that war is not just against the people of Ukraine; it is an attack on democracies around the world, an attack on our shared transatlantic values--values that have maintained peace for over 70 years.

Our bipartisan delegation made clear that the United States will continue to support peace and stability in Europe and around the world. We will defend every inch of NATO territory and continue to look for ways to bolster Ukraine's defense.

We were pleased to share this commitment with members of the Biden administration who also traveled to the NATO summit. Our delegation met with President Biden, with Secretary Austin, and Secretary Blinken and reaffirmed that the Senate will continue to look for ways to help defend Ukraine and respond to emerging threats from the Balkans to the Indo-Pacific.

Again, I want to thank all of those who went on this very important trip, especially the staff who did such a great job putting it together. I was proud to colead that delegation, which was centered on our bipartisan resolve to support a strong and unified NATO and stand by our Ukrainian partners.

As Putin's war threatens democracies around the world, I think it is important that we send a clear message to our constituents at home and our allies abroad that the United States remains resolute in our commitment to the stability and freedom of all democratic nations because if Putin succeeds in Ukraine, there is no telling where his belligerence will end.

Last night, Senator Durbin secured unanimous consent for the protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of Sweden and Finland to be referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This is an important development as we look at ratifying those protocols. I hope we can get this done as quickly as possible. I hope the Foreign Relations Committee will move on that process and we can act here in the Senate Chamber because swift ratification is in our national security interest.

Again, I am pleased to join my colleagues here on the floor and would like to turn it over to Senator Tillis to get his impressions from the trip.

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